Evening star., 1901-12-28
GAME IN ARUNDANC CE
AND ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO GO FAR
FROM WASHINGTON.
Sport With Rod or Gun in Nearby
States-Deer and Turkeys
Bass and Trout,

There Is probably no large city in the
United States, certainly none east of the
Rocky mountains whose location Is so
favorable to the hunter and fisherman as
washington. 1t is not generally known,
perhaps, that deer can be found within
four hours ride Of the capital; that black
bear trail can be- struck by supper time
by the man who leaves here at noon; that
wild turkeys are fairly plentiful within
four hours ride; that quail, pheasant and
small game are within gunshot in the
same distance.
And as for 1shing-well, there Is no end
to 1t and very convenient. Black bass, of
course, are within easiest reach, but noun
tain trout are not SO far away, and there
are plenty of lively fish in the lower Po-
tomac.
The statement that wild deer can be
found within four hours ride of the capt.
tai Of the United States is absolutely true.
They are not on game preserves either,
but range the bottom lands in one direc-
ton and the mountains In the other, and
are fair prey for any gun that can get
them. They are the common deer of the
Appala chianS, and are usually hunted on
the drive that is by the hunter taking
station along runway, and the guides
driving the game within gunshot.
Deer are most plentiful in the region just
below Richmond, Va. That city is only
three and one-haIf hours run from Wash
lngton, and within an hours ride of the
former capital of the confederacy are sta
tions where the deer hunter can alight and
find all in readiness for hunt that Will
almost certainly produce results.
The explanation of the prevalence of
game in that section is that there are many
half-abandoned estates, partly grown up in
timber, with cultivated fields adjoining
whose corn is attractive to the deer. The
game finds shelter and hiding places in the
dense thickets and low. swampy country
emerging from time to time in search Of a
change of diet in the farmers cornfields
The local folks do not spend much time in
the chase and most of the hunting is done
by the Richmond men or occasional parties
of sportsmen from the north.
Deer and Wild Turkeys.
Deer are also to be found in the noun
tains Of West Virginia and Maryland, be-
tween Martinsburg and Cumberland,
short ride on the railroad. They are not
as plentiful as wild turkeys, however. As
every hunter knows, there is plenty of sport
and difficulty in bagging this wary bird,
and it is not to be accomplished by a novice
with the gun. In the region mentioned
will be found old untaineer guides who
know every turkey track of the neighboring
rough country-and. don't make any mis-
take, it is a rough country. They will lead
the hunter to favorable spots where the
chances are more than even in his favor
that he can get shot at bunch of tr-
keys. Get shot, mind you, for the old
fellows don't guarantee a full game bag by
any means, to the average hunter from the
city who comes out to wrest the strutting
gobbler or the answering hen from their
native wilds.
There are pheasants and quail also in
this region. with no end of foxes, the latter
so numerous as to be a menace to the
small game Of all kinds, especially the
birds. No effort has been made to run the
foxes. as the topography Of the country
will not permit the use of horses out of the
narrow mountain trails that hug the valley
lands. and only surmount the ridges in
the last necessity.
Black bears are found in Virginia and
West Virginia, along the line of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio railroad and the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad. On the former line one
can get off anywhere between Goshen and
Clifton Forge, within easy reach of Wash
ington, and going back little way in the
mountains. strike the haunt of the black
bear. He is not a very aggressive animal
and is more intent upon getting out of the
way Of the dogs than he is in attacking
the hunter. On the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad black bear are found in the coun-
try back of the railroad between Hancock
and Paw Paw.
The Washington hunters don't talk very
Much about the advantages Of the neigh
boring country, for every hunter is natural
ly selfish in one regard-he does not want
to let the other fellow know about the
presence of the game until he has had
crack at it. Meet one Of these fellows
coming out Of the depot with the spoils of
the hunt and ask him where he got it and
he will say, "Oh, just up the road apiece"
Wild ducks have been very plentiful this
fall and winter, and thousands of them
have been killed and brought to town, not
only by the "pot-hunters," but the occa-
1sional sportsman. The favorite hunting re-
gion is the neigh5orhood of Havre de Grace.
Md. The sportsmen usually get off at the
station on the opposite side Of the -Susoue-
hanna, where the local guides will be found
to show them the ducking blinds.