Three Boys in the Wild North Land

by Egerton Ryerson Young

Chapter Twenty.

The Call of the Moose—Preparations For Capture—Midnight March—Rival Bulls—A Royal Battle—Frank’s Shot—Big Tom, the Successful Moose Hunter—Young Moose Calves—Their Capture—Sam’s Awkward Predicament.

In the morning the boys were informed that during the night the call of a great moose bull was heard, and that an effort would be made the next night to kill him if possible.

The moose is the largest animal that roams in these northern forests, and is exceedingly difficult to kill. His eyes are small and not very good, but he has the most marvellous powers of hearing and smelling given to almost any animal. Then he is so cunning and watchful that very few Indians are able, by fair stalking him in his tracks, to get a shot at him. He does not eat grass, but browses on the limbs and branches of several kinds of trees. His horns are often of enormous proportions, but yet the speed and ease with which he can dash safely through the dense forests is simply marvellous.

There are various ways of killing them in addition to the sportsmanlike way of following on the trail, and thus by skill and endurance getting within range of them.

In the winter, when the snow is deep, they have a poor chance against the hunters, who, on their light snowshoes, can glide on the top of the deep snow, while the great, heavy moose goes floundering in the drift.

They have a great weakness for the large, long roots of the water lily, and so are often killed while they are out from the shore and wallowing in the marshy places for these succulent dainties. But the most exciting sport is that which the Indians were here going to adopt in trying to bring this big fellow, whose bellowings the night before had so arrested the attention of those who had been awakened by him.

Mr Ross explained that the bellowings of the previous night were his calls to his mates in the forest. Perhaps they had been alarmed by some hunters or chased by wolves, and had become widely separated. So nature has not only given to the moose of both sexes this wonderful power of hearing, but to the males this great voice, which in the stillness of the night in those northern solitudes can be heard for a number of miles. The reply call of the female moose is much softer, and the Indians have a plan by which they can so successfully imitate it that they can often call the old male moose close enough to them to be shot; and cases are known where the infuriated beast, maddened by the deception played upon him, has rushed upon his deceiver and made it lively work for him to get beyond the reach of his great antlers.

For fear of driving the moose out of the neighbourhood, it was decided that there was to be no firing of guns that day, as the Indians were certain there had been no answer to the call of the male on the part of the other sex, and judging from their knowledge of the habits of the animal they decided that, if not alarmed, he would be within hearing distance about ten o’clock that evening.

The question then was, “How are we to spend the day?” This was speedily answered when the Indians reported that there were any number of sturgeon seen jumping in the shallows among the rocks not far out from the shore. The method of securing them was by spearing them from the canoes. A good deal of calculation was required in managing the canoes so that they would not be upset in the excitement of the sport, and then a great deal of strength had to be exerted to hold on to the spears when once the great big sturgeon, from four to six feet long, was transfixed.