206 BUFFALO LAND. 



flying. They are very hard to kill, and a sorely 

 wounded one will often astonish the hunter by run- 

 ning long distances, or hiding where it seems impos- 

 sible. The fall through the air, or sud-len stop from 

 full speed when running, are alike exciting spectacles. 

 And the big body, with red throat and dark plume, 

 luscious even to look at, is fit game to excite the pride 

 of any sportsman. 



The modes of hunting the wild turkey are numer- 

 ous.* Mounted on a swift pony it is not difficult to 

 run one down, as may be done in half an hour, the 

 birds, when pushed, seeking the open prairie and its 

 ravines at once. On foot, with a dog, they can easily 

 be started from cover, and generally rise with a tre- 

 mendous commotion among the bushes, when they 

 may be brought down with coarse shot. Another 

 method of turkey shooting, and one that be'came 

 <j[uite a favorite of mine, was to steal out from camp 

 in the gray of early morning — so early that only the 

 tops of the trees were visible against the sky — 

 provided with a rifle and shot gun both. When the 

 birds have once been hunted, extreme caution is nec- 

 essary to get within seventy yards of them. Upon a 

 high bough, in the gloom, the old gobbler appears 

 twice his real size, looking as long as a rail. Try the 

 rifle first, and, two chances out of three, there is a 

 miss. Then, as the great wings spread suddenh^, 

 like dark sails against the sky, and the big body, 

 launched from the bough, shakes the tree top as if a 

 wind was passing through it, catch your shot gun, 



* The amateur sportsman or other reader, ^v^ll find them de- 

 scribed at length in the Appendix. 



