Volume VUI. 



RECREATION. 



MARCH, 1898. 



G. 0. SHIELDS (C0QU1NA), Editor and Manager. 



Number 3. 



THE WOLF THAT GOT AWAY. 



LIEUT. E. L. MUNSON, U. S. A. 



My horse slipped and floundered 

 his way through the snow banks, 

 which the first storm of the season 

 had drifted into the cross coulees, 

 and over the cut banks of Big 

 Sandy creek. I was watching for 

 sign of a big dog wolf known to 

 haunt that locality, and whose 

 great footprints had often been 

 seen in the muddy cattle crossings, 

 during the summer and autumn. 

 At early dawn the snow ceased 

 falling, and the wind, which had 

 blown furiously throughout the 

 night, subsided. The conditions 

 were perfect for tracking ; and an 

 hour's ride in the dim light of early 

 morning brought me close to the 

 usual route of the wolf. I turned 

 in the saddle to watch the shivering 

 pack of greyhounds, staghounds 

 and kangaroo dogs, stringing in 

 single file down the trail. It did 

 not seem possible that any animal, 

 starting within a reasonable dis- 

 tance, could get away from, or 

 stand up against, such a fast and 

 savage lot of fighters. The 9 big 

 powerful hounds, representing the 

 pick of several packs, had all been 

 trained on wolves from puppyhood. 

 Any 2 of them would kill a coyote 

 with ease. Headed by the kanga- 

 roo hound Spot, who, all alone, had 

 several times run down and killed 

 coyotes, they looked able to ham- 

 string and throttle the largest wolf, 

 in short order. Besides, I was 

 prepared, with hunting knife and 



heavy revolver, to take a hand in 

 the game, if it should be necessary. 

 At the foot of the bluff one of 

 the keen-nosed staghounds loped 

 ahead a few yards, and eagerly 

 snuffed at a long line of depressions 

 in the snow. There they were — 

 tracks as large as the palm of a 

 man's hand, and exactly where I 

 expected they would be found. For 

 the grey wolf has his regular beat, 

 and seldom fails to hunt, nightly, 

 over the same ground. The tracks 

 were fresh. The wolf had evi- 

 dently discovered the approach 

 of the pack ; for his jog-trot along 

 the creek bottom, had suddenly 

 changed to a long lope, as he turned 

 up a shallow coulee toward the 

 prairie beyond. He was evidently 

 not far away ; and believing that he 

 was trying to circle back to the 

 rough country to the W r est, I hur- 

 ried toward a long ridge several 

 hundred yards distant. This af- 

 forded an easy ascent of the other- 

 wise almost precipitous bluffs. I 

 intended to climb the ridge and in- 

 tercept the wolf. If I succeeded, 

 the dogs, previously held well un- 

 der control, could be started and 

 the wolf forced to run out on the 

 flat prairie, where he could not de- 

 lay or divide the pack. Unfortu- 

 nately for this well laid plan, the 

 eager hounds, aware that a chase 

 was in prospect, broke from re- 

 straint. Three ran ahead and to 

 the left ; while the remaining 6 beat 



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