Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-01-27

shot in many places where they are
easily recovered at the cost Of q wet
ting; but when one has to thread his
way among the lagoons and bayous,
good rctrievcris an almost indispensable
assistant Some Of the lagoons are Of
great extent, and are almost invariably
provided with skiff, a dug out, or a
floating machine Of some sort the use
of which Is generally to be had without
any trouble by an application to the
neighbor planter, whose property II is.
To my mind, duck shooting ahoat is
better than duck shooting on terra
frma Pushing out from the little cove
where the sliff has been moored, let
the sportsman paddle towards one. OF
the clumps Of reeds which dot the sur
face Of the water here and there like
little islands, and let him run the skiff
close by its edge, OF even short way
among the reeds, so as to leave fringe
Of them between his craft and clear
water. By these means he is placed
fairly in concoalment. Tho birds in
the neighborhood have of course been
distributed by this mannvre, but be-
fore very long string of ducks flies
overhead, and when once the firing
has begun all the water fowl on the
lake are set in commotion by the noise,
and one train after another sweeps
past within easy range and in rapid
succession. Indeed, it very soon be-
comes necessary to set about removing
the dead and wounded birds, and
though it is with considerable reluct-
ance that one proceeds to paddle to
and fro to find the birds he has hit,
especially when the game is so plenti-
fil as to give even breech loader lit
tie rest yet the duty should not be
omitted or too long postponed, and no
disabled bird should be allowed to creep
into sedges or linger on in pain. When
the birds have all been picked, the
position should be changed to another
clump of reeds; for ducks may soon
become shy of the spot where their
enemy lies concealed when once II is
discovered, and are certain thereafter
to give it wide berth. Swan are
also to be found in considerable num-
bers on these lagoons, but are not easy
to get within range of; yet have seen
them very readily tumbled over by
making bullet ricochet along the ice.
The best sort of place to post yourself
to shoot ducks and geese in the morn
ing and in the evening is among the
rows of cornstalks in some field with "a
pond in it, as many fields in the Bottom
have or, at least adjacent TO some
water. A man with an obscrvant eye
very soon discovers the right spot, and
is successful in his sport accordingly.
Flocks of wild turkeys are often to be
met in the woods in the Bottom, and,
for my part, prefer them to come
across my path, for l have not been
very fortunate when ! set out TO hunt
them with premcditation. Often /
have invited them to my neighborhood
with dulcct notes blown upon the
shank bone Of ono of their own kind,
but my invitations have been in vain.
They either did not hear my call, or,
having heard, dcigned not to give it
the slightest heed, circumstance
which, while II has caused me TO nbatc
some OF my pretensions TO be master
of the sporting craft, has unquestion-
ably raised the turkey in my respect
as bird possessed of some small mod
icum Of sense, oil reports to tho con
trary notwithstanding. | have never
had an opportunity to cntrap them by
means of dccoy bird, but at dawn OF
day l have lain in wait for them at
their roost on the persimmon tree, and
have carried off most Of the brood. IT.
is the early bird that gets the worm,
and this early method ofcircumventing
the turkeys is the only satisfactory
method have learned in my expert
ence. There is only ono difficulty
about 1.-THE difficulty of finding out
their roosting place, but the roost
found, one must be very indifferent
sportsman If he do not find the turkey
also. If the visitor to the Bottom can
enlist the aid Of any of the local nim-
rods, he may probably vary the monot-
ony ., ms ~ sIor, VIII WIN q q" eIas,Va~, ps.,n.''
is far from being formidable animal,
and is rarely in q humor TO molest
anything bigger than shotc, or suck
ing pig pu. wnc, nc nas oeen ,s sniosou ''. =
oa' y, n'S nonom Nv, 'ie., VI .;"s ti%soI o"t !"
ms wy quar'els INV wn'eh nv n.'
,c',rcu 70 ny yp.,ha.e, vi wnon, Pop1,y,
ne mas pcen s''ghuy wouhueu WIN
bullet or bit upon the nose with
heavy missile, then nc is no gentle Gus
toner Tor dogs 10 encounter, or men
either, Tor that matter Bear hunts
IN the Bottom are ail much alke, ana
they invariably nave one issue; u
tedious search Tor the pear-the provo
cation OF him to combat, sometimes as
tcdious--a short sharp tussel with the
dogs-a few bold strokes with the
knife-and that R-the death OF bruin'
The fight with the dogs Is the exciting
part OF the business and II the animals
seem IN danger Oh iar1ng padiy, the
bear receives the coup dc grace 80 much
the sooner.
Austin, Bolivar county, Mississippi, and
in the vicinity Of Helena, Arkansas,
some twenty or thirty miles below
Austin, answers very closely to the de-
scription given above. Indeed, in
writing this article, had these two
districts chiefly In my mind. This