DEATH OF BUD MOOSE: HIS STORY 



BY H. B. BROWN. 



To capture a moose by the long chase, 

 or to walk him down, requires, even with 

 the best of tracking, more endurance and 

 skill in woodcraft than the majority of 

 sportsmen possess. The chase lasts at least 

 5 days, usually more. It is necessary to 

 camp with only what one can carry; and 

 on a trail lasting from early dawn until 

 dark, day after day, this must include only 

 necessities, each additional pound, even 

 ounce, being noticed. The pursued does 

 not stop to select the easiest route, but 

 makes a direct course, which leads his 

 hunter through swamp after swamp, and 

 over steep ridge to still steeper. A mile 

 of such traveling is more wearing than 

 many times the distance under ordinary 

 conditions. A fresh fall of snow while 

 the moose is still far in advance may ob- 

 literate the trail, and the chase will end in 

 fatigue and disappointment only. Still, it 

 is a supreme test of endurance and skill in 

 trailing, and, if one cares to make a hound 

 of oneself, it is a legitimate sort of sport, 

 though never destined to become popular. 



On the other hand, to hire professional 

 woodsmen to bring the quarry to bay, while 

 one sits cosily in camp, or in a far away 

 office, awaiting the message that the moose 

 has given up his attempt to escape, and 

 then to go where the victim waits and 

 place a bullet through a vital part, at short 

 range, is not sport. It is mere butchery. 

 In former times, the mercenaries often 

 crippled the victim, so it could not escape 

 and they lose their promised reward. This, 

 of course, caused the moose many hours 

 and sometimes days of agony. 



However, public sentiment has caused 

 this method of securing moose to become 

 rare. If, at times, a hunter appears who 

 is so degraded as to wish to resort to this 

 plan, he usually learns, by no uncertain 

 words, in what opinion such as he are held. 

 This change in sentiment is not the least 

 of the good which has accrued from the 

 agitation for more humane practices in 

 sports afield. To those by whose efforts 

 this result has been brought about, the con- 

 gratulations and thanks of all true sports- 

 men are due. Such is the view of the 

 long chase as commonly entertained by 

 man. The animal pursued, and struggling 

 to escape, also has convictions on the sub- 

 ject. 



THE STORY AS TOLD BY BUD MOOSE. 



It is 4 days since this flight of mine was 

 begun ; days full of activity and doing, yet 

 how long and tedious ! What a pleasant 



morning that was when, following the ac- 

 customed paths, I comfortably nibbled at 

 the browse and bark of the tender, small 

 growth with no thought that such a des- 

 perate struggle was in store for me. The 

 November sun shone in warmly between 

 the leafless trees, the fresh snow lay like 

 a white mantle over the ground as far as 

 eye could reach, a soft breeze whispered 

 through the bare branches, and all was 

 calm as only the heart of the forest can 

 be. We had sojourned at the old resort 

 on Spotted Spruce mountain for many 

 weeks, and during that time nothing had 

 occurred to mar the quiet of our rendez- 

 vous. My companions were of the male 

 sex, like myself, but the season for 

 rivalries and strife had long since passed, 

 and we lived in harmony. To be sure, I 

 surpassed the others in age, size and 

 strength, and was easily the master of any 

 of them in combat; but it is not my dispo- 

 sition to display my abilities for the mere 

 sake of calling attention to them, nor to 

 seek quarrels unless there be ample cause. 



We had worked in our loitering way well 

 up the mountain without hearing or seeing 

 anything to arouse suspicion, when a whiff 

 of the breeze brought to my nostrils the 

 dread, smoky taint of man. This hateful 

 odor has reached me many times during 

 my life and always with the same effect. 

 It sends a thrill of fear through me, hard 

 to describe, yet different from that caused 

 by the taint from any other being, and it 

 is so repulsive that I always blow it from 

 my nostrils as quickly as possible. The 

 scent, by a caprice of the breeze, had failed 

 to reach any of my comrades, but my 

 blowings and snortings warned them of the 

 approaching danger, and we all started to 

 desert the threatened locality. 



According to custom we left the yard 

 in different directions and each selected a 

 course for himself. I started around the 

 side of the mountain, planning to continue 

 on the high ground until reaching the 

 Northeast slope, but had gone only a part 

 of the way when the barking of dogs 

 reached my ears and caused me to alter my 

 course abruptly. Were the men whom I 

 had scented accompanied by hounds, there 

 could be no doubt that they had visited 

 the locality, not by chance, but with prep- 

 arations carefully made for capturing one 

 or more of us. I immediately shaped my 

 course down into the valley, and struck for 

 a thick swamp, through which several 

 brooks ran. If there were dogs on oiu 

 trail, to cross this water would bother 



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