The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-27
DAN COVERT, FOX HUNTER.
Love BRANCH's FAMOUS SPORTS
MAN AND MS DOC.


sight and knowledge OF AnimnIs-Train-
ing and Intelligence OF His Dog Dick.
by III death Of Uncle Dan Covert on Nov. 20
lost their deadest foe lie was typical Jersey
man. tall. gaunt wiry, keen-eyed. brown and
wIinkcd. wearing goatco on a determined chin
and used to the toll Of farm work and the ps
( hunting. On tho nigh, before election be
planned drag hunt 10 get bis dogs In trim for the
opening day Of the fox.hunung season. Ho
wen down TO see his nephew In tho city proper
about the warmer-up run which 10 take place
on election night after an aniso seed bag. Pres-
ton Wood the nephew. went almost home with him
4 teamster was racing bis horses with trolley
car and Covert was knocked down at his gate
after the nephew left him and he died from the
effects Of his Injuries
He was rs years old and had hoped 10 kill tho
FIRST Monmouth county fox this season as he
had done most seasons for the past fifty years
He was not a professional hunter. That Is
10 say, be did not hunt for the money in IL As q
farmer, he was fairly wcll.to-do lie owned
thirty. -four acres Of land by the Old Turtle Mil
which he cleared with his own axe more than fifty
years ago. lie kept cows and chickens and.
naturally. dogs There wero three dogs tina,
greeted reporter who went to the house the other
day after tho old hunter death. MIN Brook
flows between the road and the house and fork
u the same stream makes the farm sort Of ponin-
sula To reach Il ono crosses q considerable
bridge. OF course, there many stories told
Of tbs old hunter To the day Of bis death no
was an ardent sportsman.
"on Feb 8, 1900 when he was 70 years DID,
said Preston Wood. "he went fox hunting with q
party OF six. There were Richard Harvey, John
Wolcott and q couple Of Others all noted hunt
ers and capable men with tho shotgun They
in the Pine Brook country where We put out our
team at a farmhouse and loaded up. our twelve
the banks OF the brook with our dogs and after
n while IN clump OF bri airs on little knoll which
was Covered Win seGSnd EVIL s.d sii Vas
Of a red fox though no one else could sec sign
Till tho veteran picked cIinky red hair from
"My eyesighrs kinda fail In the old man
remarked. wping his eyes because the wind
tears - III Se ~ ab d9
circled back, and finally jumped Reddy hundred
! DDS below us The fox chased of TO westward
"'LSck s'hcrcy said Uncle Dan. wed better
he gettin' down to Buck Hill for that air beast is
coming back purity soon m o,. IT,, ,u.,
little way from 'tother one and II circled back
and of up Pine Brook, Uncle Dan found tho
"'BugSeei We're intcIuptin' regular coYrtin
Of the foxes an we look sharp, one OF us git
WhdCk At INC DOtn on o
and there M told US Where to stand You 60 round
to that big white rock at the line fence corner no
10 said he 0y 10 Harvey
stand down by tina, air bunch OF sumaeh where
xsd 10 ns Ha ss head "S The
hill where he'd made scat In some bushes q few
ago when he 80, to te, Ii kindH pd
fox went of the hill which covers about sixty
acres It's all growed up TO pines and hard
h Sas os paths
they've robbed from woodchueks and Iabbita
side OF the other and right where tho side trails
met Uncle Dan had his seat Well We heard
The dog after while ns "eS Sn en ihs aI
was on tho hill None Of us see thing but
looked with all our eyes then 6oom.s !, went
i kind Of gurgled when IT went of Then the
dog stopped and we knew the old fox was dead;
where VIII o. the s other ono had gone and started up
10 the brook hoping TO meeth We hadn't more,n |
got spread out when boom-a-looml and Uncle |
sneaked back on her trail lost tho dog and was
hitting for cover through the brown weeds when |
"But YOU ought, TO, know about Dick Dick
was his dog what died Say Nv was The greatest f.e
offered $3.50 for IL cash. Uncle Dan trained him.
got him when he was a little black and tan pup
"'Royer, jake RanseTI Pete Carlo, JIM Dickl'
with that tho pup raised his head and Uncle Dan
knew that was the name u call him. When he
was about 8 months old Dick saw Uncle Dan
leaning his gun and smelled all aroundit Uncle
Dan looked down by the brook and there was
4 muskrat so he put the gun In the corner and
ook spade and went down there The pup
followed and jumped at the rat and tried to swim
indcr water after H. Tho rat went In a hole
inder water and the dog could hear u and begun
% dig, Dick killed that RAJ and after that was
good rat dog
Zone night a 'possum killed two hens In the
'oop Tho dog heard the Tumpus and chased
/ Next night when Dick was Ave months old
hey took him 10 tho woods Well, sir. IL was
ust astonishing. lie freed possums like a vet
ran and they got three above his nose We
ycre afraid he'd DO spoiled for 'coons, but on our
way homo we passed between two corn patches
)ick stopped and smelled and run away, camo
,ack and whinned and run again. Unclo Dan
truck match and found coon track where
he dogs nose was
Take Inn yelled Uncle Dan, and Dick
Jumped clean over him and let yell like a house
fire In bout half minute we heard an awful
ow in the corn patch. The coon was up an old
pplr tree and tho way the pup was trying to so
sked TO let EN- follow tho coon tracks hrst II
jncln Dsn was around.
Then OF course there was toxoA Tho season
ono and Uncle Dan took the pup out ono morn
* when there was snow, and pretty soon Dick
anted to follow 'possum track. Uncle Dan
he pup a way further on was coon track
nd they didn't follow that either. The pup
,ngcd ahead a bit then let a yell like forty pos
lms was there, and away he went w-o-o-w-
ow- wow-w-o-o-w.-. Uncle Dan sort OF bur
I'd up bit and there In the snow Was a foI track.