Wolf hunter

“ The forest is the best home for these pretty creatures, though even there they have many enemies beside the hunter. The bear, the wolf, and the wolverine kill them. Their only means of defence lies in their fleetness of foot. The stag will defend himself with his strong horns; but the doe and her little fawn have no such weapons to guard them when attacked by beasts of prey. The wolf is one of the greatest enemies they have."
"I hate wolves," said Lady Mary; "wolves can never be tamed, nurse." ”

“ Well, as every hunter and trapper who is born and not made is always looking for taller timber and trying to get farther and farther from the ting-tong of the cow bells, so it was in my case. I had seen some whelp wolves that friends of ours (Harris and Leroy Lyman, who were noted hunters) had got. They had gone onto the waters of the Sinnemahoning and taken five pup wolves not much larger than kittens, from their den. The puppies were brought out alive but they killed the old mother wolf. ”

“ As a wolf when surprised over its carrion throws itself blindly into the pack that disturbs its meal; he is already chasing them, he is about to tear them, when amid the yelping of the dogs a gun hammer gently clicks; the wolf recognises it by the click, glances in that direction; he notices that in the rear, behind the hounds, a hunter, half crouching and upon one knee, is moving the gun barrel towards him and is just touching the trigger; the wolf droops its ears and scuttles off with its tail between its legs; the pack with a triumphant uproar rush on and pluck it by its shaggy flanks ”

“ The feathered tribe, rabbits, prairie dogs and bob cats interested me for a while, but soon my thoughts became centered on wolves. Indeed, they are extremely interesting, and I was not long in discovering that it would be necessary to cope with animals of almost human intelligence. Too, they were quite plentiful — could be seen any day while riding over the plains — and night they made hideous with their howls. Would I hunt them with horse an gun, horse an dogs, or attempt to trap them? ”

“ Wolves are even more easily caught in the spring of the year than at any other time. This is, of course, after the close of the hunting season. They are hunters themselves and prefer to chase and kill their own game and this accounts for the fact that they will seldom ever touch a deer carcass left in the woods by hunters. When the snow is deep they hunt deer by following their tracks for hours, even days, until they finally get their prey into a place where the animal can't run or defend itself. ”

“ One who has followed wolf hunting extensively gives the following short but interesting description of the sport: "On the open plains of the west, wolves are often hunted with large swift running dogs, grey hounds, stag or wolf hounds or their crosses. The hunters go on horseback and the wolves are usually roused out of some coulee or draw. Sometimes trail hounds are used to start the game, on breaking from cover and being sighted by the running dogs the race is on. Wolf, dogs and horsemen, race across the often rough and dangerous ground at breakneck speed. ”

“ Never does a hunter show his ability and foresight quite so well as when he abides in shrewd patience the temptation to alarm game in futile gambles against the odds of Fortune. There would be a definite let-down in the fears the wolves had for human tracks and trails because the big fellow had blundered into the wagon ruts without coming to any harm other than rasped nerves. ”

“ A wolf is a heavy sleeper after a feast. A hunter would have said that this wolf had gorged itself the night before. Still, something had alarmed it. Faintly there came to this wilderness outlaw that most thrilling of all things to the denizens of the forest—the scent of man. He came down the ridge with the slow indifference of a full-fed animal, and with only a half of his old cunning ”

“ They had no fear of prairie-wolves; which, though fierce enough when attacking some poor deer or wounded buffalo, are afraid of anything in the shape of man; and will skulk off, whenever they think the latter has any intention to attack them. This, however, is seldom the case, as the prairie hunter does not care to waste a bullet upon them; and they are often permitted to follow, and squat themselves unmolested around the hunter’s camp, within reach of his rifle.
The prairie-wolves are much smaller than any other species of wolf found in America. ”

“ I cried impatiently; “this is no four-legged witch nor bear either. That was a man and when he thought he would be followed he put on moccasins made from bears’ paws to leave a disguised trail. And moreover I believe that man is none other than the Wild Hunter without his wolf pack. And that pass is the pathway he takes in and out of this park. I’m going to trail him whether you want to or not. ”

