The Wild Turkey 269 



The sportsmanlike methods of shooting the 

 turkey include " calling " or " yelping " and still- 

 hunting, i.e. tracking upon snow. The night- 

 attack, shooting on the roost, is unworthy of any 

 man claiming to be a legitimate son of Nimrod. 

 Now and then some lucky individual has a chance 

 at a close-lying bird, which the setter or pointer 

 seeking other game stumbles upon ; but these 

 occasions are too rare to be considered a form 

 of the sport. Coursing turkeys with greyhounds, 

 as is sometimes done in the West, has a dash 

 peculiar to itself. Shooting on the feeding-grounds 

 from ambush is uncertain enough to be consid- 

 ered fair, while any other way of ambushing a 

 turkey would most likely fall under the head of 

 accidental opportunities. 



The coursing of the turkey is the sort of sport 

 to stir the blood of a genuine sportsman. Briefly, 

 it is as follows : The game is given to feeding 

 from the roost among the timber of a river bank, 

 or bottom, far out upon the open plain where 

 insects naturally are most abundant. A well- 

 mounted man, accompanied by a strong grey- 

 hound, hides in the cover until he sees the flock 

 has ranged sufficiently far from the timber for his 

 purpose. Then the dog is " sighted," slipped, 

 and as he springs away the horseman gives swift 

 chase. The object is to rush a big gobbler so 

 that he will take wing when headed for the open. 



