Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-10-01
Tcnnrssee'S Wild Hogs.


or no food for them, suffered them to
stray oil among the hills to root for
their own living. The mast, which is
very abundant IN these hills, CONSISTS
of hickory. beech. and chestnut, az
we'll as acorns, 80 that hogs, deer ana
turkeys grow lat OF ii in the fall and
winter. Hogs stray on miles away
from their owners, ana become wild AS
deer, and II requires as much skill and
cunning to cipture the ono rs the 9th
cr, and in course OF time their whole
nature Is entirely changed. Instead of
the fat, lazy iuhbers rs "e see them On
the farms, or as Il house pc: in an Irish
shanty, they bee ,mo ferocious wild
beasts. They grow tsll ANA sl:l-siled.
Their ears stand up straight, their hair
grows long and wlry, and, in short,
they are IL different animal in nature,
habits, and appearance.
Mountain wolves are plenty in these
hills. but they seldom attempt to cap
ture u hog from the drove, knowing
they are likely to be captured them
selves.
The people who live in the hills de-
pend almost entirely on game and wild
hogs for their supply OF meat. The
wild hog IL not tit for TODD III summer,
but grows fat in the late fal! and early
Wiuter on the great abundance of mast
in these great forests. Tue wild hog
here Is not considered the property Of
my one settler, but is looaed upon as
common stock property for I'll who may
choose to pursue and capture him.
After hard nights rest on I'll ,nhet
before a big log fire, we are up by day
light to find about three iuches OF Snow
on the ground--jnst what we wanted.
Even the long kentucky rifle is lett
hanging in the rack in the cabin. Oar
outfit consists of Il stout hickory club
and butcher knife, the latter tightly
belteu around the waist Ill u leather
scabbard. These are the only sporting
tools used for hunting wild hogs Ill
these hills. and they are very effective,
lis We shall presently see.
Some seven or eight of us, with as
manly stout dogs, set ont that morning.
and alter tramp Of three miles or
more We begin to discover signs oil
game. We nov halt and hold c"uu-
cll of war. Our old bushwhacker,
Jack Ncwland, is chosen captain of the
party, and the plans of the hunt chalked
out by hum.
lyon see, boys" said Captain Jack
~ here 10 tue range OF Il drove, and you
see 10y the signs and the fresh beds, rs
we'll as the tracks i'll the SNOW, that
thee is about twenty hogs in the drove,
big and little. Most of EN- is big tel
lows. aud will sive a hard iisht. NV,
jim and Ned. take two OF the Il, ~ aud
ko round that pint of hill over thar.
Sam, you and Bob Just kinder crawl
around over that ar knob, aud lay low
the rest on us will follow on the track
When see the hogs III holler like au
owl. Then you answer, hoo! hoo! hool
same Us me, Case l see the hogs rootin'
Then pitch in and head 'em oil till the
logs come up"
The snow gave us a good chance to
see the hogs good way Oft, and We hat.
not proceeued far before We sighted
: them Ii few hundred yards away, busIly
turulug up the leaves Ill search Of food
ueIe We halted behind trees, and Cap
tam Jack gave the call in imitation oil
the big horned owl, which was AN
swered by the other two parties. This
, WAS the signal for attack. W. startel
in on run to surprise the game, ant
soon the dogs had brought the hogs t,
. bay. The rest Of the hunters nov ar
/ rived with MI the dcgs, uul the h5h'
commenced, each one urging his dos
. to seize hog by the ear, aud, watching
his chance, would jump astride OF him.
, and holding on with one hand, w0ult
put his deadly blows over the heat
with his club, and, as soon IA down
Z out with his butcher knife and pluug.
t 1t up to the hilt in tue hogs throat -
, then off for another. The chase ant
slaughter are thus kept up for n mile o.
more, or until the dogs ami men ar
I tired out or all the hogs killed, whel
We retrace our steps and make arrange
ments for gathering up our game.
We have seen u stout hog bound On
through the woods with his rider while
- the dog was fust on his ear, and carr,
:, both considerable distance befor,
being killed. The sport is ludic, GU
, with considerable danger; and unles
!. one is familiar with it he is pretty ap
:, to get severely hurt by the side wipe
- OF the hogs long tusks. When We en-
= gagged this drove the fight was excitins
= and furious. AS for ourselves, though
:, not coward, we must confess that W.
= often preferred 10 take refuge up sap
:. ling and watch the fight than to partici
. pate in 1t. The day was far advanced
" when the sport ended. We all as
y sembled and built large ire, and
y proceeded to drag the slaughtered hog
;, into camp. which proved very labori
- GUS job. When all the killed had beel
20 brought in we counted eleven large, ia
=. porkers. 1t Was now near dark, au'
:, we concluded to camp there for tn
= night, returning to where We had lef
! cur provisions in the morning. o
- first discovering the game and bringing
=. ~ It into camp We hung up tie hogs t
u have them ready for transportation
~ We cut out tenderloins and broile
;, them on the live Goals, and enjoyed
:. hearty supper and breakfast. Durin
~ the night we were awakened by u pac
~ of wolves which had assembled on
y neighboring hill to give us gran
o serenade. We could not see them. bu
should Judge, from the great noise the