The sun., 1902-04-27


70 catch In his clothing and swing baok.
,h.,a ne must h not not eough or sneeze. Though
alarmed and will fly out into the niab}
even II II brings up against tree or limb
and breaks a wing.
The creek being reached, the hunter
goes softly up or down IL. Under the
shadow, while over him the paiing stars
are hid by the new leaves. His proeress
Is slow and he listens intently
Il. In little while another gobble will sound,
then one behind him, then one to the right
or left, then two OF three in his front. soon
he viii be surrounded by the cballenges
ana In the air will be the first faint stir of
the dawn. VI
The leaves move lightly. though there
Is no wind to stir them. and from them
e ,ne dew patters like a rain. The man may
know OF clump Of pecans or Hve-oaks
further down stream where he has seen
tufkey-sign a day or two before and he
moving stealthily toward IT,
suddenly over his head. so close that il
seems to be within two yards Of him, sounds
.ne long. iar-reaohing staccato call. He
STOPS instantly and straightens. He knows
that there Is bird in the tree bove him,
probably on its topmost branch.
lie waits a moment to ascertain whether
the turkey has gobbled because Of his
presence or merely because he wanted
branches overhead, he waits, leaning
against the tree trunk
-, IL Is not yet light enough to nee 10 shoot.
lhe leaves are not at their full thickness
and he knows that he will get sight OF his
quarry, big black ball between him and
the sky, as soon as day breaks.
4, The turkey gobbles again and yet again
the notes sending thrills through the man
waiting below. Gradually the tops of
surrounding trees become visible. The
man lifts his gun once and notes that he
can distinguish the end Of the barrel. He
Is using 22-calibre rife, however. and
cannot see the sights with distinctness.
he waits yet another five minutes.
Then he steps back cautiously six feet
from the trunk of the tree and turns his
AS he supposed, the gobbler is on the top
most bough, standing large but shapeless
and dark against the armament In which
there are still two or three fast fading stars.
A bough intervenes and the man moves
ao,Is, pace eoi6 70 the right: He knows that he
every turkey within a half mile will drop
heavily to earth and scud away into the
underbrush.
The gobbler above straightens himself
Tor final call. His long neck is rigtdly
upright and his blue head is foot above
his chest on which a black beard swings.
He looks out over the sea of trees now
showing faint green.
The man sights carefully between the
great legs which are spread apart, the
properly IL should range upward through
the rear and break the backbone.
strident challenge goes forth and the
gobblers throat rises and falls rapidly as
the notes issue. He announces that he
is three years old, that his fighting weight
is eighteen pounds and that he il prepared
70 clean of half-acre with any male who
hears him.
The trigger finger is crooked and closes
steadily, There is a spiteful snap, wisp
The gobbler leans backward, his wings
rise and flap convnlsively twice, then he
turns, and his strong claws last to leave
the branch, comes crashing down. IL is
surprising how much noise a big turkey
will make as the twigs give way before IL
and II strikes the ground with thump
seemingly audible hundred yards away.
The man hefts his prize first In one hand,
then in the other, says Twenty-Five pounds,
sure and starts homeward. As he clears
the woods and enters the field which runs
up to the back Of the house, the suns first
rays flash upon the thick brown feathers
and the wings which stretch almost to the
ground. That turkey when baked will
have flavor different from and far better
than the flavor of any domesticated gobbler
that ever strutted about a barnyard.
The small rifle is. of course, the most
sTEey tse GeaP9n Hsed tasainst the
and branches often intervening, the shot
is never a certain one.
Many Southerners. to whom meat is
more of an object than sport and who care
little about the manner in which a kill is
made so that il il made. use the shot gun
Then the gobbler stynds little chance.
Thick feathers and height are little pro-
lection against No shot driven from
the muzzle Of a lO-gauge by four drains
OF powder
Hunting for the turkey by its gobbling
IL TO be commended as it seems to have
little effect upon the number of birds IL
Is seldom that any other than a gobbler
j. killed In this way