Evening star., 1895-09-14

North America the wild turkey holds first
rank for true, genuine gameness. He is
the living emblem of all that is cunning
90 'tious and wild, and he who hunts him
must etch against him cunning for cum
ming end :, tx for trick. If turkey re-
ward vou for q bard days tramp you have
the proud satisfact,.,n n of knowing that for
once your judgment, u. ution, craft and
quckness of action have co,.'e OH Vlctorl-
Gus in a game with Dame Nat.re' whose
resources and subterfuges seem .'hceh-
trated in that one gobbler slung over yU,tr
shoulder.
Wild turkey hunting is the one sport of
all others to which American gunners look
fcrwssrd from year to year, and in which
can be enjoyed all the glories of an autumn
day. Not only is there the zest of the hunt
itself, but it takes one into the wilder and
more generally inaccessible regions of
country, and for the time being, at least,
drives from the mind the turmoil of a city
life.
The writer is one who holds with an old
author that game was made first. to hunt;
second, to kill. and, last of all. to eat In
other words, all the glories of a days out
ing should be the prime factors in a days
hunt and If at the end of 1t good bag is
the result, a double purpose has been
gained.
To the tyro in this kind of sport about
to start out with the opening of the season
a few words of advice may be valuable:
First. Don't go alone; get an old woodsman
In the locality in which you hunt to accom-
pany you, and put you on" as the saying
is. He can teach you more in days hunt
than you can learn in a month by yourself,
ard you may get turkey, too.
Second. Remember that you are hunting
the shyest of game, and make no more
noise than you can possibly help.
Third. When you are turkey hunting,
hunt turkeys and nothing else Last win
ter the writer went for turl<ays, and when
he found them he had nothing in his gun
but squirrel shot The result was
the less of fine gobber that ran up
within easy range
The best turkey grounds accessible to
Washington sportsn.en are of course some
distance from the capital. In the mount
aims of West Virginia are some of the best
grounds in this country, while nearer home,
1oudoun county and the vicinity of Great
Falls furnish a fair quota of birds. South
of us We find birds fairy abundant at
Manassas, Occoquan, Mattawoman and
Aqua creek. These, of course, are all
places to which one goes expecting to
spend several days. and require but little
mention. The sport found near the
city is what more Immediately concerns
MS. and turkey shooting is turkey shoot
Ing. no matter where found, and the gen.
eral account to follow of how to hunt
them applies anywhere.
Turkeys Near Home.
Within mile of Mount Vernon, on the
ridge back of the mansion, one can find
turkeys almost any time in the fall. Two
years ago they were really quite as numer-
Gus there os one could desire, and only
last winter a large flock of fifteen or
twenty birds could be heard from the steps
OF the mansion. calling in the heavy tim
ber just back of it.
Coming nearer still, a flock of twelve
wintered in the vicinity of the dyke"
Just below New Alexandria, last winter
and furnished good sport for a favored few
who CHANGED to know of their preserve.
Five miles back of Falls Church is a place
called "Slab-town." and just back of it
strikes as wild a piece of country as
can be desired This Is q well-known tur-
key cover, and quite number of those
exposed for sale in the markets every win
ter come from "Slab-town."
Methods of Hunting.
Granted that the hunter has settled upon
the district to which he Is going, and has
located his turkeys within u poorly defined
area, glance for a moment at the various
methods We may employ. First, there is
the turkey call. made from the wing bone
of one of the birds. This requires Sn ex-
pert to use 1t properly and one we'll versed
in turkey hunting. By means Of this one
can approach reasonably near to a gobbler
and call him within range by initiating a
hen turkey. Second, one can try batting
the birds to a blind; or. third. find the tree
in which they roost at night and lay in
ambush for them.
The above are the usual methods en-
ployed. Turkeys, like every other kind of
game, are hunted in every conceivable man