Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13
AND NOW FOR QUAIL
How to Get Good Days Sport About
Washington.
Where TO Go and How to Hunt-The
Pleasures and Advantages
of Cunning.

The 18th of October Is the day fixed by
law for the commencement of quail hunting
III most of the counties adjoining Wash
IL Stor city, but in Montgomery, which is
perhaps the best hunting ground the sport
Is not legal until November |. A good day $
hunt and return with well-filled bag is
not so difficult the Sportsmen of the
District would imagine. You want light
weight gun, preferably about : IA pounds,
twelve-bore. Your shells should be loaded
with three drachms and 1 is ounces of No
shot. Buy them ready loaded, as you can
get them cheaper than by purchasing the
materials and loading them yourself. E. c.,
comparatively new powder, is used by
professional shots. 1t does not make the
smoke nor stick half so hard as the COM
mon black powder Its COST however, is
somewhat more Your dog should be a set
ter. Irish or Laverck. Pointers are very
good for the fields. but after the covey is
first flushed they take to the thickets and
Dflars, ana your pointer becomes useless.
AFTER Il rev attempts he refuses to tackle
the thorns that play such havoc with his
poorly covered skin. Then, too, your dog
must be lively and good ranger, for the
Hooks are not superabundant and a slow
dog compels its master to do too much
walking. After the covey's first flight he
Is taught to hunt steady" The birds go
III such places that you must be close upon
! ~ OiNNA " ODldlH lnlIlS IKE
fair shot.
where TO Go.
The next thing to do is to remember some
country friends and write to them to in
quire If they know of a place where you
can board for a day or two, and, being
AaryIandcrs or Nirginians, they will most
hkey invite you to stay with them Now
TO be at all successful you must be sure to
carry half a gallon OF old rye. 1t is in
diSpensable. Your host will feel hurt if
you don't, and the colored man he sends
with you as guide will walk your feet off
and Tever show you rear bird unless
tipped with "scald," as he calls the fire.
water. And for goodness sake, don't forget
TO have few small coins in your hunting
clothes; these JudiciOusly bestowed upon
the barefoot boy with cheens Of tan"
that frequently crosses your path, and stops
to look at the city dude, with leggins and
earless gun, that couldn't hit a barn door"
will call forth know ledge OF the guam :
whereabouts that couldn't be remembered
under any other circumstances. You must
not, however, call them quail" for no one
In the south so calls them. They are usual
I ~ BIRDS sometimes partTidSeS.
your host should wake you by daylight,
ana II there are any birds in the neigh
. bOrnOOd you can locate them by their.
whistling. If the frost is not heavy an
early start should be made, SO that you will
catch the bird feeding. If the day be warm
and the sun shining, stop hunting about
+ II o'clock, and don't commence again until
about $50. During the interim Ine bras
are In the woods and marshes and If you
stumble upon covey 1t will be pure luck
Where to Hunt.
While they are feeding, the stubble fields
and buckwheat patches are the best hunt
| ing grounds. II on any side of these there
| IS a wood or marsh, hunt the field from
| that quarter The birds will probably have
entered from these points, and your dog
| will more easily catch the scent
! II it is the first day of the season, you
can often get better shooting by failing to
| fire into the covey when ii first rises They
| will sometimes under such circumstances
| scatter in an open place, and with a care
! ful dog you can slaughter the whole flock
The birds were never less plentiful than
| during last autumn. but the winter of 1se3-
| "a was remarkably free from snow and
| cold weather. The past summer was also
very favorable to their increase There
| We're no storms at harvest time, when the
| birds are, for the most part, being Matched
and thus particularly liable to be drowned
! by heavy rain. In consequence, the quail
! are this year much more plentiful than for
| several seasons past. Reports indicate that
the best hunting is near WOODBURY., in Lou
| d0un county, Va, in the lower part OF
| Prince Georges county and near Edwards
feTEy, IN montgomery county.
| The quail hunter is seldom disappointed
| in Charles county, Md. A great many of
| these birds migrate In the fall, about the
| 10th of October but the Potomac river
| when II reaches Charles county, becomes
| too broad for the birds to cross and thus
| banked up, many coveys are found along
| the river side. Do not be daunted by the
| seeming difficulties, for. after all, you will
! be well rewarded in devoting a day or two
to the sport.
The Advantages of a Hunt.
| Out In the pure,sweet air your shoulders
| thrown back, moving with sprightly step
| IN the rich brown of the meadows, into the
| woodlands, gilded and frightened by a
! thousand hues, or where the pine trees
grow so low that their glorious green
| boughs kiss the sedge grass where the
| Dummies make their bed. you will feel as II
| you had a new lease of life. And when the
| day is over, tired out, you gather around
| the open fire In the old farm house. and tell
| of how you knocked over, dead as a ham,
! mep, a bird full seventy yards away, and
how your dog, catching the scent Just as
| he jumped a fence, hauled himself up and
| stood stiff, as IL frozen, right on the ton
| rail. you will feel young again and when
supper Is spread do full justice to the Mary
land biscuits and home-cured hams