The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-15
M E N !, w o M EN
 AND THIN G $

possums I have hunted coons, l have but until Tuesday, the 9th day of No
 vember 1920 I had never hunted deer. know the hard work it used to take to go on the great dove drives down In Barbour county, when negroes were of the woods into the fields. It not
 only toook good shot, but it required
 8 man with an iron constitution to
 stand up under the strain of shooting
 hundreds of times during the day.
 I have followed the dogs through the 1 hunting season in quest of the Bob | Whites, and to me there is no finer 1 form of sport in the way of bird shoot l ing than to strike covey after covey
 and come home at night tired out from
 the days tramp through the woods and
 fields with a bag we'll filled with what the northerners cali quail but which
 in the south are known as cartridges. I am going to be perfectly frank and
 admit that duck hunting has never ap- l pealed to me very greatly. Somehow
 it always went against the grain for me to crawl out so soon in the morning
 and take all the trouble required to [ get a good stand and then be unable
 to drop them as they sailed overhead,
 for never seemed to be able to get the
 knack of bringing them down. l As for turkeys, I never had the pa, tience to wait upon their pleasure, and
 somehow it was beyond me when it came to acquiring the art of calling
 them. I have sat weary hours in blinds
 after having crawled out of warm
 bed before the brexk of day without
 ever getting sight of gobbler or hen, and then when the prize beauties did
 deign to give an exhibition of the tur-
 key trot, I would fire and-n miss them. l Where is the boy reared in the coun- ! try or town who has not had the joy
 as they flattened themselves against l the bark of the trees or jumped from i limb to limb or ran swiftly along the old rail fence or darted here and there
 on the ground? My greatest trouble was in locating them after the dog had
 done his part of the work. I had a. friend, however, who seemed to be en-
 dowed with whatever trait, it is which makes it possible for a canine to bet
 his last bark that he has run squirrel
 into his hollow.
 1 Now, here is where fear I will show the plebeian strain which some ] times crops out in me to the annoyance
 of some of my aristocratic kin. for I
 admit 1t unshamefacedly that not only 1 like but to use the stronger word.
 love to hunt rabbits. This is why l have never been able to be too severe 1 on a bird dog who so far forgets his breeding as to chase them. have
 hunted them with dogs, I have gone out and jumped them up, and I have
 even set sage fields afire to get me l
 Molly cottontall
 1 Possums, coons and wildcats l will
 bunch. Its mighty sorry boy who has
 had chance to go possum hunting and know of few things which are more 1 pfeasurable than to have the dogs tree
 3. nice fat one and seeing him out on a limb climb to shake him off and watch
 things down below happen lively as he and the dogs mix up and the hunters try ferent proposition and requires careful handling. I've seen some big cats 1 bagged after vicious fights.
 1 If you have never had the joy of fol- lowing the hounds in g fox chase I am sorry for you, for it is truly a gentle
 mans sport. I am not talking about the races which are more of a society event than 8 sport in which the hpn- i ters dress the part and get just as much
 pleasure out of following an anisseed
 bag as in catching sight Of a rapidly
 vanishing streak of gray or red with ] the dogs in hot pursuit I refer to the
 meets in which good fellows come to- gether for the joy of the run rather
 than the fun of the hum of frivolous | conversation.
 ] I have set down some of the things which the average sportsman likes, but
 has to cover wide range of country to enjoy, in order to state that here on the place of my friend, Frank Derby, {, where I have been spending few joy- ous days. all are to be had without ever setting foot off of his land I have never in my life been turned loose
 on such a game preserve. I doubt if it 1 can be equaled anywhere in all the country in the space of three to four
 thousand acre plantation.
 1 States, in addition to the game emu
 merated above, is there such chance to 1 hunt deer. I haven't heard him claim
 that he could show any bears. but so far as am concerned he needn't worry l over the omissloa as have never
 yesrned to be big game hunter, and
 confess that turned down the only 1 real good chance l ever had to hun. !, bruin In his lair. This was in the old 1 days when I lived in Vicksburg and q
 big planter up on the Yazoo river in-
 sisted that I join party to thin out the bears, in the canebrakes. there l fore haven't bear story coming, but have a deer one.
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