“ In the heavily timbered country they sometimes den in hollow logs.
The wolf is both cowardly and courageous, depending on circumstances. When found singly, and especially in daylight the animal is as much of a coward as any creature could possibly be, and especially does it fear man. But when suffering from the pangs of hunger and when traveling in bands as they usually do, they are bold, fierce and bloodthirsty creatures. In such cases they have been known to attack man.
When hunting large game, wolves always go in bands, usually of three to five but often a larger number. ”

“ Young Wolf Pups at the Entrance of a Den.
One hunter who uses a dog for this style of hunting says: "The kind of a dog needed is a good ranger, extra good cold trailer and an everlasting stayer. Then if he will only run a short distance after starting the wolf and come back and hunt the pups and then bark at them when found, you have a good dog that is worth a large price. There are plenty of dogs that will hunt and trail wolves all right, but very few that will hunt the pups." ”

“ Indeed, he uses such good judgment that there are not half a dozen instances in the annals of arctic expeditions where the hunter, matching his wits and efforts against those of the beast, has succeeded in shooting a wolf. ”

“ Those who make a business of wolf hunting, or in other words, those who hunt for profit, do not always allow the dogs to fight and kill the wolf, but carry a gun with them, on all occasions and if they have an opportunity to shorten the chase by means of a well directed bullet, do not hesitate to do so. A high powered rifle should be used and one should learn to handle it in a business-like way. In the Western States where the large ranches are rapidly disappearing and the farm, with the barbed wire fence is taking its place, wolf hunting will soon be a thing of the past. ”

“ Wolves Killing a Deer.
The wolf's method of attack is from the rear, springing on its victim and hamstringing it and literally eating it alive. The bite of the wolf is a succession of quick, savage snaps and there is no salvation for the creature that has no means of defense from a rear attack. This peculiar method of killing prey can not be practiced successfully on horses, owing to the fact that they can defend themselves by kicking, but for all of that, a considerable number of colts and a few full grown horses are killed. ”

“ The dogs usually run down the wolf within a mile, and we follow as fast as horse flesh can take us. When the leading dog gets alongside, the wolf stops, and in a second the dogs form a circle around him and he is a goner. Some hunters just turn the dogs loose, not knowing when they are ever going to see them again. ”

“ The efforts of the hunter to free himself from his terrible assailant would have been of little avail but for the assistance of Big Pete, for the wolf was shaking the wild man from side to side with terrific force, very much the same as a bull-terrier might shake a cat. ”

“ It is surmised, also, that the one breed of dog is used alone, when chasing wolves. In Western Canada, wolf hunting is a favorite sport and one of the hunters from that section in speaking on this subject gives the following method of hunting:
"First, we put a box on the sleigh big enough to hold our dogs and then hook up a lively team, and strike across the country, leaving the dogs run along side. When a wolf is sighted, we get the dogs into the box and drive as close to the wolf as we can — that's usually from three to five hundred yards — then turn the dogs loose and cheer them to victory. ”

“ Whenever the hunter hears of wolves, or their signs having been seen frequently, he should make a diligent search for the den. As the old mother wolf always goes to the nearest water to drink, the number of tracks at a watering place will often be a dead give-away and a careful search of the locality will usually result in the discovery of the den. As the den is approached, the tracks will become more numerous, and near by there will be well beaten trails. ”

“ The lighter and swifter grey hounds, as a rule, are the first to overtake the wolf and by coming up alongside and snapping at his flanks, force him to turn and face them, thus giving the heavier and fiercer wolf hounds a chance to close in and grapple with and kill the wolf. Unless the dogs are well trained and very courageous, a large timber wolf often proves more than a match for the bunch of four or five dogs. ”

