| Show DAKOTA WOLF HUNTS somo lively bunos at the annual devils balco roundup round up aide little Mas tinsa have great is port la mill tho rooted pirates of tho rising in winter when devils lake is frozen over as smooth as a barn floor and the ice is from one to five feet thick the wolves make their headquarters on rock island they gather there by hundreds and every night the chorus of their short sharp yelps sounds weirdly over the frozen lake the cs the dakota wolf hunt says the at lois globe demo crat is probably not equaled by any sport known to the nimrod since the bramo is large wary swift of movement and full of tricks there is an 01 danger in it too for when the v olics are cornered they v ill fight with the desperation of mad dogs it now and then uppers that ft woh hunter comes off tho field with his clothes badly torn and his flesh lacerated by alie caws or teeth of aa in animal but there has near been a fatality resulting from the aport the hunting party get together at a given point on the shore of the lake about noon and they come from al quarters it is not an unusual thing ti sae one hundred and fifty men en gag hi a wolf hunt eacle man carries rifle and a couple of revolvers some are on foot and some are on horseback the horses ri idea are usually the little wiry indian pony or mustang thai can run all night and all day and noa get tired when the party is ready to march i starts out across the ice in the direction of the island the horsemen are stationed around the island as near to each other as it is possible to place them and complete the cordon the on foot form in the shape of the U across the island some of them carry horns others tin pans and when everything is ready the men move in the di of the boulder bowlder heaps blowing the horns pounding tho tin pans anci yelling like fiends the racket rouse the wolves lying along the rocks am they dash from cover some of the au emals are in burrows these ar smoked out and it is but a very shor time before there is plenty of game running belter looking for ne cover at the northwest extremity 0 the island is a clear spot and it is aim of the hunters to pet the antt this space where they may corn plemely surround them the men gradually advance up the island drumming howling and firing off their guns and the bewildered wolves flee before them until they arc driven beyond the rocks it is not until the animals are surrounded at the upper end of the island that alie real fun begins they dash here and there to find an opening through which it is possible to they are rendered frantic by alie continued blare of liams and the horrible yelling aud in their excitement snap and snarl at each other like a lot of surly curs occasionally a hunter takes a at one taud brings him down and in this way the ranks of the arc thinned out until from a possible thirty or forty but seven or eight remain these are preserved for the horsemen on the ice who are generally the best marksmen in the party alie frightened beasts are given an opportunity to escape the circle is broken with tha opening so calculated that the colvea will flee to the ico they immediately dash through and the horsemen remain inactive until they have passed beyond their circle then they give chase the wolf with his sharp claws is a swift runner even on smooth ice and when the ice is covered with a slight coating of snow he is capable of making wonderfully der fully quick tune but fast as he is the littie mustangs are able to keep close to his heels in a straightaway race hut the wolf has the advantage of being fable to make quick turns and that is what he does every wolf hunter mounted on a horse is proud of his marksmanship and it is the aim of each to shoot an animal in the head which from horseback is no easy matter to shoot one through the body these men claim requires no skill and so it often happens that several hours are consumed in the wild chase of the wolves before alie remnant of the pack is destroyed and it is not infrequently the case that one man succeeds in killing the greater number V hen the last wolf escapes or has been killed the party return to town with trophies and the affair winds with a banquet and ball which ia looked upon as the event of the season the man who has proven himself the most expert marksman is designated as the leader of the shunting party for the next season |
