164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 3t, 1881 



A Successful Newspaper.— It gave us great satisfaction 

 a few weeks ago to compliment the Cnmnwrcial AttecHi.-,i:r, 

 on its genera) appearance and readable columns. Again we 

 are obliged lo note the great change made in its appearance 

 since last Monday. The paper has been enlarged to 36 

 columns, the "make up" changed and altered for the better, 

 and it is printed from the newest invention in presses. A 

 type web rotary press, made by 11. Hoc & Co., capable of 

 printing 23,000 perfect sheets an hovr, has been added to 

 their press-room, and the paper may be said to be in perfect 

 shape for any and all kinds of work. This is an evidence of 

 prosperity and a good bank aceouut on the part of our aged 

 contemporary. The columns are as young as ever, and 

 filled as usual with bright and clever hits. The advertising 

 columns also appear fuller, and everywhere the impression is 

 that the Commercial is the leading afternoon paper of this 

 city. We congratulate the Commercial, and utter the wish 

 that its prosperity in the future will be as solid as it is at 

 present. 



A Letter purporting to be written by D. C. Sanborn has 

 recently been published, in which he complains that a com- 

 munication addressed by him to the Fokeht and Stkeam 

 was mutilated in publication. The letter in question con- 

 tained a considerable amount of matter which had uo 

 bearing whatever on the point at issue, which was a 

 difference of opinion between "Fritz" and Sanborn. On 

 the receipt of the hitter's communication he was written to, 

 on the 28th of February, that we would publish that part of 

 hia letter which referred to him personally. 



The letter was held over our issue of March 3 in order that 

 his reply might be received, and, as nothing was beard from 

 him, we assumed that ho was satisGed with our offer and his 

 letter was printed. Does it take eleven days to receive a 

 reply from the town where Mr. Sanborn lives? Wc usually 

 can receive replies from there in h-df that lime. 



It is evident that the Forest and Stream's strictures ou 

 the dishonorable practices of certain unprincipled dog 

 handlers have cut them deeply, for the snappings and snarl- 

 ings at our heels are loud and continuous. Mr. Sanborn we 

 believe to be a very honest and worthy man, hut we cannot 

 congratulate him on the company he has got into. The bark 

 of this crew is worse than their bite, however— if they have 

 any bite. 



The Ciuum ino Stoh y of the two little gray foxes so delight- 

 fully told in auother column by an English lady resident in 

 Virginia, teaches a lesson that all may study with profit. 



There is no animal that is by nature wdder than the fox, 

 and yet by kind treatment End constant association with man 

 even these wild creatures maybe rendered docile, companion- 

 able and fond. Each experiment of this kind that is related 

 con firms the belief that only patience aud persevers 

 ontented r, 



needed to render the wildest, ar 



tication. The instances of 



recently cited in these eolum 



and every year's experience li 



not far distant when mauysr. 



bred in the domesticated state aud may thus afford a constant 



supply from which our covers may be stocked. 



r dotnes- 



uffed grouse being tamed, 



, bear directly on this point, 



Is us to hope that the day is 



i of our wild game may be 



There is in England a Children's Society for the protec- 

 tion of birds, and it is said that the membership nownumbers 

 over 23,000. Each child who becomes a member takes a 

 pledge as follows ; 



"I promise to be kind to all birds as far as I can -, to feed 

 birds in winter with spare crumbs instead of wasting them ; 

 not to molest or disturb birds during their building season ; 

 not to rob the nests of their eggs or to tear out the nests ; not 

 to kill the young ones or otherwise injure them ; lo try and 

 induce others to take an interest in these beautiful creatures, 

 aud promote the objects of the society." 



On the Wing.— Early next spring Col. E. Z. O. Judson, 

 "Ned Buutline," will leave the East on a visit to the 

 Haneh of Buffalo Bill and Frank North, the Chief of the 

 Pawnee Battalion iii Western Nebraska, thence to Denver, 

 Colorado, and still further !o New Mexico, to sec to interests 

 he holds in the Lode and Placer Mining Co., now working a 

 heavy force near Fort Craig. He will send a condensed re- 

 port of all he sees that tends to sporting interest to us 

 while gone. 



