The Moose

Categories: STEEL TRAPS AND THE ART OF TRAPPING.

We have already given so much space to the hunting of the deer

that we shall be obliged to cut short our remarks on the Moose,

particularly as it is a representative of the same family. This

animal is the largest of the Deer tribe, being seven or eight feet

in height and often weighing over fifteen hundred pounds. It is

supplied with immense flat spreading horns, sometimes expanding to

the distance of six feet between he tips. It is found in Maine,

Oregon and Washington Territories, and in the neighborhood of the

great lakes, and inhabits the regions as far


north as the Arctic Sea. Its color is yellowish brown. The fur is

thicker in winter than summer, and on the neck of the animal the

hair is very coarse and hangs in an immense tuft of over a foot

in length. The flesh is most excellent food and is much esteemed

by trappers. The habits of the moose are in most respects identical

with the deer, already described, and like them they form yards

during the winter season.






In the North the moose is hunted on snow-shoes by the natives,

and in summer they are shot like the deer. They are often very

dangerous and terrible creatures to hunt, and the utmost care and

skill, as described in regard to the deer, is required on the part

of the hunter in order to avoid detection through the exquisite

sense of smell which the animal possesses. The moose is easily

trapped. The Newhouse, No. 6, is especially adapted for the purpose,

and it should be chained to a clog of stone or wood of over fifty

pounds in weight. Set the trap in the yard, or beneath the snow

where the moose frequents, or in the summer, or fall seasons, as

described for the deer, using the same methods in regard to baiting,

etc.



Skin after the manner of cattle, and stretch the hide on a

hoop-spreader. Page 275.