Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-10
How to Capture Reynard.
Some Secrets of EOx-Hunsing-Ea. BiIi Kelsey Gained many Skins when
 -~--'- @>htsiIa Few
[From the New York Times.l l

None.
 From the New York TimesJ
 AvooA, N. Y, March 8.-Fox hunting is a popular sport in the Cohooton Valley, and fox es seem to be always plenty The nost suc- oessful hunter of foxes in the region is Bill Kelsey, of Avoca. When the skin of this nni- nal commanded high price in the market few years ago, foxes were hunted and trapped for profit, and hundreds were shipped to mar ket during the months the fur was valuable. Then it wss that Bill Kelsey distinguished himself by daily bringing in from three to ten foxes, while other famed hunters and trappers frequently returned from the chase and trap empty handed. Kelsey would permit one to hunt in his company or to go with him wheu setting his traps. He accumulated fair for tune by his success in getting skins. His brother hunters were extremely jealous of his success. Some of them believed that he was possessed of secret by which he charmed foxes to his traps and within range and reach of his gun.
 "Thore's more ways than one to get ths best of fox,'' said Kelsey, recently. You want to be observant of their nature, in the first place. In the second place, you want to be just as sly and cunning as they are. Whon was a boy, wss hunting fox with 0 hound. During the chase the hound went lame in one of his legs. He was b!ooded dog, and full of game aud kept right on after the fox. But he ran slower of course It wasn't long be fore noticed difference in that fox's run ming. He actually seemed to take delight in not attempting to elude the dog by cunning, but in keeping just far enough ahead to be in sight and hearing of him, as if to tantalize him. The fox, of course, intended, after hay ing his little fun with the lame dog, at last to summon his cunning to his aid and get out of the way to place of safety. After noticing the unmistakable behavior of the fox it was l easy for me to get a position where shot ae wa yh h2Hh able bodied, the fox would have been turning | and twisting in all sorts of ways miles away, | and at last, probably, would have succeeded in | getting away. I tried this lame hound anoth- | CT day. He started fox, which, ,as soon as he saw the dog was lame, adopted the same tao l tics as the other one had. That settled it in my mind that if fox only felt certain of eventually getting 8 safe hiding place, being | chased by hound was just as much fun for | him as it was for the hunter, aud he would enjoy it as long as he felt inclined to- l have 1 hunted foxes with a hound disabled in one leg | ever since, and never found one fox yet that 1 wouldn't take things most tantalizingly easy | with the dog, and never failed to get every fox started unless my gun went back on me- | q found also that foxes were inordinately fond of feld-mice. There were some places l where field-mice were quite plenty, but as 8 | general thing they were scarce. So trapped | a number of them and went to breeding them. | They were very prolific, and I soon had 8 | wide extent of country well stocked with mice. | I selected old fields, on the edge of woods or | brush lots. The foxes were not long in hnd- | ing out where the mice were thickest. They | generally came to feed on them just between l sunset and dark, when the mice were out in force, squeaking and playing about You | could hear them squeak about the fields plain 1 ly, and noticed that fox would enter field | and listen for the noise. As soon as he heard a mouse squeak, he would steal up like fox | only can, and that mouse was his. Hidden
 behind convenient bush, 1t
 was no trouble for me to gather | in sometimes three or four foxes in an l evening. Watching the foxes in the fields an-
 swering hesqueal of mouse, concluded could improve on my plan of hunting. l
 made whistle that could blow on and ex- | actly initiate the noise made by field mouse. | By this could call fox toward me if the l mice were not near me, and get great many \ shots that otherwise would not have had. | meant another mouse added to my l list. The whistle not only drew foxes
 to me that were in the field, but ii
 brought them into the field, for a fox can
 hear mouss's squeal for long distance.
 'I used to have great sport hunting foxes
 in another way, peculiarly my own. My ob-
 servations of the habits of foxes led to the dis
 covery that early in the fall and winter morn
 ings they sought wood lots where fire had | been through, and where many charred stumps
 and trunks of trees were standing. I have
 seen as many as 10 foxes in group in a loi
 of this kind, but they generally were seen l trotting leisurely along among the blackened
 stumps, stopping now and then to look eau
 tiously about. never could find out why
 foxes sought these places, but Inever failed te
 find at least one in any lot visited. noticed
 another peculiarity about foxes when studied
 them among these burned trees. A fox would
 trot along for ffobably 10 rods, when sudden | # HAIL l. -s,l- ,knh vryfkI
 one hind leg, stop, and invariably turn hif
 head and look back over his shoulder. ob
 served this at different times in different fox
 es, and concluded that it was natural charao
 teristic of the species I determined to make
 this little piece of knowledge result in adding
 to my list of successes in fox hunting. Al
 though saw so many foxes in burned wood
 lots it was seldom that could get ashot at an,
 of them, as they were so cautious, and to ge
 within shooting distance of them was impossi