Character Analysis
The Harvard Club Hunters are gentlemen hunters with their sights set on a fancy new moose head to hang on their club wall. And wouldn't you know? Thidwick just happens to be sporting a much-loved pair of antlers.
These guys serve two purposes in the poem: (1) They kick off the story's climax; and (2) they add some much-needed mustachio-power to the proceedings. Okay, that second part not so much, but the point remains that these dudes come along and drive Thidwick to his breaking point.
Climactic Killers
When Thidwick thinks he just can't take anymore, when he's at his lowest point with a bear literally on his back, then "came something that made his heart freeze" (36.2).
This line signifies the arrival of the Harvard Hunters who chase poor Thidwick through canyon, cliff, trail, gully, gulch, and even a slippery sluice (40.1-4), until "[…] finally they had him" (41.1) and corner him on a small rock hanging over the lake. Gulp.
This chase provides the story with its climax; it's the most intense part of the tale, and it is also the point of no return. Either Thidwick gets rid of his unwanted guests, or he'll end up a guest himself at every cigar and brandy party the Harvard Club throws from here to eternity. Facing such an awful fate, Thidwick decides to toss his antlers, and the squatters go with them.
While it's true that the Harvard Club hunters try to kill Thidwick, we'd say that moose owes them a debt of gratitude. Without their gung-ho gun-toting ways to ramp up the climax, Thidwick might still be harnessed to those pesky tenants and end up a much poorer moose as a result.
By trying to kill Thidwick, these hunters actually save him. Guess it was opposite day up at Lake Winna-Bango.