Morning journal and courier., 1892-10-06
Shooting the wild Turkey.


eff you want to see real scientific hunt
ing," said the ''old sportsman" to his re-
portorial friead yesterday, ''go into the
woods some day with a man who under
stands the pursuit of turkeys. 1 know of
no species of hunting that requires such
untiring patience, unflagging perseverance
and exhaustless ingenuity to make it sue
cessful. I have seen many men who,
though passionately fond OF shooting and
hunting turkeys, were never fortunate,
even to mediocrity, in killing them. L
have seen the best shots, who prided them
selves on their sagacity and persistence,
who always loaded their gnns personally
and spared no expense or outlay in their
equipments, return from the chase empty
handed, and l have seen hunter who un-
derstood the habits of his game better
come in the same day with as many tur-
keys as he could carry. The Indians call
the turkey the wit of the woods and
never WAS a name more appropriately be-
slowed, for in cunning and wariness 1t is
| unsurpassed by any bird in existence.
"With the exception of the bustsrd of
| the old country, the turkey is the noblest
of game birds. His magnificent size,
| beautiful plumage and exquisite flavor "a a
| table delicacy render him an object sought
| after with the greatest eagerness by every
class, from the school-boy to the epicure,
| who never sees him except on the table.
The peculiar lustre of his feathers makes
them preferable to those of the domestic
bird for millinery purposes. One of the
| handsomest fans ! ever saw was made
| from the tail of a seventeen. pound turkey
| cock. l killed one Christmas. They are
| fast becoming scarce, and as each year
| passes their traces are less and less spps-
rent, and it is only a matter of time until,
| like their original concomitant, the Indian,
they will have become portion of tradi-
tion east of the Mississippi. I have al
ways found them more plentiful in the
western Southern States than in Georgia
or the Carolinss, but 1 recollect the time
when just before dawn on a spring morn
ing their rolling gobble could be heard in
any swamp around the country.
"There are various ways of killing this
bird. The farmer 'roosts' them and kills
one or possibly two. The butcher baits
them and kills eight or ten at once; but
the sportsman follows his game with al
the knowledge of woodcraft and laborioui
skill, and shoots him in way that he car
| reconcile to his conscience. A careful
hunter, who knows what he is about, car
make out turkey trail and follow it with
as much precision as pointer, being abl'
to tell how far he is from his game by tn,
freshness of the earth scratched up by ii
feet, or the round cavities followed In tn
ground as the bird futters the sand owe
It's body and through its feathers. Sucl
signs are as legible to an experienced hunt
er as the News and Courier is to you.
thorough knowledge of woodcraft is NOR
necessary for q turkey-hunter. than an In
dian fighter.
ga great many turkeys are Tor used I,
be) killed from 'blinds;' that is to say
leafy screens, behind which the hunte
conceals himself and waits until the bird
J come up to eat bait that has beel
placed in q little trench to allure them
| The shooter watches his opportunity, an,
when all the heads are down togethe
, fires, usually with large results, frequent
> ly killing six or seven turkeys This, al
. though possibly the surest way to pro
: cure the game, is tame and unsportsman
> like, and too nearly allied to butchsry =
be indulged in by the man who hunt
! from love of sport, and not the mer
{ vicious pleasure of destroying life or tn
{ more mercensry one of filling his bag.
I Sometimes turkeys are 'roosted' 9
: night and shot from their perch early IL
d the morning as they are calling to esol
g other and preparing to fy down. This I
: very inconysnient, % II entails such earl