Wolf and Coyote Trapping Part 4

I set my 30-30 Savage and pulled it off with a rope, shooting her through the heart. It was forty feet from the entrance of the hole to where she lay, and it was midnight when I got her out. I had to move some dirt and rocks and it was a big job.

"I have killed other grown wolves in the den and have never known one to show fight. Of course, I always use a lantern to see what I am doing, and would not enter a den without one." The young wolves should be killed immediately and live pups should never be handled with bare hands, as blood poisoning is likely to result from a bite.

CHAPTER VI.

HUNTING WOLVES WITH DOGS.

Beyond all doubt wolf chasing as it is practiced in some parts of the country is one of the most fascinating of sports and in a place where the animals are fairly plentiful and the surface of the country is not too rough, is also profitable. In parts of the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, some of the professional wolfers use this method of securing their game and in the states lying west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, also in Western Canada, wolf hunting is a very popular sport among the ranchmen.

Among the dogs that are most approved of by the wolf and coyote hunters, may be mentioned the fox hound, the greyhounds, and stag hounds of various varieties, the bloodhound and crosses of these dogs. The grey hounds are the swiftest of dogs and a pair of them are invariably to be found in a pack, the balance being some heavier and fiercer breed of dog, such as the blood hound, fox hound or a cross of the two. It is the grey hounds that run the game down and hold it until the arrival of the balance of the pack, the heavier dogs doing the actual fighting.

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 hors.e.m.e.n, race across the often rough and dangerous ground at breakneck speed. The wolf, maneuvering to gain the coulee or cover of some sort and get out of sight of the dogs (the running dogs have only slight scenting powers and depend entirely on their sight). 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."

No matter what kind of dogs are used, they must be good tonguers and good fighters, and must have an abundance of strength and endurance.

It is needless to say that the dog must be trained and this must be done at an early age. The young dog should never be run alone, for the wolf is likely to fight it off and once the young dog is driven back it will be spoiled for hunting purposes.

One of our Kansas friends in speaking of wolf dogs says: "We have plenty of wolves (coyotes) and have had for the twenty years we have kept dogs. As to breeding, we used an English greyhound b.i.t.c.h with courage, speed and a special hatred for a wolf, crossed with an English fox hound with all the qualities necessary, except the speed.

We then picked the b.i.t.c.h with the most good qualities and crossed her with another fox hound whose ancestry is perfect. Here we get the dog we are using now and with which we have made the most satisfactory of catches. We seldom have a run lasting more than three hours and catch many, when vegetation is not too high, in from one to one and a half hours. Where this dog has the advantage over the fox hound is in speed and the fact that it is ever on the watch ahead for the game."

Evidently the party who used this breed of dog has endeavored to instill into the one type, all of the good qualities of the several breeds that go to make up the regulation pack of wolf dogs. 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. 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. That plan would not work with me. Good hounds are too expensive to monkey with that way. I have found that letting one or two dogs on a wolf trail spoils them, because one wolf will give two dogs all they can handle, and sometimes a little bit more, especially if they are young dogs.

It takes two old dogs at least, to handle one wolf, and I have seen them get the hard end of it. The wolf perhaps would take to running into the scrub and then it wouldn't be long until a pair of wolves would be slas.h.i.+ng your dogs or 'fleecing' the stuffing out of them."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Catch of a Canadian Hunter Who Uses Dogs.]

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. Mr. Jack Kinsey, one of the most noted wolfers of the West, gives a description of an exciting wolf chase, in which he ill.u.s.trates this point, and we give the story in his own words:

"While I was in Dakota last winter I had two exciting wolf chases. I was stopping with Mr. Wm. Clanton, a cowman, living seven miles south of Harding, S. D. One day I was in his shop putting a coyote hide on a stretcher, when one of his neighbors drove up and asked Mr. Clanton if he had a rifle. He said, 'Yes, there is a wolfer here who has one.' 'Why,' his friend said, 'there are two big grey wolves just back over that hill.'"

