The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-05-20
SHOOTING DEER IN THE SOUTH.


When l first hunted, two years ago,
II South Carolina / was utterly sur
prised to learn of the many animals
that inhabit the forests of that State,
writes Frank G. Harris in the Rats
mans Journal, and when we remem-
Der that in little over twenty-four
hours after leaving Clear6eld you
may reach some of the best hunting
ground in the country it does not
seem strange that persons go there to
hunt, in preference to threshing over
the mountains of Pennsylvania. that
have been SO greatly depleted of their
game.
Black bear, deer, wild turkeys, wild
geese, wild hogs, foxes, coons, ducks,
quail. snipe, rice birds and squirrels
are found in abundance in the south
ern and coast counties of South Caro-
lil.a. The storms from the north in
<eiie late fall drive thousands of ducks
into the swamps and marshes and
back waters of Beaufort county, where
they feed on the rice fields during the
day and take refuge in the swamps
during the night. The method of
hunting them is to station the hunters
in blinds and then send a boat either
up or down the back water and chase
the ducks up, and as they fly over
the blinds they are shot on the wing
by the hunters.
Almost every species of duck known
to North America may be found in
the waters of South Carolina. On
the coast, in the salt water, wild
geese may be found. One who is not
an expert wing shot need not expect
to compete successfully with such
crack shots as James U. Jackson,
Herbert Jackson and others of Our
Southern friends, and one of the best
shots in our camp was Walter Clarke,
a colored boy, who pushed our boat
and worked around the camp.
Many of the best hunting grounds
in South Carolina were once cotton
and rice plantations that for many
years have been abandoned by their
owners and have grown up in cane
brakes and live oak thickets. But
hunted deer over old cotton planta-
tions that have not been farmed since
before the war, and valuable timber
has grown on these tracts where once
great crops of cotton, rice and corn
were raised.
In the swamp lands of South Caro-
lima, where the live oak and other
timber are covered with Spanish moss,
it is impossible for the white people
to live during the summer months on
account of the fever, but the climate
of the late fall and winter in these
sections is delightful and many people
Of the North spend the winter months
on the coast and in the interior hunt
ing and fishing.
The quail, or Bob White, is the
most popular game bird Of the South.
It feeds on the rice fields and grows
very large, fat and plump, and for
that reason is much soughs after. In
enunlerating the game animals of
South Carolina, I said nothing about
the rabbit and opossum. These ami
mails are the game of the colored
people very largely, and furnish them
with large amount of their amuse-
ment.
The forests of Beaufort county and
the coast counties of South Carolina
are full of deer, and there seems to
be no restrictions as to the methods
of hunting deer and the number that
may be killed. Since there are no
SHOWS in South Carolina, and the
deer are found in the canebrakes and
heavy timber, it is impossible to still
hunt them, and they must be driven
out by hunters on horseback and with
deerhounds. Even then it is almost
impossible at times to drive them out
Of the canebrakes, which grow six or
eight feet high and are so thick that
rider on horseback can scarcely
penetrate them.
The deerhounds of South Carolina
are trained to answer the call of the
hunters horn, which is made of COM
mon cows horn and is used to COM
mand the dogs. We succeeded in
jumping nine deer. Our party shot
at FIVE, and we killed three very
large and very fat. The deer of the
South are the common white tail
Virginia deer, but because the climate
is warm they are very thin haired and
grow very sleek, and in swiftness OF
foot they can match any Northern
deer ever saw. The writer sue
ceeded in killing one very large deer,
and in order to do so had to shoot
him on the jump as he crossed rail-
road cut from one bank to the
other.
-O-