Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-03-01
FRO BE Continued
COON HUNTING IN GUILFORD.
Active and Exciting Sport With Plenty Of
Hard Work.

been made in print, he said that hunt
erS sometimes cut a stick in the woods
to hit coon with, but that that was the
only coon club he ever heard Of. There
are, however, in Guilford number Of
men, and they are substantial citizens
of that historic town, who are ardent
followers of the sport of coon hunting.
James Henry Hotchkiss, the lumber
man, has caught more coOns than any
body else in Gailford; in the season
lately ended he has participated in the
killing of thirty-one. Mr.. Leete is a
very successful hunter. Other sue
cessful hunters are Oliver Griswold,
Charles Gladwin, Daniel Goldsmith,
Frederick Blatchley, and Samuel
Blatchley.
The coon season begins in August,
and ends usually in November or De-
cember. The coon likes good things to
eat, and he doesn't hesitate 10 help him
self. Generally he goes out at night. In
August he pulls the cornStalks over and
eats the juicy Young corn. Later the
coons 90 TO tie swamps and to the hills:
as the seasons progress they live on
frogs ana grapes, cheStnuts, and acorns.
L L
is snow on the ground; in winter they
go into their holes, and take little
run out in warm spells.
The coon is fighter and coon hunt
ing is active and lively sport; at times
it becomes very exciting. AT one hunt
this season coon that had been shaken
from a tree was, as usual, grabbed by
the dogs the instant it struck the
ground With equal promptness the
coon faced the dogs, and dogs and
coon rolled down side hill as steep
as the roof of house and fifteen
rods long, fighting all the way, and fol-
lowed by scrambling men trying 10 get
at the coon with club. The hunters
wear strong clothing that cannot easily
be torn by the underbrnsh, and wear
rubber boots.
At hunt one night last month, which
resulted in the capture Of four coonS,
Mr.. Hotchkiss, Mr.. Leete and two
others met at o'clock IN the village.
They had among them one revolver but
no guns, for each man carried lantern,
and guns would be too cumbersome.
On moonlight nights a coon on a tree
without foliage can be seen from the
ground. on dark nights the lanterns are
useful.
The hunters walked half mile to
the woods where they were to begin the
hunt. They had four dogs, all Of the
same breed. quarter shepherd, quarter
setter and half hound, weighing about
sixty pounds apiece, and all intelligent
/ and greatly interested I'm coon hunting.
/ The wood is chestnut, hemlOck, pine,
and other trees. and there is q thick
underground of ivy and briers. The
dogs were sent ahead TO scent and
trail the coon. When the dogs strike "a
trail they bark, but the hunters DO not
follow: they stand and wait and listen.
Sometimes the coon doubles, and the
hunters might tear through the woods
only % find themselves at the finish not
far from where they started. They
wait sometimes ten minutes, sometimes
an hour. while the dogs trail and tree
the coon. When the coon has finally
been driven up a tree the dogs gather
around il and bark in chorus. When
the hunters hear this familiar signal
they make for the tree.
The first coon freed was about 20 feet
above the ground and on q branch Of a
maple ia a swamp, Almost at the same
time two other cOOnS were discovered on
a tree about two rods away. The dogs
were placed two al each tree, and the
men divided likewise. The trees were
about half a mile from where the hunt
began. One of the party climbed the
maple until he was within about six feet
81. Eel . ..
yolver. The coon dropped and the two
dogs caught him; he made a big fight.
The coon is fat and furry and hard TO
hold, but the good dog sticks and finally
gets the better of him. helped little
sometimes by the hunter with club.
While the dogs were killing the first
coon one Of the two on the other tree
Jumped to the ground. One Of the dogs
at that tree was started on his track; he
ran him twenty yards and freed him
again. One OF the hunters then sta
toned himself at the third tree to
watch the coon until the rest OF the
party should come up. A hunter
climbed the second tree and shot that
coon. When this coon dropped he made
for a brook near by, but the dogs
stopped him and killed him after
lively mssle. Now all the men and all
the dogs reached the third tree. The
coon here was thirty feet from the
ground and on branch, and when shot
dropped in the brook, but the dogs
brought him out The party were then
about mile and half from the start
Ing point, and they had hard going
through bushes and briarS and plenty
of active work
The dogs struck another coon and
freed him fifty rods away. When the
men arrived they discovered that the
coon had jumped off. The dogs were
circled around the tree until they struck
the scent again. This time they ran
the coon up hemlock fifteen rods
away. One of the hunters climbed the
tree fifty feet, nearly to its top, but
could discover no coon in the thick ever
green growth. Another man went up
with a lantern, but still no coon was viSi-
Bile. When coming down they saw the
coon's eyes shining. He was out on a
| branch about twenty feet above the
ground. A shot dropped him, and after
/ a fight the dogs killed him. The men
each shoudered a coon, and they
reached home at midnight. The four
coons together weighed between fifty
and sixty pounds. The next day they
were hung at Mr.. Leete's blacksmith
shop on exhibition.
Sometimes the hunters get other
game. Mr.. Hotchkiss captured not long
ago an otter that measured four feet
from the tip of its nose 10 the end Of its
tail. The heaviest coon caught this
season weighed 24l5 pounds.
GRATEFUL--COMFORTING. =.
Epps's Cocoa.
BREAKFAST.
''sy thorough knowledge Of the natn'A! avs