"I waited for no more but ran for my horse and gun. Clanton saw me going to the barn and told me to bring his horse. Now I was not long in getting those horses and we were soon on their trail. We followed their tracks about one and one-half miles when we sighted them.

Picking out the largest of the two we both rode after him. The wolf started west towards some bad lands, but Mr. Clanton was riding a good young horse and he soon turned the wolf south, but now he was headed straight for a wire fence.

"Mr. Clanton would have succeeded in turning him again, but he struck a ditch full of snow, so the wolf got inside the pasture but I was fixed for wire fences. I had my trapping axe on my saddle and soon made a gate that we did not stop to fix up. We had run the wolf five or six miles by this time, and our horses were pretty well winded. So we pulled them up and let them take a slower gait until we got through the other side of the pasture.

"As I said before, Mr. Clanton was riding the best horse, so he kept the outside while I took advantage of the cuts. Mr. Clanton was just far enough ahead of me to make one throw at the wolf with his rope, but he missed him. The wolf cut in behind his horse, when I rode in front of him and put a 30-40 soft point in his head. He was a very large grey wolf. His hide stretched 6 1/2 feet long. On the way back we saw three more wolves and two coyotes."

We give the following spirited account of a wolf hunt which occurred in South Dakota:

"Will tell about one of my hunts behind a pair of wolf hounds that are certainly right when it comes to coyotes. I left my home here in Illinois on the 12th of December and arrived at Presho, S. D., early the 14th, where my friends met me, and we started for the ranch, which is about midway between Presho and Pierre.

"When we got to the reservation fence (Brule Reservation), we kept a lookout for coyote signs, and located a place that we thought would be all right, and planned a hunt for the following Sat.u.r.day.

"The day proved all that could be desired, so we started out at noon.

Earl, Claude, Mort, Chas., Sheldon and myself, with the two hounds, Ike and Lucy. A ride of about two miles brought us to the reservation, and the hunt was on.

"Our outfit consisted of our saddled ponies and team and buggy, and by standing up in the buggy seat we located two coyotes on the side hill playing in the high gra.s.s. A circle around the hill and Lucy discovered them and was off with Ike a second, as he was not as fast as Lucy.

"Away we all go across the prairie with the team and buggy following the reservation fence to keep the coyote away from the fence. It was a short chase, as Lucy soon had Mr. Coyote by the hind leg and turned him on his back quicker than it can be told, and Ike being close at hand soon had him by the throat, so by the time we could get out horses stopped and turned Mr. Coyote was no more.

"After skinning, we started for the buggy and Sheldon reported coyote No. 2 headed south down the draw, and Earl went after him around the hill and drove him back our way.

"A shout from that direction and the dogs have discovered No. 2 and we are away with Lucy in the lead, and this time we are not far behind, so that when the dogs got him we were right there, and the coyote not much hurt, so he gets a rope halter and is stowed away alive under the buggy seat.

"The dogs are panting hard and are very thirsty, with no water closer than five miles, so we head for home, but not far away on the hillside another one is seen and the buggy starts toward the left to head him toward the ranch, so the dogs will be running toward home when they jump him.

"This time Ike catches sight and is off, and Lucy cuts across to head him off. It is a short chase, for old Ike soon has his favorite hold and all is over.

"After skinning we started for home and as I hadn't ridden much for over a year you can gamble I was feeling pretty sore, for the pace a pack of hounds set isn't slow by a long shot. On driving into the yard the dogs were not slow about getting into the house and lying down.

"The live coyote we tied to the buggy wheel, and while I was gone after a strap and chain he bit the rope off and 'cut the mustard' for parts unknown with about a foot of rope still hanging to him.

"We have good hunting here in the spring and fall, plenty of chickens and, some ducks and geese, with lots of jack rabbits and (Flicker Tails), prairie dogs, and their side partners, owls and rattlers.

"Our outfit is the bar circle outfit, O and I think our Holstein cattle are among the first herds in the state. Have since this hunt disposed of my interest in the O but still have a bunch of cattle at Presho, which supply the town with milk."

