| The Calling of the
Moose
Most of us admire the moose.
When full grown, it is the largest animal found in North
America. Our fascination comes partly from the fact that the
moose is an odd looking character and because of that many
cartoonists have tried to capture the oddity in their
sketches, drawings and animations.
To some, the moose is a
challenge. Some want to get close to the moose to see it
better and perhaps to photograph but to the mighty hunter of
the moose, there is no bigger challenge than to call the big
bull moose to you so that you can shoot one.
So begins the story of Vernon
and Walter who set out on a quest to call the moose. Prior
to the official opening of moose season, Vernon and Walter
constructed themselves a nice tree stand that would easily
accommodate two mighty hunters.
On the first day, the two
climbed up into the tree stand, got themselves comfortable
and began to practice their calls. At first Walter used his
hands and his mouth to try to mimic the call of a cow moose
in hopes of luring the giant bull from the forest. After
hours, nothing seemed to be working. Vernon brought out his
contraption he built one snowy day last winter that he
guaranteed would call the moose - no luck either. Finally,
they resorted to the electronic call Vernon had secretly
bought at the Kittery Trading Post - just in case.
Right up until sundown the two
men called constantly and without arousing even a bird. The
next morning they went out bright and early and repeated the
first days performance. The third day was no different.
Upon returning to hunting camp
after the third day, Walter suggested they go into town and
buy a cow moose costume and see if they could lure a bull
moose with that. Reluctantly Vernon agree and they headed to
town.
The following morning both men
climbed into the costume - Vernon was the moose's front and
Walter was the hind end. They located a clearing not too far
from their tree stand and began to prance around doing their
best to act like a cow moose - however that was.
After about an hour, Vernon
heard a noise and peered out through the small slit in the
front of the costume. He could see a very large bull moose
charging full speed and coming directly at the two men.
"What's going on?" yelled
Walter. "Is there a bull moose coming? I'll jump out of the
costume and shoot him if there is!"
"Yeah, there's a giant bull
coming right at us but we don't have time to get out of the
costume and get our guns," cried Vernon.
"What are we going to do?" ask
Walter nervously.
Vernon thought quickly and
said to Walter, "I'm going to bend forward and pretend I'm
eating grass. I think you better brace yourself!" |