324 Deer and Antelope of North America 



an expert hunter, will find greater pleasure in the 

 game fields of Maine than in wilder and more iso- 

 lated regions. 



Previous to the advent of the rifle in the North, 

 the natives secured nearly all their moose by set- 

 ting rawhide snares for them, but now they much 

 prefer the rifle. In winter when the snow is deep 

 they will often put on a very large pair of snow- 

 shoes (a shoe slightly longer than they are tall) 

 and with these travel with very great ease over 

 the deepest, softest snow in pursuit of this royal 

 game. Often when fortunate enough to run onto 

 the fresh trail of an animal they will follow it for 

 two or three days if necessary, rather than come 

 to camp without it. In the practice of this sort 

 of hunting they often perform some remarkable 

 feats, things that but few white men would care 

 to undertake, for there are few white men that 

 care to or can follow so powerful an animal, until 

 it is run to a standstill, when it has once made up 

 its mind to leave him behind. 



I have known but one white man capable of 

 doing this, or who had really trained himself to 

 do it. He lived and hunted in the Cassiar coun- 

 try, northwest British Columbia. He told me he 

 once followed a moose for three days in bitter 

 cold weather before killing it. When he did get 

 it he was a long way from home, and very much 

 worn out. He dressed the animal before it had 