CHAPTER VII.

STILL HUNTING WOLVES AND COYOTES.

Hunting wolves with dogs, as described in the preceding chapter is certainly exciting sport but it is doubtful if it is as remunerative as still-hunting, especially in the rough sections where hunting with dogs is almost impracticable. In parts of the country where wolves and coyotes are plentiful, as they are in many of the thinly settled portions of the West, they may be still hunted at all times of the year. In the heavily timbered parts of the North, this method is practical only in winter.

The outfit that is needed for still-hunting in the West is one or more good saddle horses and the necessary equipment and a good, high powered rifle. A pair of field gla.s.ses will also be useful, but some hunters equip their rifles with telescope sights and the field gla.s.s is unnecessary. Hunters differ in their views, and with regard to rifles especially, there is a great difference of opinion. What one believes to be perfect, and which answers his purpose admirably, another has no use for whatever.

The arm selected should, however, have considerable power, and the flight of the bullet should be rapid, with a low trajectory. On the Western Plains the atmosphere is so light and transparent, and there is such a sameness to the surface of the country that one may easily be deceived in distances and with the high powered long-ranged rifle, there is less liability of errors, as the accurate estimating of distances is not necessary.

A gun of rapid action is also to be recommended and beyond all doubt the automatic acting arms are superior for shooting at running game.

Personally, if the writer were selecting an arm for this kind of hunting, a high powered automatic rifle would be chosen, and it would be fitted with a small bead front sight and hunting peep rear sight.

For use on horse back the shorter barrels are to be preferred.

In speaking of the outfit it is presumed that the wolf hunter would be a resident of the western country and would be hunting from home or anyway, making his headquarters at some ranch and hunting from there. If, however, he wants to go out into virgin territory, or if a stranger, he might find it necessary to camp out and in that case he would require a complete camping outfit. Some of the western wolfers use covered wagons for camps and this style of camp is very convenient as it may be moved easily, but if the surface of the country is very rough, this plan is not practical. In that case a tent would be needed and the hunter would use a pack horse in moving camp.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Still Hunter and His Outfit.]

Speaking of saddle horses, in the more arid parts of the wolf country, the vegetation is scanty and horses require considerable time in which to rustle food. For that reason the same horse can not be used each day and one should have several so that each would have plenty of time to recuperate, after use. If one can obtain horses that will allow one to shoot from the saddle, so much the better. No special knowledge of hunting is required, but one should be expert in the use of the rifle, and should also be a good rider. All that is necessary is to ride over the rougher parts of the country, where wolves are most likely to be seen, and keep a sharp lookout for the game. It is always best to hunt to windward as one can approach closer to the game.

Where the bounty is sufficient to make summer hunting profitable, we would recommend this style of hunting at that time of year. In summer, hunting with dogs is not as simple a matter as in winter and trapping is not as good as during the colder part of the year. For coyotes, still hunting is a very successful method in parts of the country where the animals are plentiful and there is probably no place in which the method could be used to better advantage than in the sheep-raising district of Montana and Wyoming. There coyotes may be sighted every day and if the hunter would make a practice of following up the large herds of sheep to the summer range, he would always be sure of an abundance of game.

One is most likely to sight coyotes by riding along the coulees and over the rougher ground. About prairie dog towns are excellent places, as there they will frequently be found looking for the little inhabitants of the burrows. Other good places are the ragged, craggy parts of the Bad Lands and in the sage brush along the watercourses.

In winter one may follow the tracks in the snow and will stand a better chance of securing the game. While still hunting alone might not prove a very profitable method of hunting if one were hunting for bounty, it should always be used in connection with trapping and den hunting. As mentioned in a previous chapter one will often get shots at the adult animals near the dens and if one knows of the location of a den, he may often get a shot by watching it. Anyway the rifle should always be carried, and it should be used whenever a wolf or coyote is seen within range.

We will conclude this chapter by giving an account of a coyote still-hunt, as recorded by one of our western friends.