The sun., 1886-11-28
OLD-TIME COON HUNTING.
4 sPIRIT-sTIRRrNG SPORT THAT ~
our or FASHION.


! TIE Two Sorts Of DOG that Used TO Heat The
Coon In New Jer.ey-Euineus Aaep who
Followed tho Hunt In bays Gene BY.
NEWTON, N. j., Nov. 27.-what this coun.
try needs IL sportsmen' with less affectation
| and more snap. Hunters 90 from hero aud
hereabouts to the barren hills Of Pennsylvania.
forty miles OF more away. and stand all day on
| wind-swept runways waiting for q shot at the
deer that never comes. or tramp from morning
till night through swampy swails and brambly
thickets hunting tho pheasant that fails to rise.
while sport that famous men loved and elo-
waited and grew enthusiastic over years ago,
and from which no hunter can return without
pleasure and profit. goes begging on every side
OF us. The manner In which the opportunities
offered by tho hills and valleys OF northern
New Jersey for the rarest OF sport are
neglected Is enough to make the bones OF dead
and gone lovers Of the star-lit chase turn and
rattle in their graves. The star-lit chase to
which refer was tho coon hunt. at which con-
fession. doubtless. ever owner OF cake-fed
setter and u hundred-an an d. ilfty- dollar breech-
loading shotgun from Tri-States Rock to
Pahaguarry Flats. will raise shout OF de-
rision loud enough to scare every coon In Sus-
sex county Into winter quarters ak weeks
! before his time. But why the coon hunt has
fallen into such dsrepute with the present
generation OF sportsmen. and Why the ring
tailed and cunning denize@ 0tn16he. k,lSSn q
hollows himself has come to be despfsD j
| them. must be set down in the list Of Il ose
things which no follow can find out.
The time when the coon hunt was q recrea-
tion loved and eagerly sought by the best Of
citizens is not yet beyond the memory Of men
! still young. The dominic the deacon. the
Colonel. the squire. and the solid but plain and
untitled dwellers among US were once mighty
hunters OF this willy game. and We'd each with
the other in winning and maintaining the
reputation Of being the best coon hunters in
their respective baiwicks. remember nights
made notable by these hunts Of twenty-five
| and thirty years ago. when such men as Gov.
Haines. Judge Ryorson. "Mony" Hamilton.
and other local celebrities in politics. law.
divinity. and literatnre-the most OF them now
in the happy hunting grounds. and thus spared
tho pain the present degeneracy Of sport In
New Jersey would surely iniiict, upon them.
made the dark woods riM with their lusty
shouts. There was genuine sport In the coon
| him yield it to them night arter. night. mans
! imporlance in many Of the way back" DIG
| number of coon skins he could tack to his barn
! door tho morning after hunt.
our sportsmen OF to-day is a mystery. He is
as GunHnng III ,d as the d fox m and more difficult to
cause he can "nu be hunted S only at niSht icr In
threading the woods in the darkness. following
dogs that you cannot see. and whose bayinE
alone breaks the stiffness. there 10 most
suen .an enehantmsnt. for the Gayine Of the
genuine coon hunt of our fathers is o lost art.
but BECAUSE the coon dog OF our fathers 10 a
have become extinct, He was OF no particular
strain, Of blood. as l remember him. but he
tho Intelligence Of tho shepherd dog. and the
OF RG b6nd9g With aS stealth o,
these hp could we'll have been fully equipped
for the fox or deer trail; the lowing hero would
have be- been safe in his keeping; he could hay:
have made himself n conspicuous object In any
community rs Il highly successful toraRer on
a coon dog. To be that he needed not only
scent hut knowledge; not only tenacity. but
customer. He Is crammed to the muzzIe with
paisncs He s wonderful rn In stmrateg, m AMI as
scentiess as snow ball. He leads through
sna a
aoaas ss 9ps aSsav 19s Mas
clears the intervening space with q single
bound: sttikes the stem N, Of the tree Ave Or sig
dozen feet beyond II to the ground again. thus
ginning 1t as confusingly abrupt on the other.
He invents tactics for emergencies. and brings
TO match the cunning. the skill. aud the almost
a scientific and sportsmanike way. the old
time coon dog came to The front. and the fri
Comfortable when he failed to hold as many
trump cards as the willy schemer he was aftsr:
jersey two kinds OF trained coon dogs. There
was one who hunted a. silently as a Ferret and
ns r; rs;sntlessly m There was M an another who fol.
and who lot you know at every step that he was
getting there; There was mingled with the
ment of greater certainty that you would get
your coon than there was with the melodioua
the final fray: but the style Of the latter put
more tingle in your blood. and filled you with
Io hs nt sssmsd to M
the dog and the coon, hidden In the depths 81
the forest shadows but both there. and both
knowing that the supreme moment was draw
ing nigh. There was something weird and un-
canny in following the still dog In all the wind
He crspt, among tangled brush and deep
ravnes, climbed abrupt knobs. aud worked his
ing. doubling. shifting. crossing and recross-
ing his track like tho labyrnthine tracings Of
stesIthy AS a twilight shadow. HIS very silence
brought him to the prize. As Tho trail OF the
loss pursuer grew still more cautious. until. the
game in sight. he rushed upon it like an ava
lanGhe. and tho pentIup music Of his soul went
forth in ono iouriul howl OF triumph. and the
surprised and frightened coon knew that his
nil:hts were numbered. But 1t was different
with the dog that gave tongue as he hunted
Ho made music in the night-not the siivery
treble OF the foxhound. floating down from the
hills on the frosty air. aud drawn out in sweet
cadenza by every willing echo nor yet the mol
low bass, Of the ieerhound swelling over tho
ridges. clear and fnr-sounding ns a buele note.
but n pleasant though staccato song OF his
own half bark. half bay. cheerful mingling OF
melody with business.
The baying coon dog always had better
nose than his closa-mouthed brother. and he
needed 10 have. The coon. smart as he was.
I.gtEa uh Ia az n
track until 1t was too late to bring to his pro-
lection the many wiles and strataCems that
he at once resorted to when the cry OF the
other dog rang out ON his trail. 1t was then
that he manuuvred to throw false scents. and
the brook and the brambe. the hill! and the
hollow. were all impressed In his service in his
race for HE: and IL was then that the bayinR
coon dog OF the old time came out strong:
Step by stop he unraveed the tangled and
we'll hidden scent; constantly sounding his
wild challenge to the coon to do his best until
tho tiuntei nni mats repsrtory Of wiles WAS
exhausted. and, accepting the inevitable. he
threw s'ratagsm TO tho dogs. no to speak. and
elinoe1 % tree: When this stage Of the hunt
particular coon had laid by for winter use