The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-25
HUNTING IN THE SOUTH.
Dixie Land becoming the Favoritc Win.
ter Resort for Sportsmen
From Fact and Fiction

From Fact and Fiction.
Every land has 1T its season when ma
ture smiles in all her scenic beauty and
welcomes the stranger to tnrry. June
Is considered the most beautiful month
in the North but to the lover of field
sports, the autumn months bring antici.
patton of the greatest pleasures. The
early frosts have tipped meadow and leaf
and Hover, and everywhere the vertlure
of June is now rcsplenh cnt in myriad
tnts Of russell and red. and purple ann
gold The crisp air sets every nerve of
the sportsman tingliig, and he Longs for
the haunts of the quail and chicken, the
goose and the duck, the rabbit and deer
His first expeditions are made to the
prairicS of Iowa. Wisconsin, and Mime
sofa. Here he finds the quail and chick
en-, and in the numerous lakes he may en-
JOY excellent shooting of ducks and geese.
But us winter approaches, visions OF
the nimblc. footed deer and the lumber
ing bear haunt his dreams Until he HES
away To the forests of Northern Wiscon-
sin and Michigan, where these animals
have sought retreat from the bay of the
hound and the report of the gun.
The rapid thinning Of game in the
North demonstrates that the Northern
sportsman is more energetic than his
Southern brother. The buffalo, which
few years ago was the pride of the North
EN- Nlmrod, is no more, and the nimblc
deer is as rapidly disappearing Recog-
nzing this, legislators have enacted laws
making the season for shooting deer so
short that the average sportsman does not
consider the time long enough to recon.
pensc him for the Inconvenience of going
To the Northern hunting grounds
These conditions have brought to his
attention new field for the exercise of
his skill. Among the mountain ranges
of the South-in Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia,
deer and bear are found mere plentiful
than in the almost inpregnable forests of
Northern Michigan and Minnesota, and
every autumn finds more Northern
sportSmen turning their backs on former
haunts and vending their way south
ward.
Not only is large game more abundant
in the South, but the November winds
drive wild fowls from II Northern to IL
Southern cline, and when the North lies
dormant under mantel of snow, the
sylvan dclls and vcrdant hillsides of the
South are resonant with chattering quail,
the barking squirrel, and the gobbling
turkey. From early morn till late at
night there comes from the streams an
.'-S'1''''e'ic 'IuuShiuS vi QNltNS anu hOuh-
ing of geese. The agile deer leaps from
crag to crag, and the indolent bear winds
ms way through the valleys. The South
IN early winter presents IL field i'll which
the energetic sportsman of the North will
meet with II realization of his widest
dreams.
Another factor in favor of the South as
n hunting ground, is that the season is
longer there than in the North Game
being more plentiful, stringent protective
laws have been found necessary. I'm
many of the States named the season for
hunting most game opens in September,
and does not close until the st OF March
rms permits of winter shooting, il pleas.
ure denied the disciple of Nimrod IN the
North.
Going to the Southern hunting grounds.
the sportsman need not so much con
slider where he will find game ms what
section he prefers to visit. Having de-
tcrmined the latter. he can rest assured
OF finding game in sufficient quantities
TO give him good sport To the unin-
lated, Il few hints as to where the
different kinds of game are found most
plentiful may not be amss.
Quail, turkey, and deer are plentiful in
Virginia. AppomattoX and Buckingham
counties are considered the best in the
state Tor ueer anu turkeys. Between
Richmond and Danylle excellent shoot
ing may be found for turkeys, deer and
bear. Near Moorehead City and Clarks-
vile, ducks and geese are numerous.
Quail is the most plentiful game in the
State, and can be found everywhere.
Snipc and woodcock are also abundant.
Turkey, deer and quail are also found
i'll unusually large numbers near the
mountains. In the vicinity of Ashcville
game is so plentiful that George Wander
bilt has purchased an estate of 100000
acres to be used as game preserve for
private shooting Deer are also plentiful
in the counties of Haywood, Henderson,
Pennsylvania, Jackson and Cherokee
but the law protects them after Jan
uary |. Shooting is good in the neigh
borhood of all the stations from Char
lotte, n. c., north to Greensboro, south