The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-11-24
Rithmnnh Qispatch,
The Hantisg Season .

The HHntisg Season.
We write this article in the country; time
Wednesday, nth November, 1900. The sky Is
cvercast--she air is cool and bracing--not a
breath OF air is stirring We never saw
more glorious day for shooting. All sports
men know that on such day the birds come
out into the open field, whereas they are apt
TO take TO the woods when the weather Is very
bright az IL Il almost sure TO be during the In
dian Summer Game, we are told, is very
abundant everywhere. Partridges fy up In
the fields at every hundred yards or SO, and
hares abound ia all directions. Sportsmen
seem disposed 10 make the most of the season,
and the fear is that they may make too great
havoc with the game. To this abu ndanee there
is one exception, and that an important one,
In he district from which we write IL Is
said that the race of wild turkeys Is heafiS
extinct. We are sorry for 1T, with All our
hearts. The turkey rs certainly the nooiest oil
all our feathered game. It's very mar" 10 Nil,
whore thehuntsma an is unacq TAINTED With its
habits We reooiect reading, or hearing, we
do not know which. of an old Indians at.
,anrtinc 20 describe the difference between The
.bvness of a turkey and the shyness of deer.
when you are trying to get shot at DEER
said he, las coon as he sees you he says that
looks nightly like an Indian When you
get little nearer, that must surely be an In
dian. Suu watching you, when you have
crawled up almost within shot, am certain ,
that is an Indian Creeping farther. : If he
comes much nearer, l shall be off. But
lust then, bang goes the gun ana down falls
the deer. With = turkey it is different
The moment he sees anything which he can
not make ont. he cries Indian and is off like
the wind" Nevertheless, persons who un-
derstand turkey hunting, find it easy TO eIter-
inmate a whole flock. It. is we'll known that
they have particular ranges, and that they
rarely unless scattered, 60 beyond them
Within these ranges. they travel many miles
In a day. They must not be followed, for they
cannot we'll be found in that way. The most
experienced hunters have dog trained TO the
business, who hunts them, and, rushing in
among the flock scatters them. The hunts
man then dismounis places himself behind
tree or log and yelps them up. In the TALL,
when they are younF, this succeeds complete
ly Later in the season they become more
cautious, and are not easily brought within
shot. Sometimes an old gobler Will answer
the call, at a distance from the blind too great
for a shot. If he is let alone, be will collect
the whole flock around him, and then they
will trot of, without taking leave. In such a
case a. soon as the sportsman finds what
sort Of n customer he has TO deal with, he
Jumps up, fires off his gun, and thus produces
a new scatteration. Then he removes mis-
blind and trusts 10 his yelping powers once
more, Yeipers are most commonly made of
the bones OF a turkeys wing. Others are
formed by driving nail through piece OF
wood followed like q bowl The hand is held
over the top OF the hollow, so as to exclude
the air, and piece of slate is scratched
with the nail. The sound very much resem-
hles the yelping of 4 turkey, and many have
been killed by means of the contrivance. The
turkey has been called the American BASTARD.
We never saw bustard but naturalists say
that when seen against clear horizon, of a
oloudless evening, at long distance, they
have been mistaken for soldiers. The same
mistake might be made with regard to a large
aock OF turkeys under the same circums tances
so tall are they. and SO stately and uniform
are their movements We hope remnant
Will be left.
The wild goose is q bird which we spent 4
whole winter in hunting, when we were boy
Their habits are well known. They light III Il
wheat. field early in the morning, post sen,i-
nels with the regularity Of regiment on
duty, and remain all day, if not disturbed. 1t
tne field, for they usually choose one very
large and open, Sc that they all movements
within the compass of several hundred yards
Their sentinels face all points of the compass
and nothing escapes their observation. The
best way TO get at them III the wheat-field is
the stalking horse. Bride a horse, walk by
his side, gradually approach them, keeping the
horse between you and them, walk around
n
you may get almost near enough to put salt
on their tails. This can be done only once,
however, with the same flock. They can
never be deceived a second time. On the con-
trary, after having been once tried in this way,
they will fly If they sec a horse quarter of
mile of. We tried this experiment once, and
only once. The day was rainy, and we had
an old-tashioned, double barreled, flint-lock
gun. We got within twenty yards of very
large flock-we took q long and deliberate
aim-we bargained for at least half dozen
the powder in the pan fiashod-the gun gave
kissing sound as though il were celebrating
about going of-the geese rose with tremen.
dous clamor, and when they were abont thirty
feet in the air-shu, slap, bash, bang-off II
went. We confess We killed none that day,
but we made The feathers fly. OF they went,
sailing around and around again, and there
We stood in the rain, trying to get off our Sec
ond barrel, which varied bad habit it had OF
swapping by only single fash in the pam
that being the nearest approach it made TO
firing, on that occasion, at least
The note of the wild goose is exceedingly
musical 10 cur ear. When a large fiock cry
altogether there is what SHAKESPEARE calls
musical discord in the chorus, that ls more
enlivening than the cry OF fuH pack OF
hounds. During the time alluded 10 above,
We lived near a number of rocks constituting
the Maiden's Adventure falls, on which the
geese used to rest at night They came thither
from all q uarters of the country, within fifty
miles. We have very often gone into the
midst of the rocks, and waited for them until
they came. In this way We killed several. A
more experienced sportsman might have killed
dozens Cf them.
This is a rambling discourse, but it is a ram
bling inject, and We hope TO be excused on
that account.
The Navy.
A New York journal learns from reliable
sources that
"A very great excitement prevails among the
at in If he