Chapter 12 cont. WOLF HUNTS In the early days more mischief was done by wolves than by any other wild animals and no small part of their mischief consisted in their almost constant barking at night, which always seemed so frightful and menacing to the settlers.  Like mosquitoes, the noise they made appeared to be about as dreadful as the depredations they committed.  The most effectual, as well as the most exciting method of ridding the country of these hateful pests, was that known as the "circular wolf hunt," by which all the men and boys would turn out on an appointed day in a kind of circle comprising many square miles of territory, with horses and dogs, and then close up toward the center of their field of operations, gathering not only wolves, but also deer and many smaller "varmint."  Five, ten, or more wolves by this means would sometimes be killed in a single day.  The men would be organized with as much system as a little army, every one being well posted in the meaning of every signal and the application of every rule.  Guns were scarcely ever allowed to be brought on such occasions, as their use would be unavoidably dangerous.  The dogs were depended upon for the final slaughter.  The dogs, by the way, had all to be held in check by a cord in the hands of their keepers until the final signal was given to let them loose, when away they would all go to the center of battle, and a more exciting scene would follow than can easily be described. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L