Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-06-14
THE WILD TURKEY.


IVY anu 1amy, but Hunters Have Tricks
That Put Him In q Bag.
All the world is thankful to America
LOT furnishing two of the great luxuries
oi h1e-turkey and tobacco. Wild
turkeys were captured early in the six.
Ceentn century and carried alive To
spain, and few years afterwards To
england, and domesticated. 1t is a
problem how many generations it takes
20 domesticate wild turkeys. A Chi
caSo man says when he was a how he
!ound a hatful of speckled eggs in the
leaves one day, carried them home, and
put them under a hen. In course of
time ne had fifteen young turkeys in
the poultry yard, but as soon as they
got Dig enough to scratch for them
serves they left the place and went to
.he woods, and were as wild as if they
hao been Matched and raised by their
own mother out in the hills.
Ihe wild turkey is the largest and
most interesting American game bird.
AT present, in the older and more
tnlckly settled states, the species is
practically extinct. but turkeys NAV
yet be found in abundance in the hilly
portions of the middle Mississippi val
ley. The turkey is shy bird and the
hunter that bags game has to be full of
tricks.
ihe hunter who wants the fat COB
oler conceals himself behind log or in
a brush heap and initiates the call of
the turkey hen. / have seen men who
could make the call perfectly with
vocal organs, but such men are rare.
AS a rule the hollow bone of turkeys
wing, reed, or a cane pipe stem is
used, and even with these it requires
great practice and thorough acquaint-
ance with the turkeys voice to attain
success A simple 'sturkey-caller" is
q hollow bowl of wood, like the
BOWL of pipe, with a nail
through the bottom. The hunter holds
the wooden bowl in his hand anC
scratches the nail against smooth
hne-grained milestone. The call i
Turk. turk! turk repeated at inter
walls of two or three minutes and any
body who has ever heard this cal
knows where the turkey got his name
If the call is made too often the gobbleI
becomes suspicious.
If the call is satisfactory the bird ap
proaches with great ceremony. He
spreads his tail out like a wagon whee.
and drums on the ground with his
wings He goes sideways, lacking from
point to point like a yacht beating
against the wind. He looks back at his
tail with unbounded admiration. He
gobbles vociferously. He is proude1
and more affected than a peacock
Bang! All is over with the ardent sutton
Who, f1x-n rroh11a,.c
as they frequently do when both are
looking for trouble, there ensues bat
tie royal If one is shot as they are
nearing together the other. utterly OBJ
1ivious of the presence of an enemy
with gun, at once attacks his dying
rival and will remain there gratifying
his vengeance until he. too. is slain.
Hunting wild turkeys by moonlight
is favorite feature of the sport. This
can only be done in the winter when
the trees are bare of leaves. The roost-
ing place is ascertained as nearly as
may be before it becomes dark, and
late at night the hunter repairs to
the spot and moons" the sleep
ing birds. That is, he draws a bead
on the moon and by shifting his
position he finally gets the body
of the turkey to darken the sights and
then fires with great accuracy. A shot
gun is generally used for night shoot
ing, though many old mountain hunt
ers would scorn to shoot a ''dad-gum
han'ful O. bullets" at anything, and
can draw as fine a bead on a rifle at
night against the moon as they could
at midday.
Pete and Jim Hubbard, who had
trace of black blood in their veins, and
lived down on Deer creek, in Madison
county, O., 10 the wa" were great
turkey hunters, and either of them
could kill bird while flying with al
most unfailing certainty with a rifle.
Pete. it is said. could run like a tur-
key" and has been known to chase
bird with broken wing for two miles,
finally catching it.
Usually, in night shooting, the tur-
keys scatter and fly at the first shot.
The heavy wings make a great whir-
ring in the still night, and the sound
ceases with a sudden ''biff." when the
turkey alights on another tree, per-
haps one hundred yards. perhaps
quarter of mile away. The trained
hunter can locate turkey accurately
by the noise of his flight. Sometimes,
at night. the hunter wastes his charge
of shot in a squirrel nest, or a bunch
of leaves, the turkey escaping un-
harmed.
On heavy, wet day, when it is sleet-
ing or when soft, moist snow is fall
ing. turkeys are unable to fly any con-
siderable distance, and when rain
freezes as it falls the wings are some
times so stiffened with ice that they can
not fiy at all. Then the trained turkey
dog is useful. and two or three hunters
who understand the proper methods
will play sad havoc with flock of birds
1t is a matter of practical impossiDility
for the hunter to obtain a shot when
the turkeys are on the ground unless
he comes upon them by surprise. An
ordinary still hunt for turkeys is too
frequently barren of results.
The birds manage to fly up in trees,
however. to get away from the dog,
and the dog banks to notify the hunt
tiers that he has ''treed." The birds
are then easily approached. Even on
DAYS when turkeys can fly well they
will frequently take refuge in trees
when pursued by dog, and remain
until they are shot.
A continuance the most ingenious and
unfair, looking at it from the turkeys
point of view, is the turkey pen, by
means of which surprisingly large num-
beers of turkeys are sometimes captured.
The pen is built of rails and covered
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