Habits, Haunts and Anecdotes of the Moose and Illustrations from Life

In Short

This 1901 volume serves as a devoted field guide, natural history, and sporting memoir centered on the North American moose. Blending wilderness observation with campfire yarns, it examines the physical traits, breeding cycles, and defense mechanisms of the continent’s largest deer while detailing the demanding arts of tracking and birch-horn calling. It has endured as an authentic artifact of early twentieth-century American outdoor literature, capturing a transitional era when sportsmanship was shifting from the deadly pursuit of wall trophies to the patient preservation of wildlife through nature photography.

The Story

The book opens with an earnest plea for conservation, warning that relentless hunting during deep winter snows threatens to drive the moose into extinction across its remaining strongholds in Maine, Canada, and the far Northwest. To understand the animal, the narrative first establishes its imposing physical nature: a creature standing seven and a half feet tall at the shoulder, weighing upwards of twelve hundred pounds, and crowned with broad, palmate antlers that can reach extraordinary spans. In summer, the moose haunts lakes and boggy dead waters to feed on lily roots and escape swarming black flies. As winter sets in, it retreats to hardwood ridges, packing down deep snow to build sheltered runways where it can browse on high ash and poplar saplings beyond the reach of lesser game.

From this natural foundation, the book moves into the high stakes of the hunt. It presents still-hunting as the ultimate test of human endurance, requiring woodsmen to navigate frozen blowdowns and shifting winds against an animal whose acute scent and hearing detect intruders long before they appear. The narrative contrasts this exhausting pursuit with the autumn rut, when bulls abandon their usual stealth to answer the weird, echoing call of the cow mimicked through an eighteen-inch birch-bark horn. In these heated weeks, bulls crash recklessly through underbrush, tear up saplings, and fight furious duels that occasionally leave their massive antlers inextricably locked together until death.

The latter portion of the work transitions into a colorful repository of field accounts, guides' observations, and woods cabaret. Tragic misses, comical mishaps, and hair-raising close encounters demonstrate that the wilderness frequently humbles human pride. City sportsmen regularly miss their mark, tumble out of canoes, or mistake floating bushes for game, while guides quietly step in to prevent disaster. Yet amidst the failures are moments of stunning success and unexpected grace, such as a novice hunter unexpectedly securing a prize trophy on his wife’s birthday, or a photographer catching a majestic bull illuminated by the summer moon. Ultimately, the book closes on a note of deep appreciation for the primeval forest, offering its lore as both a practical manual for the woodsman and a lasting tribute to a magnificent beast.

How It Unfolds

A warning for the wilderness The author outlines the precarious state of the North American moose, warning that unchecked hunting in deep snow will wipe out the species within a decade. He establishes the remote forests of Maine, Canada, and Alaska as the last true sanctuaries for these massive trophies.

Anatomy of the forest monarch The narrative details the physical characteristics of the animal, highlighting its grotesque yet formidable appearance, its broad palmate antlers, and its remarkable speed at a swinging trot. Details of its feeding habits reveal a preference for submerged lily roots in summer and high hardwood shoots in winter.

The craft of the woodsman The book contrasts the extreme physical fatigue of still-hunting through frozen bogs with the delicate art of birch-horn calling during the October rut. It explains how skilled guides imitate the female's call to lure territorial, aggressive bulls within rifle range.

Campfire tales and timber comedy A collection of anecdotes captures the unpredictable nature of the trail, featuring nervous city hunters who lose their rifles to charging bulls, guides who must rescue empty-handed employers, and the rare, tragic sight of bull skeletons joined forever by locked antlers.

The People

• The Author-Sportsman: A seasoned hunter and outdoor advocate who reveres the moose as the true monarch of the primeval forest. Driven by a desire to preserve wilderness lore, he balances the thrill of the rifle chase with a growing appreciation for wildlife photography and conservation.
• The Maine and Canadian Guides: Resourceful, plain-spoken woodsmen who possess an unmatched knowledge of animal tracking, weather, and birch-horn calling. They navigate frozen swamps with quiet efficiency while enduring the erratic behavior and brittle egos of their city-bred employers.
• The Novice City Hunters: Wealthy lawyers, bankers, and preachers from Boston and New York who journey north seeking wall trophies. Often hampered by clumsy footwork, poor eyesight, or acute "moose fever," their misadventures bring comedic relief and highlight the vast gulf between civilized life and wilderness survival.
• The Moose: The formidable subject of the text, characterized by sharp senses, massive physical strength, and impressive cunning. Whether a cow fiercely protecting her calf from a swimming black bear or a heavy bull tearing up saplings in response to a horn call, the animal emerges as a noble, stubborn inhabitant of the northern bogs.

In Its Own Voice

"As the blue rings of smoke from your brier pipe float up and away, you are carried in thought to the North Woods wherein he roamed."

The author reflects on how a trophy over the hearth revives memories of arduous wilderness chases.

"The very silence of the forest is noisy."

This observation captures how the subtle sounds of nature—wind in the tree-tops and grating branches—can ruin a hunter's quiet approach.

"'He may be good enough to preach the Gospel, but he ain't good enough for me to guide.'"

A weary Maine guide candidly explains why he refuses to take a selfish urban clergyman back into the woods for another season.

What It's Really About

Beneath its collection of tracking tips and hunting yarns, the book examines the complex relationship between civilized man and untamed nature at the turn of the twentieth century. It juxtaposes the violent urge to conquer the wilderness—symbolized by the mounted head above a domestic fireplace—with an emerging ethics of conservation and sportsmanship. Through its detailed descriptions of animal intelligence and maternal bravery, the text quietly questions the moral validity of unsportsmanlike slaughter during deep snows or illegal seasons. It frames the northern woods not merely as a hunting ground, but as a sanctuary where patience, observation, and physical endurance grant human beings a brief, humbling audience with the primeval world.

Why Read It Today

Readers with a passion for vintage natural history, early American outdoor life, and historical sportsmanship will find this volume a charming and authentic period piece. It offers a vivid, sensory window into the turn-of-the-century North Woods, rich with the crackle of autumn leaves, the splash of canoe paddles in silent logans, and the frosty chill of Maine dawns. The writing carries a warm, conversational rhythm that feels like sitting beside a logging camp stove while old hands swap stories.

Modern readers should be prepared for period attitudes toward big-game hunting, as well as the casual depiction of killing wildlife for sport that was standard for outdoor literature in 1901. However, the author's clear-eyed warnings about extinction and his genuine admiration for the intelligence of his quarry give the work a forward-looking ecological awareness. What stays with you long after reading is the atmospheric evocative power of the landscape and the striking realization that the urge to replace the rifle with the camera was already taking root over a century ago.