WILD TURKEY. lO] 



sportsman. Five turkeys at that season will about equal one good 

 one killed during the months of November and December. The 

 two last named months are the ones in which the turkey ought to 

 be hunted. 



In the morning after the snow has covered the ground to the 

 depth of an inch or two, is the best time to start upon a hunt for 

 wild turkeys. They will then be actively searching for food, and 

 every movement and turn may then be traced in the snow. Great 

 caution is necessary in approaching them ; their sight is excellent, 

 and their hearing good. Many a fine gobbler is lost by the crack- 

 ing of a twig or the movements of the hunter. Every precaution 

 should be taken to see as far ahead as possible without being seen. 

 If provided with a turkey caller, it is well every now and then to 

 see if an answering " keouk " cannot be obtained. If the hunter 

 be fortunate enough to get within shooting distance, let him take 

 deliberate aim at the head (if provided with a rifle). But the pos- 

 sessor of a shot gun should aim to cover the whole body. After 

 being mortally wounded, a turkey will frequently run or fly for 

 half a mile, but in a straight line. And very many turkeys are 

 thought to have escaped injury, when by a careful search they 

 might have been found dead a short distance from the place where 

 they received the fatal shot. 



The " call " which is used to entice the gobbler within shoot- 

 ing distance is made in a variety of different ways. The small 

 bone from the wing of the turkey makes a very good caller by put- 

 ting one end into the mouth and drawing the air through it, but 

 the best one can be obtained by sawing about two inches from 

 the end of a cow horn, then cut a piece of a shingle so as to fit 

 the small end of the piece sawed off, bore a hole in the middle of 

 the shingle, and insert a stick about the thickness of a ten penny 

 nail, allowing the end of the stick to come through the piece of 

 horn and to project a short distance beyond the open end. Put 

 the end of the stick thus projecting upon a piece of slate and the 

 sound produced thereby is the best imitation of the " keouk " of a 

 turkey known. 



October is, all things considered, the best month for "calling" 

 Wild Turkeys, although some sportsmen prefer the spring. Now, 

 as all the devices which man employs to allure and ensnare the 



