482 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[t)EC. 18, 18OT. 
A PENOBSCOT MOOSE. 
Kew Yohk, Nov. 27. — Editor Forrest and Stream: The 
last two years I hunted in Hancock county, in the eastern 
part of Maine, and although the deer shooting there is Tery 
good, still one gets tired of that after a while and wants 
larger game; so last year I determined that my 1897 trip 
would be for moose, and to explore the country along the 
West Branch of the Penobscot. I kept in communication 
with my guide, A. L. Spearin, of Passadumkeag, through 
the summer, and about Sept. 20 I wrote him to meet me at 
Greenville Oct. 1. 
I left New York Sept. 30 and arrived the next morning 
at the stated time at Greenville, wbere T found my guide 
with his canoe, tents, etc., waiting for me. We immedi- 
ately boarded the steamer for Kineo, twenty miles up Moose- 
head Lake, where we stopped for dinner, and to get what 
provisions we needed for our trip, etc. After dinner we 
boarded the steamer again en route for the Northeast Carry 
At the carry we found a team in waiting, and putting our 
canoe and baggage aboard, we were soon across and 
launched on the West Branch. 
We camped that night close by the Northeast Carry, and 
the next morning bright and early we started for Lobster 
Lake, a very beautiful sheet of water about two miles wide 
by eight long. On rounding the point from the West 
Branch into Lobster Stream I saw a spike-horned buck 
standing at the edge of the stream. I laid down my paddle 
quietly and picking up my rifle (a .40-82) aimed just undpr 
his neck, intending to raise and fire the instant I saw his 
neck through the sights. It was quite cold, however, and 
as we had been paddling two miles my fingers were numb, 
and I pressed the trigger before I was ready and conse- 
quently undershot, I knew I had not hit him, so we wasted 
no time in looking fot him, but continued up the stream to 
the lake. The camp ground we expected to occupy we 
found had been taken, "o we continued up two miles fur- 
ther, where we secured a very fair spot. 
Leaving my guide to pitch the tent and get lunch, I walked 
up an old logging road to see if there were many signs of 
deer. I found the signs very plentiful, and jumped two. I 
fired at one of them, and although I hit il pretty hard, judg- 
ing from the amount of blood "that was lost, I was unable 
to follow it more than a couple of hundred feet. I came 
back to lunch, and afterward started up with my guide to 
see if we could find the one 1 had shot. 1 left him on the 
trail and started off in another direction. 
While quietly following an old road, and closely watching 
the brush on either side, I saw what looked like a brown 
stump. I watched it closely for a while, but was unable to 
decide whether it was a stump or a deer. I did not want to 
risk losing a good shot, but 1 never under any circumstances 
fire a shot and then afterward go and see what I shot at. 
I prefer to lose the best shot of my life rather than run the 
risk of shooting some one else. In about a minute I saw the 
ot ject move, and immediately a doe's head rose from the 
bushes. A short time afterward I had a fine, fat, barren doe 
hung up; so we then had plenty of meat to take with us on 
our trip. My guide returned without finding the wounded 
deer. 
The next day, Sunday, we spent in exploring the lake 
and visiting other camps. On Monday we visited Little 
Lobster Pond, and saw tne track of a very large bull moose 
that had just gone along a wet part in the road, leaving the 
water muddy behind him. On Tuesday morning we left 
Lobster Lake and paddled down the West Branch about 
twenty-five miles to Chesuncook Lake. This part of the 
river is nearly all dead water, there being very few rapids or 
"quick water, "as it is called, there, the worst part being 
Pine Stream falls, which is very rocky, and requires con- 
siderable skill to run them safely. We saw no deer that 
day, which was very unusual. We camped that night on 
Chesuncook Lake, and the next morning, Oct, 5, we started 
down the lake (which is sixteen miles long), intending to get 
down to the lower part as soon as possible, and from there 
lake our time on the rest of the trip. Shortly after starting 
it began to blow quite hard, and after going about three 
miles we decided it would Ise unwise to continue farther 
with such a wind (as my guide says, "It is better to be safe 
than sorry," and I find that a good motto to follow, particu- 
larly in the quick water and on the big lakes. There were 
several men drowned in Maine this year who would have 
been alive to-day if they had followed that motto), We 
landed in a cove, and leaving the guide to select a spot for 
camp I explored the surrounding country, and found that 
deer were very thick. On that day I saw nine deer. 
