Moose Calling. I 25 



light is poor stuff to shoot by at best, and an enraged 

 bull moose is a very big and a very ugly customer. 

 It is a poor thicket, therefore, that does not have at 

 least one good tree with convenienth' low branches. 

 As a rule, however, you may trust your Indian, who 

 is an arrant coward, to look out for this xtry careful!}'. 



The trumpet with which the calling is done is 

 simply a piece of birch bark, rolled up cone-shaped 

 with the smooth side within. It is fifteen or sixteen 

 inches long, about four inches in diameter at the 

 larger, and one inch at the smaller end. The right 

 hand is folded round the smaller end for a mouth- 

 piece ; into this the caller grunts and roars and 

 bellows, at the same time swinging the trumpet's 

 mouth in sweeping curves to imitate the peculiar 

 quaver of the cow's call. If the bull is near and 

 suspicious, the sound is deadened by holding the 

 mouth of the trumpet close to the ground. This, 

 to me, imitates the real sound more accurately than 

 any other attempt. 



So many conditions must be met at once for suc- 

 cessful calling, and so warily does a bull approach, 

 that the chances are always strongly against the 

 hunter's seeing his game. The old bulls are shy from 

 much hunting; the younger ones fear the wrath of 

 an older rival. It is only once in a lifetime, and far 

 back from civilization, where the moose have not 