“ When they want to fill up again, they return and eat him till he dies, finishing the carcass as they require food.
"I have seen horses and cattle killed by wolves in this way live for several days with their hams eaten out, and have never seen the wolf make his attack or give chase in any other way. Being cowardly, he always follows behind and keeps out of all danger from the bull's hoofs." ”

“ Wolves are very suspicious animals, and have a keen scent for human beings. They will sometimes make a wide detour around a place where I have blazed a tree for the purpose of marking a spot I want to again visit. They are very observing and while the scent of a man's trail through the forest is fresh they will not come within many feet of his path. Hunters find in the school of bitter experience that it is no easy matter to catch them in traps. Old trappers will tell you that it is easier to catch the cutest fox than it is to snare the dullest and most stupid wolf. ”

“ Where tracks are numerous one should keep watch for the male, sentinel wolf, as he will always be on the lookout somewhere near the den and his position will enable one to locate it more readily. As one approaches, the male animal will howl and endeavor to draw the hunter off in pursuit and thus prevent the finding of the den. ”

“ When the ground is covered with snow, trapping for wolves is exceedingly difficult and there are few, if any trappers who can make a success of it. Throughout Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as in Canada, a few are caught by the most persistent hunters, but the winter catch never amounts to much. ”

“ Ernest Thompson Seton and others say a she wolf or dog staked out in the mating season is an infallible lure; and a captive wolf that will howl is good at any time.' We have a number of female wolves around the camp now and have had them for a long while, one is quite gentle and they howl. They have been staked out frequently with a circle of traps around each, but no wolf has been near. ”

“ On the ranges, where the stockmen and settlements are far apart, wolves go in bunches, from three to ten or even more, and when very hungry a bunch of them will attack a grown bull. They frighten him by snapping and playing around him till they get him on the run, when the bunch give full chase and stay close at his heels. ”

“ I’ve seed his trail onct or twice, an’ I’ve seed him onct, but I never yet seed his trail and the Wild Hunter’s trail at the same time and place. ’Pears to me that a man who, when it’s convenient, kin make a wolf of hisself, might likewise make a boy of hisself whenever he felt that way. ”

“ The answer was instant.
Something rumbled within the den, deep down, like a geyser.
The white wolf whined again, and sprang aside just as the bear, maddened with the pain of a .450-caliber rifle bullet in his stomach, and seeking a sacrifice, hurled out of the dark and up over the tree-trunk, striking, with appalling nail-strokes, right and left; and the quickness of those strokes was only a less astonishment than the agility of the wolves getting out of the way of them. But—but he had come out to abolish one wolf, that bear; not one hundred and twenty-nine. ”

“ This was no lunatic baying of the moon, such as must bring response from many wolves, each sitting alone with his nose to the sky. It was not the trail-cry that a wolf utters when he jumps big game and wants the pack to close in. It had no resemblance to the thrilling food call, which brings every hungry wolf within hearing to a kill; nor was it like the howl of a she-wolf, leader of the pack, when she calls her cubs to the hunting, and they come with the clamor of hounds unleashed. ”

“ His howling has nothing to do with his hunting, being reserved for social or other occasions; he wastes no breath in noise, as hounds do, when he means to overtake anything. Indeed, one of the most uncanny qualities of a wolf is the fleet, soundless, mysterious way he has of appearing where he is least expected. In the northern wilderness this is the typical way of it:
You are swinging along campward, following your lonely snowshoe trail over ice-locked waters, through snow-filled woods, when there comes a vague change or chill in the air. ”

“ It is his last hour, but there is no quaking—no crying out to the night to send him aid. As the wolves rest, a flash blinds their eyes—a second—a third—and a fourth, and they give before the man they had looked upon as their certain prey. But it is only for a moment. He sees them gathering for the rush, and firing his remaining bullets among them he seizes his long rifle by the barrel and braces to meet the shock. Even a savage would have admired the heroic fight he made for life. He sounds the war-cry and whirls his weapon around him, and wolf after wolf falls disabled. ”