If tub Bench-Legged Beagles are really basset hounds, 

 as General Bond in his letter printed in auother column hinls, 

 by all means let them be called so. This strain of dogs is 

 recognized at all the English dog shows and is classed as a 

 distinct breed, quite as much as mastiffs, poodles or blood- 

 hounds. 



The very clear statements of fact in General Bond's letter 

 seem to he a conclusive reply to the insinuations that the 

 bench-legged dogs of Maryland indicate a dachshund cross 

 ■with the straight-1 egged beagle. 



The Pules of the Toronto Gun Club, revised for 18S1, 

 Contain in a very small space a large amount of valuable ir- 

 ormatiou. In addition to the Constitution and By-Laws of 

 the club and the. rules for trap shooting, there arc printed the 

 game act aud the laws affecting the fisheries of the Province 

 of Ontario, the whole forming a compendium of great value. 

 We understand that the Toronto Gun Club will be glad to 



exchange copies of their rules with any other gun clubs or 

 sportsmen's associations. 



-. «. i 



The American FisnccLTnuL Association. — The annua) 

 meeting of the Association is taking place as we go to press. 

 Our next issue will contain a full account of the incidents, 

 papers and discussions. 



Wi* ^QOftHmzn §anrisf. 



WILD TURKEY HUNTING. 



NOW and then we have an item in Forest and Stream 

 ou turkey shooting, and as the idea seems to prevail 

 that large shot is a tine qua non for this kind of game and as 

 my experience puts me in a position to say something on the 

 subject, I propose to give some of my TOWS and add a few 

 incidents which may not be uninteresting to your reiders. 



Twenty-five years ago this was a locality fit to gladden the 

 heart of any not over-exact iug sportsman." Here were quail, 

 woodcock, snipe aud ducks in thousands, with wild turkeys 

 in flocks numbering sometimes hundreds to be found in all 

 directions; and here my father aud I indulgedourinten.se 

 love of dog and gun, limited for years only by such laws as 

 govern sportsmen who need no statutes. In season we turned 

 our attention to all the varieties of game mentioned ; and it 

 was not uncommon when hunting quail in briery or grassy 

 coverts to c me suddenly upon wild turkeys which, taking 

 wing, sometimes afforded the. delicious opportunity of a suc- 

 cessful "double," and many an old gobbler thus abruptly 

 gave uphis life to a charge of No. Sshot, fired from a seven- 

 pound, fifteen gauge, cylinder bore, muzzle-loading gun. 



This need not seem incredible, as it; is a fact easily explained. 

 It may not be generally known that the head and necjf of a 

 turkey is exceeding vulnerable ; but lo such an extent is this 

 so, that a single pellet of No. 8 in the head at forty or fifty 

 yards will prove instantly fatal: so considering the closeness 

 of a No. 8 pattern, even of a cylinder bore, a turkey with its 

 head and long neck exprs-d at thirty or thirty-five vards has 

 scarcely a chance of escape, and with a good choke-bore 1 

 should expect to kill almost certainly with each shot at forty 

 yards. 



On the other hand, it has frequently happened within my 

 knowledge that turkeys shot through the body with several 

 buckshot or a rifle bullet, if not afterward by the merest good 

 fortune found and secured by anoiher shot, "escaped to die or 

 recover from their wounds. For example, I will mention 

 two or three of the many instances to which I might refer. 

