A tapstick is a slender but stout hickory shaft, weighted at one 

 end with a tap or heavy iron nut. The tapstick is the main item 

 of equipment in the most primitive, if not the most picturesque, 

 method of hunting still known in America. 



What the boomerang is to the Australian tribesman, the tap- 

 stick is to the sons of the plantation tenant farmers. While it is 

 distinctly an American implement of chase, it had its origin in 

 antiquity when man's only weapon was a club. 



The tapstick is from 2 to 3 feet long, and usually peeled of its 

 bark. Thus it shows up better on the ground, and may be more 

 easily found after it is thrown at the bouncing and dodging 

 cottontail. On the large end of the shaft, the tap or nut is secure- 

 ly fastened. This gives the instrument added weight and better 

 direction. The taps may come from a buggy, cultivator, or rail 

 joint. When taps are not available, plain sticks are used, prefer- 

 ably with knobs or knots on one end. 



A tapstick hunt is a loose, informal, and highly jubilant 

 activity. Each young hunter is equipped with several tapsticks 

 and a dog or two of casual ancestry. 



The hunters approach the hiding place of the cottontail, who 

 stands the tumult and the shouting as long as she can, and then 

 bursts from her form. At sight of the rabbit, the real hue and 

 cry begins. 



"Yonna 'ee goes!" rings the warning, and the tapsticks fly. 



Sweeping end-over-end through the air, the weighted sticks 

 make telling missiles, and lucky is the rabbit that escapes the 

 barrage. Given a fair shot in the open at from 10 to 15 yards, 

 the young marksman is pretty sure of rabbit for Sunday. The 

 bagging of three out of four rabbits jumped is a fair estimate of 

 the ability of three good tapstickers hunting as a group. If the 

 first stick does not connect, it will generally come close enough 

 to cause the rabbit to dodge. Dodging slows the quarry down, 

 keeping it within range for a second or third "shot." 



All in all, it is an effective way of rabbit hunting, and, in many 

 sections, supplies meat for sometimes scanty larders. The pulse- 

 quickening chorus of "Yonna 'ee goes!" reminds us that the most 

 primitive form of hunting known to man is still enjoyed. 



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