136 MOOSE HUNTING

far above it. But whether above or below timber,
you will find that much skill is required to make a successful
stalk. Until a bull commences to “rut” he is a most
wary beast, and uses his eyes and his ears, and to a
lesser extent his nose, to detect the presence of an enemy.
He is a mass of nerves and ever on the qui vive.

When once the “rut” is in full swing a bull is a very
different animal, and often whether you make a kill or
not depends on how hard you can run, so as to head him
off if he is moving. If you have a stern chase on your
hands it is seldom worth even attempting, as you would
not gain an inch despite your best efforts. At such a
time it is the cows you have to watch out for, as the bulls
do not bother their heads much about a noise or even
the sight of you, as they usually have far more important
matters in their minds.

Unless you are in a very poor part of the country you
should find a number of bulls every day. Many of them
will be miles off and with ordinary binoculars all you
can do is to make a guess at the size of the horns, unless
you are far above the average in experience or have a
telescope. The latter is a most necessary article. Perhaps
you may spot a bull, or even two or three bulls, with
a cow; you know that under the circumstances they
will not move far away, and that even if you have two
or three miles to go to get within shot, you can be reason-
ably sure of having plenty of time to do so if you hurry.
So, as you cannot be sure of their size, the only thing
for you to do is go and find out. You then struggle
through a swamp or two, get wet to the waist and caked
with mud and slime, you tear through willows and ‘‘ buck
brush”? for a mile or more, you nearly kill yourself in
your efforts to hurry through a strip of timber full of
windfalls, and then, when, puffing and blowing from
your exertions, you at last take a peep at your quarry
prior to your final stalk, you may—in fact, it is probable
you will—find that the bull has not come up to expecta-
tions and you have had your run for nothing. Then
you think what a telescope would have saved you and