Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-11-10
.Luck Fills the Game Bag
st USED to spend more than half

OOED 10 Speuu more Iudn ndlI
my time in the Pennsylvania
woods hunting and trapping during
the season." said a resident of the
Southern Tier, because I loved the
chase, and L loved to try my skill and
ingenuity in outwitting the cunning
of the fox, the bear, the wildcat and
other sagacious beasts in Turing them
to my traps and snares and pitfalls.
And 7 used to gloat at the way could
run down and bag the fleet and willy
deer. 1t was great sport, and I used
to get indignant when some one would
exclaim when came in with lot of
game:
"'say. maybe you didn't have good
luck
THAT always made me indignant,
and / would reply: Luck be blowed!
No luck about it. Skill! That's what
fills your game bag. Skill, not luck
Sand I thought and believed so, of
course. But 1 haven't been in the
woods hunting or trapping now for
more than ten years. The fact of
the matter is, got Disguised. found
out that / had to take back good
deal of what 1 had always said about
there not being anything in luck bag
ging your game; that it was skill that
did 1t, not luck. Had to take it back,
and it Disguised me so that I came
home, hung up my gun, gave my traps
away and haven't been in the woods
since.
"The way my disgust started in to
take possession of me was through
an experience / had on Kettle creek
in the fall of 'S6. An immense buck
had been airing himself in the neigh
borhood of my camp on the creek. 1t
didn't take me long to discover that
he was as smart as he was big, and
I used all the tricks had learned in
80 years as a hunter and trapper in
trying to bag that buck, but he got
the best of me every time. That same
fall wildcat had likewise defied all
my skill as trapper, and continued
to prowl around there laughing at me;
and, to increase my chagrin over the
situation, big she bear, followed by
couple of spring cubs, took to loung-
ing and foraging and slouching almost
under my very nose, and yet gave me
the slip every time I went out with
my gun and treated with contempt my
efforts to show them yvhs superior
,dissembler I was in fixing up trap.
''I was growing furious when some
little encouragement came to me. /
discovered that had got the best of
the wildcat enough to fool her into
stepping into a steel trap, but the
ugly critter had walked away with the
trap. / followed the trail of the wild
cat for miles ard lost it. The same day
I got after the buck and thought 1
had hin, dead sure when the cunning
old cuss circumvented me the slickest
kind. was going back to camp dis
.gusted when / struck the track of the
bear and the two cubs. Although I
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
in my eye. had followed them a mile
or more and the track was getting
fresher, when 1 heard a shot of to
my left. / went down to see who 1T
was and what he had shot. found
fellow named Asa Cole, who drove a
team for the mill people. He sat in
the snow and looked half scared to
death. Six feet away, to my amaze
ment and increased disgust, lay the
w1lQcaL ndu IEIcQ 50 lOuS 10 capture
My trap was on one of its legs and the
cat was dead with bullet hole in its
side. Maybe wasn't madl As soon
zas Asa saw me he seemed to think he
was safe and he began to grin.
Did you hear me shootin'?' said he.
"sYes,' and snapped it out pretty
ugly.
'Jist now?' said Asa.
.sYes,' said /. Just now
oh, then it wasn't this here wild |
seat you heerd me shoot!' said he. i
shot him good while ago. It was
stle big deer that you heerd me shoot |
list now. He's layin' over there in the |
brush, guess. cause I didn't hear
him git up and go after he tumbled.'
az stepped over and peered into the
brush. There lay the big buck that
had fooled me for two months. He
was dead as n stone. turned back /
9on Asa and was going to say something
ugly, but before I said it he spoke
again and then forgot all I was going
to say and didn't try to say anything
at all.
ayes said Asa, and IL you'd been
'op yonder ON the ridge about n mile |