The morning times., 1896-12-27
A DEER HUNT IN TENNESSEE
Experience That Aay Not Be Pcs,
SibIe a Few Years Hence.
Big Game Not Plentiful in the
state, But Good sport May
Yet Be Had.

Tennessee is not u sportsmans para
| disc, as many of the railway companies
in the North and West say of the lands
that their lines traverse; it is not a good
| hunting section at all, or at least would
not be considered so by a man who has,
made 1t a point to hunt in the hest ter
ritory. But for all that, some excellent
| sport can be had in the state and there
is an infinite variety of game though not
very much of 1T. By hunting, in this
| article, shooting is meant, not hunting in
pink and pig skin as an Englishman has
| it, but hunting after deer birds. etc
with II rifle or shotgun. The list OF game
of Tennessee is very interesting, but i'll
this sketch Tennessee deer hunt on
Signal Mountain, Hamilton county, will
be described and passing reference made
to other game indigenous to that section.
To begin with, no sportsman should under
take to hunt deer on the Tennessee noun
taIns unless he feels able to undertake a
bush tramp OF ten or fifteen miles before
dinner If he feels equal to the task let
him buckle on his cartridge belt and
shoulder his Winchester, for we have n
long walk before us to Otter Greek, before
We get to the runways where we expect
to find buck \ runway is the course
that deer takes through the woods, gener-
ally on the ridges, and, to one accustomed
to deer hunting, they are easily found.
Strange to say, If a deer was brought from
Colorado or Florida and let loose in the
Tennessee woods, IL would follow exactly
the same runways as the local deer do.
Therefore, when a hunter knows the terri
tory he is hunting in it Is an easy matter
to get shot If there are any deer to be
found Men are placed Oh various runs
around Il certain location and the Ieashes
or the dogs are slipped when the tracks are
found, and then, If the trail is fresh. away
go tile dogs, giving tongue at every bound,
and some one gets a shot.
1t is bright, frosty morning i'll De
| cember with about an inch of snow on
| the ground. and as the first man up
throws back 1.-The flap Of the tent about
| an hour be fore daylight, he remarks: Turn
out lively boys, it's getting gray in the
| east, and it's dandy morning for deer"
BY the time we have been down 10 the
creek to wash and have got back to
| camp, breakfast is ready, and we are
| ready for it, for the o,lor of that frying
| bacon has permcatcd the whole atmos-
| phere, and the aroma of the black coffee
| floats az ound on the ozone laden air in
| most tantalizing fashion. We have no
| time to lose, during breakfast the plans
are laid. They are a : follows:
A mar hauling tan bark had the day
| before said that near the hcInlock ridge
and between it and the rock bridge he
had seen three deer, buck, a doc and "A
| good sized fawn. They Were headed for
| the hcadwatcrS of SEoal Creek, and would
probably he found in the beech groves
| in the bottoms; so it was decided that our
! guide, Sim Barker, and one of our party,
| the doctor, Were to take the dogs and go
for the becches, and the three other men
were to be distributed OH the most likely
runways round al out. Break over
the camp was turned over TO the cook and
the party separated, every man to his r ost.
There is an unwritten In W that makes it
heinous offense for person to break
faith on the hunting field When a man
is placed on runway he must stay there
| until he is called Iftherc is any running
around to do, let the guide do it and re-
main steady yourself There is a great
deal to learn about deer dunting, and it
is a most interesting lesson. In the first
place, keep quiet; do not tramp around, no
matter how cold you may be, to make
any noise. The deer will scent and see
you long before you will see him, and
unless the dogs are close behind, will head
off some other way, and you'll lose shot
and probably spoilthe days sport. Another
thing to be remembered is that you have
come out for Il deer, so if YOU see a fox
or wildcat your re not likely to, but you
might do not fire, you Will Inislead your
companions and get ''cussed'' for your
pains.