WILD TURKEY SHOOTING. 361 



moved about ten feet. This necessitated moving the gun 

 a little something that ought to have been done while 

 he was moving and out of sight which movement was at 

 once caught by the keen-eyed fowl, and he was off like 

 a flash. We were as well hid as it is possible to be, and 

 the morning was cloudy, so there was no glittering of 

 the sun on the barrels. The only thing he could see was 

 the movement of the gun. I made my friend fix himself 

 as before in the blind, and I went to where the turkey 

 was when he took fright ; and I could not see anything 

 except the barrel of his rifle. 



Ordinarily, if gobblers have no hens with them, and 

 have not grown smart by experience with human decep- 

 tions, they are easily called up by an expert; and some- 

 times the hunter will be able to call hens and gobblers 

 up together, in which case the former will always be in 

 advance of the latter, so that, if he has his heart set on a 

 gobbler, he must either make a long shot, or let th'e hens 

 pass on by him. In such cases, he must be well hid, 

 and keep very still. 



A party of ladies and gentlemen were camping on 

 Little River, Texas, fishing and hunting. It was a jolly, 

 lively company of cultivated, refined persons, who had 

 met there for a week of wildwood enjoyment ; and they 

 got all there was to get, for they knew how. My wife 

 had gone out with them at first, and I joined them about 

 three days afterward. Soon after my arrival, the wel 

 come information was imparted that there was a very 

 smart old gobbler in the neighborhood that could not be 

 fooled by any human device. Several of the party had 

 tried him, only to fail; and, though he gobbled every 

 morning, it was never until he had left his roost. A 

 meeting was held, and a solemn resolution was passed, to 

 the effect that that turkey was a nuisance, and that I be 

 appointed to abate it forthwith, under penalty of ban- 