The next morning I walked about three miles up the lake 
to a farmhouse to inquire about the general condition of 
game in that part of the country. The farmer complained 
of the deer destroying his oats, and said that he estimated 
that he had lost $150 this season by the deer going into his 
oatfields. Asked if there were many moose in that section, 
he said there were not many in that particular place, but he 
told of a lake not very far off where moose were quite plen- 
tiful; but he asked me, at the same lime, not to tell anyone 
else of this particular place. Eeturning to camp, I told the 
guide what I had learned. He was not familiar with this 
part of the country, as he had not been in this section for a 
great many years. The next morning v\ e started very early, 
so as to cross the lake before the wind rose. After paddling 
seven or eight miles we reached the stream running from the 
lake for which we were bound, and found it very shallow. 
I walked up the trail along the edge of the stream, and 
left my guide to bring up the canoe. It took him four hours 
to make three miles, as he had to wade almost the entire dis- 
tance, dragging the canoe along with him. Reaching the 
lake, we had lunch and then started to look for moose signs. 
We decided to go entirely around it before we camped. 
Starting up one side, we went ashore at various places and 
saw a great many fresh tracks, and by the time we had 
almost completed the circle of the lake we were satisfied that 
it was only a question of a few days to get a moose. Then 
going down the lake on the opposite side, we noticed a hard- 
wood bridge, which apparently was the only suitable spot 
for a camp. W e made for that, and when quite near were 
surprised to see two canoes drawn up on a little beach, and 
that somebody evidently was in there ahead of us. We felt 
rather blue about it, as on those small lakes the first party in 
is never disturbed by another pai'ty. 
We decided to visit their camp and see if we could find a 
suitable place to j)itch our tent and then go out the next 
jaorning. We went ashore and walked up to the camp, and 
met with the coolest reception that I have ever met with on 
any one of my hunting trips. One of the sportsmen was 
writing a letter, and never so much as looked up from his 
paper, although we were seventy-five miles from the railroad 
station, and we either had to find a camp ground very soon 
or spend the night in "ur canoe. I spoke to the guides and 
also to the other sportsman, and received very short answers. 
I then explained to tihe guides that we did not know that 
anybody was on that lake, and as soon as we had found that 
the ground was occupied, why, we had planned to go out 
the next morning. 1 asked if there was any other camp 
ground near by. The party who was writing looked up 
from his paper long enough to inform us that the next camp 
ground was about four miles below, down the stream that 
we had come up in the morning, and which would be im- 
possible to reach that night. We got into our canoe and 
paddled down to the head of the stream, and made the best 
camp we could on the sea wall for that night, and the next 
morning went down the stream to another lake and pitched 
our camp there. 
About noon one of the guides from the other camp came 
down and apologized for their treatment the night before, 
and explained that a few days before he had met a friend 
who had stated that he had positive information that his 
camp was to be visited by two deputy game wardens in a few 
days, and as they were on the lookout for them and had not 
seen us until we stepped into their camp, they look us for 
the deputies ; and as they had not killed any game out of sea- 
son, and had no intention of doing so, they had decided to 
give any wardens a verj^ cool reception. After we had left 
the camp, however, they had talked it over and decided 
that they were mistaken, and were very sorry for what they 
had done. 
Our camp was visited a few days later by one of the gen- 
tlemen, Thomas Martindale, of Philadelphia, but as I was 
not in camp, he left a written invitation on a piece of birch 
bark for me to take dinner with him the next day. The 
next morning I walked up the stream to the head and there 
fired two shots as agreed, and waited for him to send the 
canoe, as it was almost impossible to go through the woods 
from the head of the stream to his camp. After waiting 
half an hour without seeing the canoe, I supposed he had 
not heard my shots and started through the wood.s, as it was 
impossible to follow the shore at that point, it being very 
muddy. I found the woods all he had promised, and was an 
hour and a half making one mile to his camp, and if 1 had 
not had my compass i doubt very much whether I would 
have been there yet. They were surprised to see me, 
and asked why I had not fired the shots, and when told that 
I had said they had not heard them The trip through the 
cedar swamp had sharpened ray appetite, and I enjoyfd a 
very good dinner, and found Mr, Martindale and his friend 
Mr. Miller very agreeable companions. They told me that 
a couple of nights before they had heard a noise outside of 
their sleeping tent, and the cook got up <>nd walked out to 
see what it was. He saw a dark nbj ct in between two of 
the tent?, and thinking it was one of the guides, called him 
by name. As he spoke he saw an immense head swing 
round, and found that it was a big bull moose stand- 
ing within 10ft. of him. As he had no gun, he retreated 
m good order, and the moose being satisfied with his investi- 
gation walked off. 
I returned to camp immediately after dinner, as the next 
day was Oct. 15, and 1 wanted to start bright and early for 
a moose. For three or four days before I had been explor- 
ing all around and had located a spot where I knew I could 
go any day and get a moose by waiting long enough, as 1 
had gone through that section four or five times and had al- 
ways seen from three to six fresh moose tracks made some 
time during the day. The next morning after an early 
breakfast we started for a lake about a mile from the camp. 
