The IVild Turkey 269 



The sportsmanlike methods of shooting the 

 turkey include " calling " or " yelping " and still- 

 hunting, i.e. tracking upon snow. The night- 

 attack, shooting on the roost, is unworthy of any 

 man claiming to be a legitimate son of Nimrod. 

 Now and then some lucky individual has a chance 

 at a close-lying bird, which the setter or pointer 

 seeking other game stumbles upon ; but these 

 occasions are too rare to be considered a form 

 of the sport. Coursing turkeys with greyhounds, 

 as is sometimes done in the West, has a dash 

 peculiar to itself. Shooting on the feeding-grounds 

 from ambush is uncertain enough to be consid- 

 ered fair, while any other way of ambushing a 

 turkey would most likely fall under the head of 

 accidental opportunities. 



The coursing of the turkey is the sort of sport 

 to stir the blood of a genuine sportsman. Briefly, 

 it is as follows : The game is given to feeding 

 from the roost among the timber of a river bank, 

 or bottom, far out upon the open plain where 

 insects naturally are most abundant. A well- 

 mounted man, accompanied by a strong grey- 

 hound, hides in the cover until he sees the flock 

 has ranged sufificiently far from the timber for his 

 purpose. Then the dog is "sighted," slipped, 

 and as he springs away the horseman gives swift 

 chase. The object is to rush a big gobbler so 

 that he will take wing when headed for the open. 