 A flock of about a hundred wild turkeys was scattered one 

 evening at roosting time and a party of four of us went to the 

 place next morning before daybreak with the intention of 

 calling. One of the seven turkeys killed on this accasion was 

 to all appearances active and sound as any of its companions; 

 but picking revealed that a rifle bullet had entered about an 

 inch to the left of the tail aud passed out at the breast within 

 an inch or two of the neck, thus traversing nearly Die full 

 length of the body. i r el this wound was almost healed 



While hunting deer in one of our northern counties a com- 

 panion was taken sick and had to return heme Ho left his 

 gun (a double-barreled rifle) with me, thinking I might 

 sometimes prefer it to the shotgun which I was using. Not 

 far from the house at which I stopped was a. lavnc stubble 

 field bounded on two sides by a deep forest. Knowing that 

 wild turkeys were iu the habit of feeding in the field I con- 

 cluded to lake toth rifle and shotgun and steal a march on 

 them. Loading the shotgun with No. G shot 1 made a detour 

 into the woods and stealthily approached the field. Looking 

 cautiously over the fence I discovered iu the centre of the 

 field, at least a hundred yards away, n .Hock ol turkey: ill 

 suspiciously feeding. 



Knowing the probability of getting either a single or double 

 wing shot with the shot-gun should I fire the rille before they 

 observed me, and fearing to wait for a better chanee lest 1 

 be seen aud lotc all, I leaned the shot-gun ready for use against 

 the fence, selected my turkey aud fired. 1 saw that the bul- 

 let had taken effect, but the turkey, with much difficulty, 

 managed to rise, and with the rest of the Hock come diiecliy 

 toward me. Quickly changing guns the prospect, was now 

 quite pleasing, but 1 determined to secure the wounded bird 

 if I got no other. I, therefore, kept my eye ou the laggard, 

 and as he gave me his side I fired and killed him 'dead. 

 Turning quickly to shoot the second barrel I found that the 

 Others had entered the tree-tops overhead and escaped. Thus 

 I lost the opportunity to make a double shot, but secured a 

 tine turkey, which, though shot through with a ball weighing 

 fiftv to the pound, I should have los, 1 ", bul for that fatal No. 0. 



Next day I went again with both guns to the same field, 

 but this time I approached it on the other wooded side. 

 Near the same spot which the turkeys occupied on the pre- 

 vious day was a single turkey and about the same distance 

 away. • At the crack of die rifle he fluttered around in every 

 direction trying to rise, and finally succeeded in clearing the 

 the stubble, going directly away from me, but after getting a 

 start he circled around and came straight toward me. When 

 close enough I let him have a charge of No. which sent 

 him almost perpendicularly more than a hundred feet high, 

 where suddenly his life ended, and he fell with a tremendous 

 thud almost at my feet. The ritle bullet had gone through 

 about an inch back of the centre, just as theonc of the day be- 

 fore had done. 



While the latter two incidents serve to show what fine 

 shot may do and how a bullet may fail I consider them also 

 worthy of mention as something remarkable, that on twosuc- 

 eessive visits to the same field, aud yet from entirely differ- 

 ent positions, so nearly the same train of circumstances oc- 

 curred. 



It happened often enough that tmkeys and sometimes old 

 gobblers, presenting a side shot, with the wing raised, were 

 killed with No. 8 shot by hitting in (he body only, but for 

 body shooing no one who has tested the matter is better 

 aware than myself I hat No. 8 is too light. For many years 

 my father and" I preferred No. 6, and very rarely used anything 

 larger, but later I adopted the plan of loading one barrel with 

 No. 8 the other with No. 3, and in doubtful cases firing both 

 at once. This gave most gratifying results. But now that 

 guns are changed my theory would be to load one barrel of a 

 good choke bore with No. 8 the other with No. 1. 



Our usual method of hunting turkeys was by the aid of a 

 pointer trained to take the trail, and follow it as rapidly as 

 possible, giving tongue only when one or more birds were 

 forced to take wing, and then returning to take the trail of 

 any that had not flown, forcing them to flight in the same 

 manner, and repeating this so long as a trail could be found, 

 Then if iu heavy timber discretion was used as to lUo best 



location for a blind, and one hastily constructed of chunks, 

 sticks, bark or any tiling suitable at hand. Entering this with 

 the dog, and placing "the gun iu readiness for quick work, 

 shoidd it be necessary*, a bone from the wing of a turkey was 

 employed in imitating the cull. This generally elicited an 

 answer from some already lonely aud anxious turkey, which 

 possibly came lushing almost into the blind before the bone 

 or caller could be carefully laid aside and the gun brought lo 

 bear. I once had a turkey come so quickly upon me that be- 

 fore I could catch up my gun and shoot he" jumped on llielog 

 behind which I was hidden, within a foot of my face. The 

 result was a beautiful opportunity for a flying shot, which 

 terminated his career, but I have always been sorry that I did 

 not grasp him by the legs. 



