The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
LEW BOYD, THE HUNTSMAN
\ sULLITAN COUNTY VETERAN OF
THE CHASE.
He Hs Almost Sure Death 60 Auy Game
He Pursues, bot lie Especially Hard on
mrnrs-Bone or His Fentn In the Days
when His DOG, Mater, Was Alive,

III" Pursues, bat Hs Especially Hard on
nrnrs -Soms OF Ills Fentu In the Days
When His Dog, Meier, Was Alive.
HARDWOOD. N. Y, Dec. 19.-within eighty
miles Of New York city, as the crow hies. there
Is sport In fox chasing these cold. crlsp morn
ings of tho early winter following the grouse
season and before the arrival Of tracking snows,
essential to success In pursuit of the wildcat
Tho deer-hunting season here closed with y
record OF four deer on Ave drives. One of them
WAS shot by the veteran guide, Lew Boyd, who
always does tho driving. because he Ia the only
man who can keep up with n pack Of hounds,
and that is something in sullivan county.
Physically Lew Boyd is not unlike many other
heroes OF fact and h%ction-very tall and lean.
wirv rather than muscular. and more enduring
than speedy. II he had lived a hundred years
ago in tradition he would have been half god by
this time. He scorns any weapon but his old
fashioned percussion-cap rifle. and he is a rare
shot with this at q running mark. and constant
practice has given him an ability to load II
about as quickly as the ordinary hunter can
load his moro modern gan. 1t is a wonderful
experience 10 be with him in the woods. to see
him drop suddenly upon his knees, carefully
wriggle his fingers beneath a bunch Of
leaves and twigs and disclose q bears
track or the imprint of q deer's
hoof. The next instant he points to q distant
pine and tries TO show you n grouse that you
cannot see, and he will tell you the direction
this grouse will take when you come near
enough to alarm 1t. He knows every inch or his
hunting ground OF 1925 square miles or more-s
playground more than twice the size of Staten
Island. He can make his way by night through
an almost impenetrable swamp that most old
hunters would fear in the day, and at all sea-
sons he knows the latest news about the game
with an accuracy that smacks OF n~ecromancy.
- NM. IL. tl,,a n ---. "a A-- Dad
particularly" said Judge Crane Of Port Jervis.
was at the council or war Mt a bear hunt.
You know. a bear hunt is a kind OF picnic for
the bear. The bear is IA good deal like Kipling's
elephant that could catch railroad trains: he
neither walks, runs. nor gallops. but II he saw q
train and wanted II, l believe that he could get
It In his peculiar fashion of covering the
ground. This makes a bear hunt more a
matter OF patience than of woodlore. for the
bear depends more on speed than cunning. He
might go for ten miles in an approximately
straight line. or he might get in II swamp and
20 round and round in n circle In the thick
brush. Well. this particular bear had led us
over the greater portion Of sullivan be-
fore he finally grew tired and located In
Horse Camp Swamp. We could just hear
the dogs far ahead in the swamp. Then
they stopped suddenly and came singing
back on the trail. Boyd was standing
near me at the time and he said things about
those dogs that would have caused q row II the
owner had been present. But. by thunder
said Lew. there's one dog there thatll stick to
I'm as long as there's a smell on the ground. and
that's old Major About one dog in twenty
five will fight a bear twice. The other twenty
four will pretend TO be Interested on a hunt.
but they're always looking for an excuse to
leave the trail. and they will follow an old deer's
scent or even a hare's where II crosses. This
pack was too we'll trained TO this. but when the
bear stopped and showed fight they took the
back track. Well, Lew Bovd's old Major
worked the bear out of the swamp alone, and l
had u shot at him Just where Lew said he would
come out: And after that, although he was not
always the first heard. his advice was always
A few years ago. there was a buck with mag
niticent Rntlrrs that persisted in GLIDING the
hunters or this part Of sullivan and Orange
covered BY Old hunters and reliable shots. but
as often the old buck broke cover In some I'M
the west. the reversing on the east, or tie DSl-
aware far to the south. He was a wonderful
woods: ana III when hen" he atu' could De shake isHeDs of I" the h
Fostering old Major he was away treastiug the
wind, his head thrown back and his n"se tasting
the breeze for An enemy in front. with
a beautiful disregard for the carefully con-
,Tiyxd at,e eni9 g.. to antieipHte his move
tant hunter a tantaliaing glimpse OF his tawny
body or q swift flash of his coveted anliers.
slnped d"wa to the MonGan %a on the I,s's Opposite site
side Of which was a threatening cliff. rock
a glare ot color in it's autumnai coat. he caught
a movement far ahead. The movement itself.
eyes less used to the woods. Blu. Boyd Knew
that a deer wa s%kulkinR through the under
brush, and. having discovered him, perhaps an
hour before. had leHprd clear Of the brush to
locate him exactly. Moreover, in that swift
glimpse Boyd saw that 1t was q buck with mag
BOYD Vas nearly a quarter of a mile from the
Mongaup. on this side9t which runs the turn
Ivan county. The buck was about equally dis
tant from, ths stream but nearly as far from
s 100 on the Iurnnik made famous Az a cro,siins
place for deer, the Three Bridges runway, at
which probably more deer have been killed
than at any other spot In this part of the coun-
try. Now. II this was the famous big buck. and
Lew dared hope II was. he knew that the fellow
In case he crossed at all. Boyd struck out tor
the road. aiming Mt a point on the bnck's sideof
favored him. aud. in the mad race down the
hdlis,ue; he ran as loT and noiselessiy as
end cronched in the brush when he Jaw
q movement a hundred yards or so In front OF
moment later the buck dashed across the road
to the water. Boyd fired and rushed down the
steep bank and out into the stream. Loading as
for Two or three minutes. and then. watching
warily. wadsd down TO the place where the buck
and half hidden In a pile of drift lay the buck
dead, his last leap having carried him clear
across the road and down the bank. Thus did
Lew Boyd. slngie-handed and without a dog to
Aid him, bag The big buck.
But OF all the tales that are told of this man
none illustrates his endurance and courage so
we'll as his discrimination OF the wild boars.
Plnck. q New York banker. owns u country
place on the rocky hills opposite HartwoOd, the
fertile river bottom Of the Neversink lying be-
tween. On the llock property several thousand
acres we're un,4o-ed by a fence fourteen feet
high, the wires Of which were OF unusual size
and strength and for the first five feet placed
n.uRI1I Il " IN. h. IA An pI n 3 htA ue y ANNA, -I.-l
different varieties nt hare, deer, bear, and sew
eral hne specimens of the fierce blue boar Of the
black Forest. For a few months the family
lived in apparent happiness, ana then tho boars
grew restless and began drspoiling Young trees
and attaching evory living. creature Thai came
In sight Many a time the keepers came across
the d~isembOweiled carcass OF u grown bear or
buck, IN, the Flock woods, and once ono
OF the Keepers escaped injury or possibly
death only by killing a charging boar.
One day the b0ars took II notion to move on, and
to hold them Ii mosqGlto netting would have
served as we'll as the wire fence. After their
escape the bOars crossed the Neversink ard took
refuge In the rocky Businesses and the swamps Of
Sullivan county. In a few months they mad ter
TDTlZpu the surrounding ruuutrN 'rIair ti.,rpa-