192 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



A combined system of scoring, in which credit 

 would be given for various qualities, would have 

 many advantages. An imaginary normal head 

 might be scored as follows: 



Points^ of 

 merit 



Spread (transverse, not diagonal), inches . . . .47 



Number of points ........ 21 



Width of palmation, inches, right + left 9 . . . l8 

 Circumference of beam (doubled), inches, X 2 . . .13 



99 



Breadth of blade is important, as well as breadth 

 of spread. Breadth of blade and circumference 

 of beam are in most cases indicative of weight and 

 mass, points which in this country are popularly 

 ignored. 



I was in a New Brunswick camp one day when a 

 sportsman came in and reported killing a moose 

 whose antlers spread fifty-four inches. 



"How many points?" I asked. 



He had not taken the trouble to count. 



"Did they have good blades?" 



They had not been measured. 



A few days later I took the trail near which the 

 moose, waiting for the tote team, was lying. The 



impressive in moose antlers — far more so than wide spread and narrow 

 * shovel.'" — Homaday, The National Collection of Heads and Horns, 

 p. 48. But area of palmation is not easily measured. 



