Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-11-21
W the heads OF of a large

AASSC d1c tie ways a turkey OuKnI not
be hunted. or rather, butchered. To hear
Of them one might take the wild turkey
to be an exceedingly foolish fowl, and on
these particular occasions he undoubtedly
ID; but they are only the startling and in
frequent lapses of great mind. Taking
him by and large" an old turkey gobbler
Is the quickest. swiftest, shyest and most
knowing animal with wings or without.
he can run like greyhound. smell like a
deer, see like an eagle, and fly like a wild
turkey.
You may have spent two hours in crawl
ing on your hands and knees over a noun
tain open. or In moving with noiseless foot
steps. each one of which is considered with
careful deifberetfon, and a single, sudden
turn of your head, snap Of a twig or CLEAN
OF sunshine on your gun will send whole
gang mile away and up the mountain.
Upwards 1t always is. When wild turkey
does not like the looks of things he wants
the rockiest and toughest summit of the
particularly highest headand of the top
most ridge OF whole range, and he gen.
orally gets 1t. If it is steep, he runs, and
ne can run up faster than you can fall
down. If 1t is a gentle rise, he thrashes the
ar with his mighty wings clear up OBJ
structlng treetops, and then away he sails
with velocity that belongs to a twenty
pound feathered cannon ball
The Genuine Sportsman.
Take dog along. If you will, and when
the gang is busy feeding, your cur may
surprise them SO quickly as to make a
flush. Off they will fly, scattering in every
direction. no two birds together. If it is af-
ternoon they will want to get together for
the night, and in few hours you hear far
on, plaintive qu-urck. qu-urck qu-urck;
qu-urck. qu-urck, qu-urck-seven notes, the
last three coming shorter and sharper
NOW, II you are one of the rare individ-
uals who can make and manipulate tur-
Key CALL take from your pocket the we'll
worn hollow bones of wild gobbler's
wings, be still as death and initiate that
queer invitation. You will probably be con-
scious that 1t is answered, and have some
delicious sensations; nay. it may even come
nearer and lead you to madly strain your
eye nerves trying to see through entirely
opaque underbrush. But unless those tur-
Keys are very young and foolish. or are
hens, this will be all. An old gobbler will
have thought it all out long before he steps
within range and silently fly away, leaving
you to wonder why the answer don't keep
on coming.
The thoroughbred and glorious way to kill
a turkey is to go out alone IN the noun
tains with your Winchester and half-a-
dozen cartridges and just look for the noble
old fellow. Not that just looking will do;
to make much of success you must listen
for him, feel for him, taste for him and
smell for him, too, and above everything
else. wait for him. Get into just the wild
est and most secluded glade you can climb
to, where the only harvesters of the chest
nuts and hickory nuts are the squirrels,
where the tea berries, huckleberries and
wild grapes grow only for the pheasants
and turkeys; where the wild cat screams at
night, the fox pounces on the rabbit, the
black bear hunts for bee trees and the big
horned owl is the villain in many nocturnal
tragedies. Keep in the underbrush, but
look out into every open glade. Take note
OF what there Is for a turkey to eat, and
see If the dry leaves are scratched up.
In Pursuit of the Game.
Walk about mile an hour, and don't put
your foot down unless you know what kind
of noise it is going to make Don't be
sure 1t is squirrel you hear scampering
oven the leaves until you see him or hear
his chatter. See everything that your eyes
can take in and keep them looking stead
lily on points in distant leaf-colored slopes
until they see many things that did not
appear at first. Stop sometimes and don't
move anything but your eyeballs for five
full, silent minutes; never make any sud-
Gen move consider whether the last nights
frost has fallen on this area of ruffied and
torn-up leaves, where plainly strong toes
have been laying there the rich, dark earth
or the sweet remains of the chestnut crop.
When you decide that the scratching has
Teen done this morning. see where 1t be-
gan. and remember what ground lies in the
direction to which it tends. Then follow,
moving more slowly and carefully. Come
to steep mountain side Sheering to the
sycamore-fringed river; do not dare to go
directly down. Side quickly off on better
grade, and then, having circled over
swift GREATNESS half mile, work back to
Where the trail should meet the river mead
ow. Take care! Drop at full length, q lit
ftle cautious because of the haste; there
they are, strutting forth from the under
growth by the stream after washing down
the chestnut breakfast with cold, clear
mountain water. They come up the hill to-
ward you. and you lie like stricken man.
with your rife following every movement
of c great black gobbler, father of the flock
though he is still 300 yards away.
Motherly, mild-mannered hens and young
gobblers are in his train, slipping dew drops
from tho grass. picking at rag weed. chas-
ing graSShopper. with half-cpen wings or
ruffling into make-believe comhats. But
never for moment are all off their guard
one. two or three of their tall necks are
always stretched aloft,. full of eyes ard
ears, IN statuesque suspicion. Now the cid
Gobbler straightshS Up his head. poised four
feet from the ground trim, graceful. pow
erful; the sun ginting on the dark rides
cent feathers of his back and lower neck.
Now you decide he is in range. Your
thrty-eight calher bullet strikes his noble
breast with muff1ed thump and the giant
wings wildly beat down the dry rag weed
while your magazine is emptied vainly at
the dark forms shooting off toward the
wooded mountain side.
He is royal creature. this wild turkey.
and You may hope to see an old gohblar tip
the scales at twenty or twenty-five pounds
Slung over your shoulder by the foot, his
head bangles against your heels. He is a
wild monarch. eloquent of the woods and
mountains and their innermost secrets fed
only by the most delicat wild fruits and
crystal spring water, formed for the high
est beauty and strength known 10 Amer
lean birdkind. with a flesh more delicious
than his stall-fed cousin, because of the
gamy flavor impaired by the wild food To
man who has killed and eaten a Noverl-
Der wild gobbler, Thanksgiving day has a
meaning which must be blank to other
mortals. CHARLES d. LANIER
High Example.
From Life.
Willie-'I should think you would be