I took my camera with me, as I wished to take some pictures 
of an old logging camp and a beaver dam. My guide said 
we had better make a circle of the lake, as we might possi- 
bly catch a moose standing out on the shore, and if we did 
not see one by the time we had com^ around to the logging 
camp I could then secure the pictures, and he would take 
my camera back to camp, and I could go off to the place 
where I had seen so many tracks, 
, , The lake was about three miles long, and we had gone up 
one side about two miles when the guide called attention to 
a dark object at the head of the lake, and said it might be a 
moose. At the distance we were we could not tell what it 
was and did not pay much attention to it, but continued 
paddling quietly along shore. After going a half mile fur- 
ther I glanced at the object again and could see daylight 
under it, and it lookad like a moose. We then paddled a 
little faster and pretty soon we could see what looked like 
the horns^ but yet could not tell whether it was a moose or a 
stump, in a few moments, however, we saw the head swing 
and the sun strike on the antlers, and Lon, the guide, said^ 
"There is our bird." By that time it was blowing very 
hard, but fortunately straight from the moose to us. We 
paddled as quickly as we could, but it took us quite a while 
to get up to him. When about 125yds. from him I laid 
down the paddle and picked up the rifle, so as to be ready if 
he should start. My guide had repeatedly told me before to 
stop paddling and cool off, as he knew this was the first 
moose 1 had ever seen in the woods and supposed I would be 
excited. I acknowledged that my nerves did tingle and 
were a little unsteady, but it was more from the hard pad- 
dling against the wind than anything else. 1 had no sooner 
picked up my rifle than the moose turned, and my guide 
commenced to swear; for, as he told me afterward, there 
were three deer (a buck and two does) and a cow moose just 
at the edge of the woods back of the bull, arid when I picked 
up my rifle the deer jumped and started the moose, As the 
bull turned I fired, but on account of my nerves being un- 
steady and the canoe jumping (my guide was stiU paddling 
as hard as he could) 1 struck about 6ft. to the right of him. 
It is surprising at times what thoughts will come into one's 
head at a critical moment. When starting on our trip my 
guide very much admired a sheepskin vest that I had for use 
in cold weather on the lakes, also a hat that I had made to 
order, with a low crown and a broad brim. While lying in 
our tent a few nights before this and talking over our pros- 
pects of getting a good head, I told Lon if we got a good 
head I would give him the hat and vest; and when I saw the 
bullet strike so far fram the moose my first thought was, I 
suppose Lon thinks there goes my hat and vest. He after- 
ward very generously assured me that he had no such 
thoughts, but was simply sorry to see me miss him, and was 
beginning to think that I was like a great many others with 
their first moose. 
As the moose started off, however, I got down on my 
knees in the bow of the canoe so as not to fail again, and 
fired a second shot, but qould not see where it strutk, I 
fired a third shot, but just as I fired the moose jumped into a 
creek, and the bullet went across his back, and, as I after- 
ward found, touched one of the points of his horns. I got 
ready for a fourth shot, and waited till he began to climb 
out of the brook; and just as he was' raising we got into still 
water about 100yds, from him, and Lon stopped paddling so 
as to give me a fair shot. I aimed right at his hip, and put 
the bullet exactly where I wanted to, and he dropped on the 
spot with a broken back. He managed, however, to raise 
himself and just crawl ashore, and Lon said he was a very 
accommodating old chap; but, as it proved, he began to crow 
too soon. We walked ashore and went up as close as we 
thought it safe, and I shot him again just behind the shoul- 
der; he never winced, but sat there with his front feet spread 
out before him as if he intended to rise I shot him again 
low down to strike the heart, but he paid no attention to 
that, and we thought it was no use to shoot him any more, 
as he would not die until he got ready anyhow. In about a 
minute he gave one grunt, rolled over on his side, and dis- 
appeared completely in a mud hole, except one horn, which 
stood above the wab r. 
The air was blue for a while, and I asked my guide what ■ 
he was swearing at. He wanted to know if I realized the 
contract we had on our hands to get that moose out of that 
hole. 1 did not realize it fully at that time, but 1 did just 
eight hours later when we had finished with him, as it took 
us just that time to get the hide and head oft'. Lon got a 
crutched stick and tried to get it under his head. I told him 
I had often heard of people shooting moose, bur. never heard 
of anyone fishing for moose before; but he said he guessed 
we would have to fish for this one if we wanted him. 
We finally got his head above water, and after hard work 
succeeded in dragging his head and shoulders up on shore 
and making him fast to a tree. Then by the aid of ropes 
fastened to his feet we gradually worked him out further. 
