The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-16
LUCK FILLS THE GAME BAG.
THAT rs THE DISGUSTED NOTION
OF IN T. HUNTER.

Thought Otherwise Once, but Was Converted
by Ills Experience with n Zig Buck, n
Bear Family, n Cunning wildcat and n
.spook Turitey GobbIer IN Pennsylvania.
II used TO spend more than half 10y time In
the PENNSYLVANIA woods hunting and Trapping
durins: the season. said a resident VI the
Southern Tier. because / loved the chase. and
l loved to try my skin and ingenuity IN cut
Writing the cunning Of the fox. The bear. the
wildcat and other sagncious beasts in Turing
;hetu to my traps and snaros and pitfalls. .And
/ used e. gloat * the way | could run down
aud bag tho feet aud willy deer. II was great
sport. and ! used to get indignant when
somr one would exrlaim when I came in with
Alot otd,nme:
Say. maybe yoi didn't have good luck.
THAT always made me- indignant. aud l
would reply: Luck I've bowed! Noluek about II.
skill! That's what Ills your game bag. Skin.
no; luck.
And ! thought and believed 80. ot course.
Bnt | haven't been III the woods hunting Or
ira pptng now for more than ten years. 1he
Fact of the matter ls.1 got dtsgusted. found
ont that | had T., take back II good deal of what
I had ALWAYS said Rbult there not being any
thing in luck IN baRging your game; that II
was skin that did II. not luck. Enl to take II
back. aud 1t disE isted me so that ! came home.
hung ur my gun. gave my trap1 AWAY. and
haven't been IN the wp,is since.
The way my disgust started in to take pos.
session az me was through m experience ] had
on Kettle Greek ~ the fall Of as. An inn
mense buck hal been airing himself In the
neighborhood of my camp or the creek. II
didn't take mt long TO discover that lie was as
smart A. he vas big. and | used all the tricks
| had learned In thirty years as u hunter aud
trapper in irving " bag that buck, but he got
tI, I.aat al MAJ MART TINA That "a ma fail n
wildcat hal likewise dened all my skill a. n
trapper. and continued to prowl around there
laughing at me; and. TO increase my chaGrin
over the SITUATION. Il big she hear. followed by
a,couple OF spring cubs. took TO Longing and
foraging and slouching almost under my very
nose. and vet gave me the slip every time !
went ont with my gun and treated with con-
tempt my efforts to Show them what a superior
dissembler I was in fixing IN n trap.
Il was growing furious when some little en-
enlargement came to me, discovered that l
had got the best Of the wildcat enough to fool
her into stepping into n ste Il rap. but the ugly
critter had walked awny with the tran. fol-
lowed the trail Of the wildcat and the trap for
miles and lost it. The same day l got after the
buck and thought l had him dead sure when
the cunning old cuss circumvented me the
slickest kind. ] was going hack to camp dis
Eusted when l struck the track Of the hear and
the two cubs Although l knew from the
marks In the snow the bear must have passed
that way two or three hours before. / struck
right in after 'em with teeth set and blood 10
my eye. | had followed them a mile or more
and the track was getting freSher. when /
heard a shot off to my left, / went down to see
who it was and what he had shot; l found a
fellow named Asa Cole, who drove a team for the
hat scared to death. Six feet away. to my
amazsnent and Increased disgust, lay the
lnH frtAI ia INnFV ia an tf ~ Av
trap was on one Of its legs and the cat was dead
with ii bullet h"lo ~ its side. Maybe | wasn't
think he was safe and he began 10 grin.
Eli you hear ma shootil'y' said he:
"ies.' and | SNAPPED it out pretty ugly.
~ SAY" said + P"l? just as" now.
oh, then i wasp,t this here wildcat YOU
while ago. it was the big deer that you heerd
me shoot list now. Hes layin, over there in
ths u S5a aha 90 | f nifer he ,sn sanDi | didn't hear him
II stepped over and peered into the brush.
There lay the big buck that had fooled me for
something ugly, but before i said it he spoke
and didn't try to say anSthins at all /"
Yes said Asa, and II you'd been up yon.
der on the ridge about a mile YOU moTt
was two little uns., but one, on EN- got away
fore | could shoot him. too,
Now. Asa Cole had never been in the woods
with n gun before in all his life. and here. Just
an hour the wildcat. the buck and two Of the
weeks. l was SO mad that | made Asa q pres
and broke camG. i might not have let this
convince, me entirely that skill was inferior to
"noih ae ' esp SaESlas IN IN t RS@ So % ieG h %Sm0b bse 81
fresh upon me and was still calling me. Hit
to Kettle Creek the next season and hunted
and trapped as Of :! ore. But putting the two
together. l didn't have the heart,
This. previous experience, was, Town along
the Junlata, where | was wild turkey hunting.
and where 1 had been for three successive sea-
sons for no other purpose than to bag a nam;
tooled all my efforts. as II had all the efforts Of
every other good, hunter who tried to bag It.
There are n. good many wild turkeys yet In
the / .untains of that part Of PENNSYLVANIA.
but there never was one in the whole States 80
1t had the longest aud ,reddest wattles OF any
like a streak Of red fire as itiGew or ran through
had a lustre that nearly blinded you when
missed BY all the crack turkey hunters. and
came to be known as the spook gobbler
bier l went, to the Juniata country, early IN
MAY: The sly old fellow had already been seen
Zines Ry = S2ds9 hah feather { an Sa ShHs S &c a e hSoSEtedd
gravating bird the first ,dav was there; and
sshs 'AN. Va " ii'A huNC " "
4; woodchopper, named .Schaefier had come
into. those woods on a chopping Job. and had
his 12-year-old hoy with him. The boy had q
2O-shilling shotgun. and the second day was
there tIieh me- ne Gt up Ge;o red dtHy y loaded his g1;n
the spOok turkeY RoUoler.
THAT WAS the last | or any one else thought
about IL until an hour later. when / saw his
boy coming out OF the woods. bending almost
u. the ground beneath the weight Of some
thing he was carrying on his back. When he
reached the cabin he sank down on the door
sill. ana | don't want to live another minute II
his burden wasn't the monster wild turkey
Gobbler that had lodged the bullets OF all that
region for three moltal gears! That boy had
killed the sPook gobblef. sure enough,
heard him holler,' said the boy. and Jest
snuck up to the tree where he was ~ronstin'.
He looked at me as il he was goin' u lily down
and gobhle me up, and | was aieerd he would,
so | jest plunked him
A pot-m stal gun and n boy not near so big
as the turkey hal done what the sharpesi
shooters. with the hest guns to be had. had
been unable 10 do. ald n SEEKER lot Of hunters
than there were never lived in any wood
when that, news. got around: The gobhler
stood nearly five feet high and Weighed forty
five hounds. payA the bOV 81 fnr the hi0