EASTERN TURKEY 337 



hunt it, on account of its growing scarcity and the remoteness of its 

 haunts. What few turkeys remain within easy reach of civilization 

 have become so highly educated that* it requires considerable ex- 

 perience and skill to outwit them. Their eyes can not easily rec- 

 ognize a stationary object, but they are very quick to detect the 

 slightest movement. Their sense of hearing is very acute, and they 

 are always on the alert for approaching enemies, especially human 

 beings. As a food bird the turkey is unsurpassed both in quantity 

 and quality. 



The methods employed in hunting turkeys are, or have been, many 

 and varied. An interesting method of capturing turkeys, in the 

 days when they were plentiful and unsuspicious, was thus described 

 by John Hunter in 1824, as quoted by Albert H. Wright (1914) in 

 his excellent history of this bird : 



The turkey is not valued, though when fat, the Indians frequently take them 

 alive in the following manner. Having prepared from the skin an apt resem- 

 blance of the living bird, they follow the turkey trails or haunts till they 

 discover a flock, when they secrete themselves behind a log in such a manner 

 as to elude discovery, partially displaying their decoy, and imitate the gob- 

 bling noise of the cock. This management generally succeeds to draw off first 

 one and then another from their companions which, from their social and 

 unsuspecting habits, thus successively place themselves literally in the hands 

 of the hunters, who quickly despatch them and await for the arrival of more. 

 This species of hunting, with fishing, is more practiced by the boys than the 

 older Indians, who seldom, in fact, undertake them unless closely pressed by 

 hunger. 



A common method of capture, referred to by many writers, was 

 to trap them in an inclosure, or pen, made of logs. The top was 

 covered with logs, leaving narrow open spaces between them. A 

 trench was dug, sloping gradually down, under the log wall and up 

 into the pen. Corn or other grain was sprinkled along this trench 

 and plenty of it spread on the inside of the pen to tempt the turkeys 

 to enter. When, after eating all they wanted, they attempted to 

 escape, they constantly looked upward for an opening but seldom, if 

 ever, had sense enough to crawl out the way they had come in. Large 

 numbers were caught in this way. 



Audubon (1840) says that as many as 18 turkeys have been caught 

 in a pen at one time, and as many as 76 within a period of two 

 months. 



One of the most popular methods, which is still widely practiced, 

 is calling the gobbler by imitating the call of the hen during the 

 mating season. This requires the utmost skill, experience, practice, 

 and thorough knowledge of the habits and haunts of the birds. 

 Much has been written in various books and numerous articles in 

 sporting magazines on how to succeed in this. The instruments used 

 in calling may be simply the leaf of a tree held between the lips, 



