The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-16
The Season is
at Hand.
A ROYAL SPORT.
Something About the Game
and How to Hunt It.

sb5Os plll tlefe are Stlll many men WHO
look forward each fall with deepest an
ticipatlon to trip to some favorite
hunting ground in Massachusetts, Con-
necticut, New Hampshire or Vermont.
The gray squirrel, like the other game
that once roamed in great numbers
through New England's forests, is fast
disappearing, and this scarcity has
been largely responsible for the de-
crease of interest in the sport
During recent years the various gun
clubs have awakened an unusual inter-
est in wing shooting, and bird hunting
has in consequence come into popu
larity which bids fair to last as long as
the birds hold out The squirrel has
vanished with the great forests AS
the magnificent oaks and chestnuts
have been taken from the rugged New
England hills, the squirrel has gone
with them, and his scarcity is probably
due more to this than any other cause.
To be sure, he has been killed in large
numbers, but this cause alone is not
responsible for his disappearance.
The older hunters, particularly
never was a more royal sport than
notwithstanding, as Uncle Tom" pur-
sued it. No sport ever afforded more
pleasure or exhilaration none ever re-
CURED a steadier hand, a lIeener eye or
a quicker judgment The sportsman
squirrel hunters companion is q rifle,
and not shotgun. He does not
slaughter the game purely for the sake
Of securing it, but mainly to cultivate
! h tic sfrf1
With disgust upon the man who cannot
put rifle ball into the head Of gray
at so yards, and he has nothing what
ever to say TO the man who kills them
with 6 shotgun. When his game bag
is well filled, with seven or nine beau
ties, he turns his steps homeward with
q buoyant heart. Nature smiles as he
walks. and he says affectionate things
about the gun upon his shoulder The
memory of the trip is one that fingers
and furnishes material for day dreams
for many a month to come.
Squirrel hunting is unlike other sport
that New England's covers offer. II is
unique, and there are but a few hours
lin the early morning when 1t is in tiie
prime. With the first sign of dawn
| the squirrel hunter, after a cup of COT
| fee or light breakfast makes his way
to some fayorite clump Of oaks, chest
nut or hickory trees. The Landscape is
beautiful In it's cloak of hoary frost,
and glstens in the vague light. The air
| is damp and chilly, but invigorating.
! AS he steals in and takes a stand the
great tree trunks are indistinct in the
vague light. No sound breaks the OPP
pressive stiffness. save the cracking OF
q tWig under foot or the swish of a
branch against his canvas shooting
jacket. He takes a position command
ing several promising trees and waiA5.
Nothing stirs. The woods are as quiet
as the grave. The cold gray sky in the
east grows warmer; the tree trunks
stand out more clearly. A tiny bird
on hemlocl1 close by the hunters head
awakens and chirps timidly, as he
makes his way out on a limb close to
the hunters head. A moment he fits
about from limb to limb, then, perceiv-
ing the intruder, darts away with a
frightened cry A chorus of low chirp-
ings answer, then all is still. The sky
grows lighter. A little chipmunk APP
pears on the topmost point Of big
rock close by, jumps about for mo-
ment and then settles down and puTfs
and pants and pants furiously. A gold
en- CLEAN of sunlight bursts up and
dispels the lingering mist. a perfect
pandemonium of joyful song breaks out
on every side as the awakening birds
dart to and fro joyously. The hunter
moves as he looks about eagerly. The
chipmunk ceases his prattle and with
a frightened sputter and q defiant
whisk of his little tail, disappears.
Then all is still for a second, and then,
suddenly, something stirs the leaves in
a great oak not far away. The hun
ter straightens up, and a moment later
there is the faintest suspicion of noise
as a big gray leaps out upon limb
and looks about The hunters heart
hutters little even If the experience
is not new He raises the rifle and
draws it down gently. A sharp crack
which is echoed and re-echoed through
the forest, is followed by a convulsiVe
rustling in the dead leaves. The hunter
hurries forward, picks Up the prize and
makes his way back quickly He lays
the squirrel at his feet and gazes low
ingly at him as he waits. How heauti-
full he is? How sleek the glossy coat?
How magnificent the bushy tail9 Is
there a handsomer small game any
where, and does the securing Of it
cause more delightful thrill No, not
for the squirrel hunter! The minutes
speed on.
The frightened birds become quieted
The leaves OF an oak move, but this
squirrel is suspicious, and as the hun
ter is about to shoot, ne darts away
like the wind But others soon come
and presently the leaves of the trees
rustic as the squirrels move about cut
ting down nuts, and the woods ring
with their peculiar bark. What more
exhilarating sight than to watch them
dart from limb to limb, posing grace
fully before and after each leap? The
sport increases as the morning adj
vances. The rifle cracks frequently.
AS the sun gets higher, the activity
grows less, and, at last, as it comes
downward in slanting rays through the
trees, all is still. The squirrels have
had their morning frolic; the birds are
quiet
The hunter lays his squirrels out on
the dead brown leaves, one by one, shot
through the head all of them: then
gathers them up and places them in
his hunting coat, always careful to have
at least one or two Of the bushy tails
hanging out. He hurries homeward with
flying feet. My, how good breakfast
isl
Such is the experience Of the squirrel
hunter, and can any man deny that it
is sport, royal sport, indeed!
At evening the hunter may go to the
woods again, and for a time he will
find the game about and active, but
the real pleasure is found in the morn
ing
1t is yet g little early to hunt SOUR
rels successfully The leaves are too
thick to see the sly creatures as they
dart here and there: but the frosts
have already turned the hillsides gold
en-, and brown and crimson, and in a
few days now the squirrel hunter may
find the sport at its prime. Just now
the squirrels are in the trees and busy
cutting down nuts to fill the winter
larder. Later they will be more upon
the ground, the trees win be bare of
leaves, and the game may be hunted
with better success. Then the dog that
knows how to tree them may be used,
but the real pleasure Of the hunt comes