WILD TURKEY AND DEER SHOOTING. 227 



much like young tame turkeys in their habits 

 until late in the fajl. Then, from roosting in 

 trees and rambling about, they often left the tame 

 turkeys, and went off with the wild ones. In 

 secluded places the wild turkeys often mingle 

 with tame flocks. The gobblers are not pugna- 

 cious with each other, though they will fight with 

 game-cocks, and sometimes, by superior weight 

 and strength, worry out and kill the best. 



Formerly I used to shoot turkeys in the old 

 method of calling them up, after having scat- 

 tered them, to an ambush, and using a small- 

 bore rifle or a shot-gun loaded with buckshot 

 or with BB cartridge. That plan answers best 

 when the turkeys are young. Latterly I have 

 waited for turkey-shooting until the winter weather 

 had well set in, and gone only when there was 

 snow on the ground. Tho method is to find the 

 tracks of a flock in the snow, and follow them 

 up. Turkeys in snow, with a man following in 

 their track, soon begin to tire a little, if the 

 snow is damp and no crust on the top of it. 

 After some time the hunter, who must be a good 

 walker and capable of standing much fatigue, 

 will see where one of the turkeys has diverged 

 from the route of the flock. Following the track 



