THE MOOSE OR FLAT-HORNED ELK 
One of the commonest sights in autumn at the Canadian railway stations 
is the figure of a portly old gentleman standing with an air of pride beside 
a fine moose head. We do not envy him his good fortune but we wonder 
how many moose that sleek and over -fed town dweller would kill if left 
to his own devices. The fact is a real hunter has lured those noble horns 
within easy shot on some lake edge at eve and our adipose friend has 
done nothing but raise his rifle and bring off an easy shot that any boy 
of ten could accomplish. 
Killing the bull moose after it has been lured within shot by means of 
the cry of the female, skilfully imitated on the birch-bark horn, is an inter- 
esting thing to see once, but it is scarcely “playing the game.’’ Perhaps 
ninety per cent of the moose killed by sportsmen in Eastern Canada and 
Maine are shot by this method, and though it affords both exciting moments 
and shows something of the habits of the bull during the rut, it is not a 
method of the chase that should be regularly followed by young men of 
mettle. As a means of killing the bull it is unusually deadly. 
Moose calling is effective for two or three weeks, usually from 
September 6 to about October 10, according to the locality and skill on 
the part of the caller. A dead calm is essential as a moose cannot hear the 
sound if there is any wind. The cry can be heard for four or five miles and 
it sometimes takes the bull a long time to approach. 
The experienced caller begins very low as the bull may be close at hand, 
and he calls every ten or twenty minutes according to local fancy. The 
answer is generally a long deep grunt followed by the breaking of branches, 
and on its way to the supposed female the male often stops and thrashes 
the bush with its horns as if to warn rivals. After much suspense, it is a 
moment of thrill when at last the great black monster comes into view, 
looking even bigger than he really is in the evening glow. 
There are great variations both in rise and cadence of the female cries 
which the caller emits, and the most skilful know exactly when to increase 
and modulate the succession of squeals, whines and groans that evidence 
the supposititious desires of the amorous female. Even the best callers are 
not always successful. The wind may rise, the bull may detect a false note, 
or a real cow may utter some note of superior attraction in another direc- 
tion. A very skilled caller can bring up a bull right at the end of the rut, 
when other imitators have long since put away their horns. Mr W. Butler, 
who had spent seven seasons calling moose in New Brunswick, told me 
that on one occasion no fewer than six bulls came to the call at the same 
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