We had no means of getting him entirely out, so we were 
obliged to take him out in pieces. We skinned the shoulder 
and then unjointed it and carried that out, then skinned 
further and cnopped along the backbone and took out a sec- 
tion of the ribs, and so on back to the hip. We t;hen skinned 
a hindquarter and unjoinling that carried it out. We were 
unable to turn him over, and after taking the head off Lon 
went into the water almost to his waist, and as I raised the 
moose and turned him as much as possible he skinned him 
partly under water. After taking the hide off we hung it 
up, and it must have weighed over lOOlbs. wet, for it was all 
we could do to raise it from the ground and put it over a pole 
to dry. 
While skinning him I found a .SOcal. steel -jacketed rifle 
bullet that had just gone through the hide and fl clened out 
on the muscles of the hindleg. The lead had flattened and 
the steel jacket was coiled up alongside of it. Al ter taking 
his head to camp, and while my guiue was cleaning it, 1 
noticed a little bunch on the sY ^ of the neck. I cut it open 
and found another steel jacketed rifle bullet, .SOcal., that had 
failed to penetrate the skin. It had gone partly through and 
had there flattened oat, but had not separated from the steel 
jacket. He had evidently been shot m Sep' "ruber, as a small 
am^'unt of pus had formed around each bullet. 
When skinning him 1 also found that my second shot had 
struck him behind the shoulder, and after breaking a rib the 
ball, although very much flattencl, had gone through him 
and was just against the skin en i Le other side Tne ball 
that struck him in the hip went through the hip bone, and 
penetrated 3^in. into the backbone, completely shattering 
it. In the last few years I have had a great many sports- 
men explaining the value of a small caliber steel-jacketed 
bullet, but I think this case upsets all of their theories, as 
either one of these bullets that 1 found would have been 
fatal if it had had weight enough. Before completing my 
trip I met two gentlemen who had each killed a moose with 
a .30-caliber steel-jacketed bullet, but in both cases they had 
shot the game several times between the hip and the shoulder, 
one of them putting five bullets in his moose before dropping 
him; but I am satisfied that if either of them had hit the 
large bone in the hip or shoulder they would have lost their 
moose. 
The next morning we started, and going down the stream 
saw a caribou standing at the edge of the woods quite a long 
distance off. I raised my rifle, but the guide thought I 
would not be able to hit him at that distance; I told him I 
thought I could, and he said I had better aim a few inches 
above his shoulders, as the ball would no doubt fall consider- 
able at that distance. I did so, and had the poor satisfaction 
of seeing the hair fly just from the top of his shoulders, prov- 
ing that the ball had scarcely fallen at all. In the future I 
shall put more faith in my gun in long-range shooting. In 
going down Chesuncook Lake that afternoon we met a 
gentleman camped at the lower end, with Ernest Davis and 
Granville Grey as guides Grey was a taxidermist, and was 
employed by S. L. Crosby, of Bangor, in winter, and very 
kindly offered to relieve me of the moose head, as they were 
going out in a couple of days and would have no carries; and 
would take it to Crosby while we were just getting to the 
hardest part of our trip, and would have nine carries in all 
before reaching Norcross. I was very glad of the oppor- 
tunity, and accepted his offer. After having dinner with 
this party we continued on down the lake, and about 3 
o'clock in the afternoon had gotten about half way across 
Chesuncook Carry, between Chesuncook and Ripergenoua 
lakes, when it began to rain. 
We stopped in an old camp, and as it kept raining de- 
cided to stay there over night. Shortly after dark I thought 
1 heard some one walking up toward the door; I was just 
about to go out and investigate when we heard a deer biow 
and scamper off'. Toward morning it began to blow very 
hard, and a fir tree standing alongside of our camp was 
broken off about 2ft. above the ground. As we were not in 
a very comfortable position to stay over Sunday, the nest 
morning we started quite early and expected just to cross 
Ripergenous Lake, where we would have a good place to 
camp until Monday morning. 
It was still blowing very hard, and after going about 
three-quarters of a mile it was blowing a hurricane and we 
began to take water over the canoe. We paddled ashore as 
quickly as possible and barely escaped swamping. We 
landed in the woods and then had to hunt for a spot to camp 
temporarily. We found a suitable place abwut 200yds. fur- 
ther down the lake and transferred most of our baggage 
there. By this time it was blowing so hard that the trees 
began to break, and we were afraid we would lose our 
canoe, so we hurried back and were just in time to save it. 
We took hold of it, and while carrying it into the woods a 
fir tree about 1ft. in diameter snapped off' about 25ft. from 
the ground, and the top was whirled over our heads and 
thrown about 50ft. to one side. We had a very narrow es- 
cape. We stayed in camp all that day, and in the afternoon 
