The sun., 1896-09-21
STEUBEN COUNTY 'COONS.
THE GREATEST GAME PRODUCT OF
THE REGION.

zion, and His Untinely Fad. Young Abe
C..sidy's Trained 'Coonn and the Tricks
They Played with HE Fathers cider.
HAMMoNpsPoRT. Y. Y, Sent. 1s.-About
tho only game left in this part of the State
now arc foIer, squirrels, and rabbits. As the
state law permits theso animals to be hunted
.tter Sept /. the native hunters and summer
visitors have been securing the woods and
valleys for the last two weeks with fair re-
sults. Aside from the animals mentioned, AL
most the only game worth rhooting about here
arc race oons The game laws don't restrict
tho season for hunting them. but there 10 an
unwritten rule among the veteran sportsmen.
who believe that there is moro fun in q rae
room hunt than in anything else short Of bring
ing down deer. that about tho middle Of
ssptember Is the proper time for opening the
,ooon season. Blur Point, q long, n arrow,
veil. wooded piece of land running down be-
tween the east and west forks of Lake Keuka,
!. few miles below here, 10 famous hunting
Ground for 'coons, and old Hank Woodward,
vhose favorte shooting ground is Bluff Point,
says he wouldn't be surprised II he has killed
more Of those sharp-nosed little animals than
any other man living.
Woodward is over 70 years old now, and ho
has TO wear a double pair of glasses, which he
rails lis peeps" when he goes hunting, but
for nil that he can give the younger and more
active hunters cards and spades and then beat
them out when It comes to catching raccoons.
He has hunted them about the lake here since
he was ten years old, and there isn't much
That he doesn't know about them. Last year,
despite his failing eyeslRht, Hank got twenty
coons. AN It want anything great of coon
year, either" He shot the frst raccoon OF
The season down on Bluff Point last week, but
- l,,sx Nt,,t, l,at a.,
the old man is inconsolable. Stub was prob
ably the homeliest representative Of the canine
tribe in the whole State. but he was coon
dog and Woodward says there 10 nothing In
the world harder to get than good coon dog.
The story Of how Stub came to an untimely
end, prefaced with little lecture ON 'coons
and coon dogs, was related to q group of sym
pathetic listeners on the hotel piazza o few
evenings ago by the veteran hunter.
"'Coons is mighty curious Critters" began
the old man, 'and you've got to be mighty
! we'll acquainted with their habits in order to
get one. They're knowin'. and you can't
walk up to them and knock them over with
club as some of those city fellows who come
up here calculate to do. They're quicker'n
creased lightning, too, an you don't want to
waste any time s!ttin' down to think when
you're after coon.
ut amt no use tryin' to got coon at all
unless you've got coon dog. fellow asked
ne the other day what breed of dog he ought
to get to hunt coon with, a setter. q fox
hound, CT what, an I Gays to him: You don't
want 10 setter an no hound, but what you
And that's the truth. You can take o high
toned dog Of some fancy breed an bring him up
that be won't be no more use for huntin' coons
than he would II you set him aRin wild ele-
phans. Or mebbe a measly. monErel. yellow
and that looks az though he growed from .
turdoci root. will be regular cyclone when
thing. III toe, ,thata coon dog amt good for nothin
around. xettin' licked by all the other dogs an
but l t5e middle dsH 20 Of
BE- perks right up an, for couple of months
ns SEses1 5Ssa m sh sbsS gadas ss real
hind to got. It must be born IN him or he
MY Sog Stub was Just this last kind exactly.
Hewas OF no breed an NO broedin'. an . mean
ited s,tssr at most times He wo1d1.
vOodchuck that had shake up lively some
isi bristls up ali over like . porcupine an
WsS bis stump Of tail;
.. ie s staying down ess Point saa aos
considerable interested in the subject Of 'coons,
an thought he'd like to shoot one. 1t would
throu4h guess he thought it was. He said
o much about IT | agreed to take him on Q
hunt hunt as as soon asit come coon season. Last
gttin, into corn field OF his over on the other
.ide Of the Point near piece of low woods. As
would be as good plan as any to strike right
,sF tse@ So h hunted up Dean an tod
All right said he; IN be on hand and II
ihSGt coon IN give you S25.
handle shooting irons I'd have understood that
.a,sri9s INTO; but thought OF STUB. f an cal cal
Well. about o'clock the neat night. Just
2 the moon was comm up. Dean came along
oSs for ssm corn @
" tRsas was as full Of interest as boy goin to
70 arst circus, an don't know whether he or
,DH Va, mp as well az We did. an he pulled on ~
esa as rss s sse5s sss tor nigh s br.
r. s,I. . spell B,meby Stub began to sanirm
Entiin' In the cornstalks further down tho
a 5i n That told me coons yas there. pointed ou.
Sss nigh enough for q shot; II he distur ,ed
,nsm s.s1 and they started to run he was to give
hadn't got more'n half way down when hs
apped on stone or something an made a
neat rattling in the dry stalks. knew that
meant good-by TO the 'coons, an slipped the
Rs IoRs from Stubs collar. Then there came a
~ from Dean that you could hear across the
axe an mint later the darnedest process
tpn you ever seen was thrashing down that side
nai, layin' the corn right an left, an doin'
! more damage TO tn, mint than the 'coons did
~ Nv Meek. First was the pair Of coons. measur-
n Ion on the ground like a couple of young kan
taroos an gaining on the rest of us at every
lump as they made straight for the woods:
seat come Stub, layin' down TO his work like
good. un an givin' out q yelp every now an
Staeh. Dean was piling after the COON an tho
LaS ILUx as u ne OK oected to run. EN- down. hol-
M Hold on there; take your time; the dog
But he was too interested in what was
ssoad 10 pay any attention to me, an kept right
W. chased after as fast as my old legs
sTip ssTGp!o AIRY rne,but by the time got down the
sl inc hull crowd was out of sight In the
Gmoods ! could hear a howl from Stub once
H. ia Whlie. an Just as got about two rod into
a.. s.o WOODS Deans gun went off-both barrels
once. rcckoned he'd killed himself. but
70 gave another yell second later, so | know
~, ~ halht. an ] hurried up to where he was.
mmneh ! come up 10 MIN he was sit In on log,
H; isaii ms gun an ru obin' his shinB an cussin'
laugh '''' -'"'''f' Bays Il 'f''h h'' ~
And Damn Damn H. says he. I tripped over a log,
,a ,na this blamed old cannon almost blowed
she bp or my head Off an he Dickad nm his