The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-20

! ready for some sport with recollection 81
OF old times IN Il and IN" SAVIOR 81 HON"
but found that hunting ~oodcook at
J night down IN Louisiana was an entirely
different proposition from going after
them by the mellow light of IN" moon ar
the sparkle Of the stars out IN the Wabash
country, and once was enough for IN.
! | don't have any great regard for con
! vention ia the Use Of tn" gun ~ a rule,
hut this style 81 cunning didn't sr' mc
I al all
I found that instead Of "a moonlit or
siarlit night they chose a dark night. IN"
darker the bette, they said. and better
still II there was % slight d-izzle of rain.
! and that they went out with torches int
. the cotton. corn and cane fields. into
which the wood Nock. emerging from IN"
almost Inacces sIble cancb-akrS where
/ they lay hidden during tho day. dropped
down in vast numbers 10 fee on the earth
worms that those hot toms yield prolifcly
, found also rha, while some hunters car
ricd a gun. n weapon III that kind WIS not
necessary. rs "A long pole or brush sc-ved
Ir!s' as well The hunter who carried a
gun. trough, charged II only lightly. and
with tho vc-y finest shot One man Of
Htrty. usually negro. carried the torch.
D IL VAS his duty 10 cast the light OF a"
torch along tho rows Of cotton and cori
stalks or sugarcane stubbe where IN"
birds were feeding Presently II would
hglng out OF tho darkness beyond IL ~"
great staring Dyes of , woodcocR looking
up from is feeding at tho unwontsd ~ xhr
and ovid.n,lv dnyei by the glaze
Then. before - could ccove- from irs
dazr the bird would eth"- get "a charge
Of the fine shot from the hunter with the
gun or he hit with n club As wood''oCk
IN rhose dryn apparently sought those
covers and feeding places by IN" thou
sand. II seemed 20 be no tick ~ all for a
party of these nigh, hunters 20 shoot and
club a la ck load of the birds of an evening
Well. once Of thai sort of wood"ock hunt
ing was clCu2h for mo. out when | voiced
my protest against such Strengthening
methods m" native hunters were sur
p-is.d. for IL appeared that this method
Of woodrock hunting had been followed
not OF /: IN Louisiana but in the adioining
districts of Texas for time out of mind
II was followed chiefly. howcvs.. nv
pothunte-s. who were satisfied II they dis
posed of their bags NJ from 81 to 81 ~ a
dozen birds
There was no close season on the birds
/ IN Louisiana then. the reason they gave
for that being that as the woodcock merely
mad. % the Gulf country home for the
winter. waxing fat on its rich boring
grounds in order 10 return north To- do their
nesting and the Matching out of material
for the Northern sportsman pastimc and
pleasure. and AZ they were Of no benefit
TO tha Southern planter. the idea OF pro-
Iecting them for the Northern hunter was
prepo-'.-ous. and so every man. woman
and chIld's hand might be against them
night aai day. and by fair means or foul
30 long as they remained az pensioners
on the bounty OF the Louisiana low lands
The absurdity and harmfulness Of this
theory. | found on a later visit to Louisiana
began 10 appeal to the sportsmen Of tho
State "a they noticed the annual le-sening
of the flight of woodcock that cam. down
from tn. North for the winter. and n
struck them that non-protection OF tho
birds against that destructive night
hunting and indiscriminate shooting was
thnn ng out the ranks Of the birds that
returned north in tho spring. and decreas-
/ ing by just that proportion IN" capacity
OF the birds for reproduction Then
louisiana and Texas put the woodcock
under strict protection for some seasons.
and the increase in the flight Of the birds
to those choice wintering places am
told. has brought them back in almost the
old time numbers
"BHt n need not be necessary to pro-
hibit night hunting for woodcock IN any
81 that great winterirg belt " it be fol
lowed after the fashion Of the Wabash
country. and il can he. In fact night
hunting down there il almost a necess ity
for the csnebrake- and hrier thickets and
sedge borders IN which the woodcock
take their daytime siastas are next To
impenptrabIe by hunter or dog was
intrepid enough To- twist myself into ono
~ these thirkets ore day to soc what
chance there Wa by the aid 81 a pointer
dog tn get Sho, az some ~ the birds
, that felt must be- In there. The nearest
! got To shot vas the hearing of wooI-
cock after woodcock 20 Whaling upward
and taking the spiral stairway flight -
theirs out over the topa 81 the tall canes
That gave me An idea though | nut
"A cocker spaniel IN that der@e cover and
stood out on one edge Of il. NV idea was
that the dog which Of courge woyIldr.
stand on point would bark as he w0rrnnd
hi. way into the thiCket and got sc-rt -
birds and that this would nlish them .
flushed. they would twist themselves up
out Of the brake and ! would get shots ~
they winged out The dog bark~d and no
birds flushed all right. but they scarcely
ever seemed 20 flush near enough 10
where I was standinR. change as might
nv position. managed &" get three
shots out 81 -cnr. "r more birds that
cam" out - the brake. bu' u was n vast.
IL bird. tune and powder Tor 'hav geil
back into the thicket. ard the dog not
beng "A retriever that was the lat uT
; them So far a. was concerned learned
afterward that the idea 81 trying for wood
cock was not an inspiration after all
u had been often tried down there and
was sometimes quite successful. a re-
trieving pointer dog trained to work
from the our-ide saving Tn. game the
sport -nan managed TO kill There were
also sections Of those fhIckets or brakes
that tough and persistent native hunters
had worked their wav through and with