Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-12-27

TURKEY CHASING IN MEXICO
Wild Sport Of a Gallop Through the
Thorny Chaparral with Swing
ing Lassoes.
Al the very mention Of a turkey chase
in Mexico the enthusiasm Of the man
or woman who has been fortunate
enough to be a participant in one will
rise and tingle the blood with delight
full recollections, says a Mexico letter
to the New York Evening Post.
We are in the saddle t daybreak, for
the turkeys come down early to drink
and feed in the open vegas, or parks
The greyhounds have not been fed
since shutdown, and have an eager, hun
CRY look about them that presages q
keen, quick run when the game il
found. One of the young women is
mounted on a stylish-looking pinto;
the other on a lea-bitten roam, who il
better than he looks.
For ourselves, we have a pair Of iron
grays well Injured to the business, and
at each pommel hangs a light buckskin
lariat, made especially for this work.
Pedro (the peon) alone carries a rifle,
in case of emergency Or the appear
ance of big game, and with the hounds
in leash we head for the mesa. neal
Elias creek.
We are on the ground now, in the
shelter Of the timber, and every eye
is strained for the sight of the game.
Dolores points quickly towards a NOV
ing object in the edge of the woods, 200
yards away, and you utter an exclama-
ton Of establishment, for there, with
an undulated sweep like a wave on the
sea beach, you see a line of glossy plum
age surge out on the open stretch.
Ten, Is, 20 minutes pass, and still they
come. The last straggler has entered
the chaparral, and we uncoil our lari-
ats.
Sit deep in your saddle now and ride
as you never rode before. The air in
front Of you is black with rushing forms,
but their flight will be short, and there
is open ground ahead. The thorny
%chaparral tears at you, and you know
now why the senoritas ride astride and
eschew habits. Mark them in the van,
with 1assoes playing a ~rataplan on their
horses tanks and hair streaming in the
wind. Now we have reached the open
ground and break into a run. The
hounds are closing up rapidly. A fran
tic gobble of terror, and the hindermost
bird springs into the air, but his fat
body has been o~ver-nurtured by the
abundance Of mast, and the take-off is
slow. A streak of tan colored hair
springs up after him, and in another Sec
ond We hear the champ of the dogs
jaws as he rolls him over In the loose
soil. Another leap through the cloud
of dust, and the other hound is fast to a
magnificent gobbler which Is still kick
ing as we ride up. Bravo, Flash!
Good dog, Swift! After them, boys!"
and, leaving the dying birds for Pedro
to pick up, We fly onward in swift pur-
suit.
Three times this is repeated, but the
flights are getting shorter, and now
the hounds kill them on the ground.
They scatter confusedly, and Dolores
swings her lariat over her head. Zip!
and there is a laughing cry of triumph
as the flying moose encircles the head of
a big gobbler and doubles him up with
a broken neck. But you have not been
idle. Well thrown, my friend! But
your loop was a trife large, and the out
stretched neck is very long and thin.
The moose catches him around the body
just in front of the wings and he will
be loose Immediately.
Turn now and gallop like mad
through yonder clump of greasewood
dragging him through it where lie
shall catch and break his neck in the
branches. But see yonder! For the
third time the old don is coiling his
rope on the run. A huge turkey leaves
but the big black is almost on him as
he raises. Once, twice, thrice, the old
mans arm whirls above his head; then
the slender coil leaves his hand in an
unbroken circle, and, gradually dimin-
ishing as it goes, falls in an eight-inch
ring directly in front of the turkey, who
drives his head into it with a thud
which is distinctly audible from where
we sit, watching that superb cast. The
trained black wheels instantly, and in
a cloud of dust and glory, with his prize
bounding like a hus- rubber ball at the
end of his taut RATA, the old vaquerO
comes g%alloping up to us, bowling to his
pommel in graceful acknowledgment of
the enthusiastic praise We shower upon
him.
We literally choke of the dogs now.
and assist Pedro in picking up and pack
ng our game. We have Is turkeys in
the panniers, and only stop long
enough to let you try your hand again
on one old fellow of aldermanic proper
tons which we find skulking in the
brush.