The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-16

tiS place where roster 5 victims lay the
talohs OF the eagle We're stul fastened in
the flesh of the turkey. Upon eXamina-
uon II was discovered that the mountain
eef missile had passed clear through
Doth the turkey and its captor.
Good shot" said Andreas.
w aal nothin, uncomin.; I've done that
many time fore now" was Foster $
comment, without the slightest accent OF
Andreas and myself went back to camp
with the game, while Foster trailed Off
up the raVine in the direction the birds
mad flown
IN locate a roost er two. an fore
moon-up IN come to camp, an Wen have
some real likely dOin's time the last bird
mons on ther rOOst in the morniu'," was
FOSTERS parting remark.
" non the last rays of sunlight gilded the
lowering hluts TO eastward. Fosters pic
turesque figure appea red for an instant
among the cedars, and then we knew he
was ON the lookout. by taking an ele-
waited position, about sunset, the turkeys
can be observed in the bottoms, and the
course taey take when going to roost. If
the night promises to be calm and pleas
ant, the birds will roost almost anywhere
th3t suits their fancy when night over
taxes them. They are often found in the
blS black oaks on the benches of the
mountains on nights of this kind: but
when the wind is high, or il storms. the
wise birds seek for sheltered hooks in
the raVines, down in the bottoms or upon
the Islands i'm the river, where the great
sycamore trees stretch out their white
a. ii9 10 receive tnetn. On sun evenings
the birds can be heard for at least one
fourth of mile as their great wings nip
them up into the trees.
roster, from his lookout, had noted three
dluerent gangs, as he called the fioCks
easy OF access and not more than "A mile
away. He came into camp Juggling the
biggest gobbler that had been Killed for
years. The bird weighed 81 pounds. and
was as rat as butter. In explanation, the
old mountaineer said.
didn't tend to shoot emmy til, youns
la IA 1g.N.N
ed me es he strutted up che holler, an
draWed down old long-stop onto his majes-
", an the bird is in camp"
AFTER repaSt of broiled quail stewed
SQUIRRELS, baked potatoes, hot biscuits and
coHee, three hours were spent basking in
Ihe cheerful rays of the campfire, the
name OF the blazing hickory Illuminating
me river FOR hundreds of feet. Foster
quietly re.ated several stories of interest
70 the turkey hunter. None were lacking
IN scope for imagination.
-, some years ago said the owner of
long stop" Il used to pay more atten-
tlon ter huntin' then | do now. one way
m wnlch used to git lots NV teerkeys wuz
to bait EN-, y e see | used ter find a nlace
where the teerkeys used | would rig IN
a blnd close to big log that pinted
sTaight away from the blind. Then ia
take Shelleu corn and scatter IL in lines
say 100 feet from one end NV the log an
straight out from each side. on top NV
the log I'd put "A right smart lot NV the
S Siebt .6 corn. ia git in my blind toward
IGDTk4NG
browsin round fur feed would run onto
my corn paths and work their way IN
TO the log When the hull gang d git
pivnin up the corn on the log, I'd blaze
away at the mead NV the furtherest bird
an sometimes my old shotgun d knock
down seven or eight. That's good MANY
Years ago, but the same thing kin be done
now but faint half the fun as ter hunt
en- by moonlight.
Mother way | used ter hunt teerkeys.
~ %neH we VA snow Wuz deep, that is fun NV
early to pints where | knowed birds rad
ter come ter git feed. I'd take a ,;ean
Whte sheet, squat down by a tree. am
tnrow the cloth all over me, poke little
peep holes i'm II, an wait. Many a bird
I've FOOLED in that way. once teerkey
came so close TO me tibet jist reached out
an caught 1t by the legs, throwed the
sheet over IL an carried il hum alive
Inem's all facts, an you kin see that ii
would be an easy thing to do. Some
mighty Dig teerkeys used ter roam these
mus. I've seen em killed that'd weigh
nigh es sixty odd pounds; but the boss NV
goDbiers used ter tramp through Texas
county when ! wuz boy. That blamed
oia pro seemed ter bear a charmed life
az that Hundreds NV old hunters tried ia
XIII the gobbler, but he stood 'cm all off
Iur bout eighteen years. one mornin' IN
december | seed the old Teller down in a
corn field bout a quarter from our cabin
got the gun and tried ter make a sneak on
him, but he never took no chances fur
soon as ] started fur the field he made er
bee line fur the hills.
There wuz a path through the field
where people crossed by climbin' a rail
fence. The old gobbler legged ii up the
path, jumped on the rail, whar I've seen
NOO-pound men sit an darned " he didn't
break the rail right in two. That kinder
made me skeery when i seed IT, but | took
AFTER Old rail-cracker up the mountain,
but he trotted too fast. an | soon lost
sight NV the boss gobbler. Well | don
know whether younsd b'reVe me er not
put | kept right on trackin' this giant over
me pare rocks, cause he wuz so fat thet
ms feet left grease marks at every stop. -
say, broke in Andreas. Il guess the
turkey moon is high enough to get ont
after the birds. ! just see a beam of silver
Drcakln through the raVine. Besides
can't stand any more of Fosters stories. -
WAL, said Foster with a yawn some
people never kin b'feve cnnything but
TO see nothin."
In twenty minutes we were at the mouth
of a wide and deep ravine, which parallel
ed the rays of "A mid-November moon.
Great shadows slept at the bottom while
the bare branches of the black oak were
clearly Silhoutted against the sky and
bars of light crept through the nterstices
we divided mere after clear understand
ing as to our movements. Nothing must be
shot at on the ground, and the only signal
to be given was the call of the quail one
call, move forward; two, very cautiously
three, birds sighted-stop. Foster took one
side, Andreas the other, while the writer
Dlodded through darkness I'm the center of
the ravine. Two minutes after we seDa-
rated the only sounds that disturbed the
solitude was the barking of a fox at some
distance the lonesome hooting of an old
owl, and the occasional fitting of a rabbit
across "A patch of moonlight | had 1ust
reached an open place i'm the ravine when
the clear. soft call of bob white whstled
through the frosty atmosphere. A moment
later two calls made me almost imagine
that l had previously scattered a bevy of
quail and they were calling together
again. About 100 yards up the ravine I
could see tire dark bodies Of at least II
turkeys on the limbs of a black oak /
crept along as still as felt-soled shoes.
carefully planted. would let me. Three
more calls and ! stood ready for action.
Five minutes passed, and ! could wait
no longer. Putting two shells of No S
buckshot in my gun, ] sighted for the
lowest turkey on my side OF the tree.
couldn't get at the rear sight, so / took
a piece OF chalk from my pocket and
whitened the rib of the gun Again / lev
eled, and found that / could get a perfect
aim. Just al the moment two streams of
fire from the sides of the raVine, opposite
the tree, seemed TO burn the very atmos-
Dhere; the reports made the solitude shud-
der. Instantly all was pandemonium The
whistling of mighty wings and the crash
of heavy bodies told that the birds had
been thoroughly stirred up / saw two
come down the ravne right at me The
first dropped as my gun spoke and the
second sped but a few yards further be-
fore its wings folded forever
When lights began glturnoF In tho