Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-04-06
HUNTERS PARADISE.
Trees Black With Wild Turkeys In
theNerde River "a. IT, Country.

theNerde River "a. IT, Country.
ID. j. Chadwick, the Los Angeles at
torney, and a party of other prominent
gentlemen, were at the Grand, telling
hurting stories, says the San Francisco
Examiner, One of them told how
numerous the wild turkeys were on the
Pecos river, and that he had killed as
many as forty turkeys in two days.
search.
II want to tell you of a strange ex-
perience had with wild turkeys at the
head of the Verde river in the White
mountains of Arizona, said MIR. Chad
wick. Zone day in 1885, while i was
special agent of the land department
at Washington, was riding on horse
back alone on the Verde. 1t was APP
preaching nightfall, and 1 was pushing
on TO reach Joe Kingman's ranch,
which is high up the river. 1 entered
scattered grove of pine trees, when,
happening to look up, saw what APP
peared to me to be thousands Of tur-
keys. The trees were black with them,
and many Of the limbs were bent down.
There was tapping of wings and a
clucking while the turkeys were getting
adjusted.
ut was the prettiest sight ever saw
great magnificent birds. I could
have taken stick and knocked off all
/ wanted to. didn't, though, but
whipped out my revolver and killed
couple of them, and rode UP to old
Joe's with them. Maybe those turkeys
were not fine eating for the next day or
two.
''In many places in Yavapai and
Graham counties in those days the'tur-
keys were SO plentiful that nobody
knew what to do with them. They used
to go in bands of two or three hundred,
and thus traverse a large region. Oc-
tober is the time for migrating.
They are then leaving the Brazos
and Pecos river regions in Texas and
pushing forward to the more congenial
climate of Arizona. They walk almost
altogether, rarely flying except to cross
a river or to get on a tree, and they
move along just like an army, making
from fifteen to twenty miles a day.
They live on pine nuts and various
kinds of grain when they can get it.
1T is in October that they move in
on the Verde, and there are some old
timers there who have got the business
of catching them down fine. 1t is a
novel continuance, and / never heard
of its use any where else. They build
pine pole pen in the heart of the rem
devious of the turkeys. This pen is
about four feet wide, eight feet long
and three high. A small hole just
large enough to admit the body of the
turkey is cut in the side of the pen near
the ground. Wheat is then scattered
for many feet away from the pen, and
trails of the wheat lead into this hole.
1.-THE turkeys coming along get into
these trails and follow them up, one by
one, and enter the hole. Once in, then
they look up, and Immediately begin
walking around, looking high, and
craning their necks trying to get out.
They never think of looking down. That
is not their habit.
"Thus / have seen trap full Of
perhaps fifteen turkeys, and not one Of
them knew how to get out. 1t is very
curious thing, but there are men in
Arizona who do little else than thus
capture wild turkeys and market them
on the railroad and in the outlying
mining camps. They make good
living at it, too Some make as much
as 800 or $500 a month in this easy
way.
1.-THE wild turkey of the Verde and
other parts OF Arizona is about four feet
long and has sixty-inch stretch Of wings
It's color is copper-bronze, with copper
and green reflections. Each feather has
black margin. The heads are blue
and the legs red. The males usually
weigh from fifteen to eighteen pounds
each, but / have known them TO reach
thirty and even forty pounds. The fe-
males usually weigh about nine pounds.
The wild turkey Of this country is the
origin Of all the domestic varieties of
both hemispheres.
cas- late as '67 saw as many as 200
or 300 wild turkeys in band in Crit
tenden county, KY. This county is
the famous game county of Kentucky,
but the turkeys saw there are not so
big as saw in Yavapai county.
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