Some flocks sometimes will come thus freely to the call, 

 and there have been times when there was no reason to doubt 

 that had 1 been so disposed I might have killed neaily if not 

 quite all of the flock. 1 have, however, killed as many as 

 five from a single blind within about an hour, Then, a'niin, 

 a flock may be scattered which calls more or less freely" but 

 will not come where no turkey is to be seen. Othcis are not 

 disposed to call at all, but nowand then if calling is good, the 

 blind close and no movement of the hunter has bfiqn detected 

 one of them will cautiously and silently approach quite close 

 before any discovery is made cither on the part of the htmler 

 or turkey. The surprise in this case is generally mutual. 

 And some flocks cannot by any means be induced either to 

 call or come. I once killed at intervals by one means or an- 

 other, eleven out of a flock of twelve turkeys; bul thou >h 

 they were often most thoroughly scattered I never could by 

 any posibility* get them to answer my ell or come. Nor did 

 I ever hear them call under any circumstances. 



When turkeys arc found where high grass, weeds or briers 

 abound they are apt to hide like quail aud will lie to the point 

 of a dog, or until the hunter approaches within a few feet of 

 them, when if there is considerable cover through which they 

 can run easily, they will often try to make their escape on 

 foot; but if the cover is too dense for that, or so scattering 

 that they must clearly expose themselves, they take wing! 

 A flock so scattered affords the grandest of sport. No catl- 

 ing then, only a search through the cover as for quail, 

 flushing a turkey here and one there, until, perhaps, in sheer 

 ecstacy one is tempted to kill too many. My father once 

 scattered quite a number of turkeys in a little prairie thickly 

 overgrown with bonesct in wliich they hid. limning this, 

 he Uushed and killed six turkeys, once, at least, making a 

 double shot. He then quit, without knowing how many more 

 he might kill, the remainder of the flock being still in hiding 

 there. 



" F. P.," iu a late number of Forest and Stream, tells of 

 his astonishment at killing three turkeys at a single shot with 

 No. 4. But I shall not bo surprised if some day I kill three 

 times three with a single charge of No 8, provided I can get 

 their heads together iu such away as sometimes happens, and 

 as I still hope will yet happen tome. My father once scattered 

 a flock of turkeys, built a blind and commenced calling. 

 Pretty soon three turkeys came up, and, wailing until tliuc^ 

 heads were in range, be tired, killing all three atone shot with 

 a fifteen-bore gun weighing less than seven pounds, and 

 loaded with two drams of powder aud an ounce of No. (J 

 shot. This is better than "F. P.'s" performance, as there 

 were but three turkeys and the shot was two sizes smaller. 



Some years ago 1 was stopping at a friend's house in a vicin- 

 ity where wild turkeys were plenty. There was a large 

 wheat stubble not far away which they were iu the habit of 

 visiting One day while my friend was plowing (his field, 

 some mrkcyseame in 10 feed over the freshly plowed ground. 

 They kept a respectful dis ance between him aud them, but 

 evidently were not much afraid. Leaving his horses and 

 plow he came to the house and told me" that the turkeys 

 were in the field, and then went back and resumed his work. 

 I took my gun, a 13-bore muzzle-loader, charged with one 

 and a quarter ounces of No. shot, and slipped around to tlie 

 far corner of the field. Peeping carefully through the hazel 

 brush lhat grew in the fence coiners, I saw five turkej s feed- 

 ing slowly along and coming parallel with the fence toward 

 me. I carefully* changed my position for a more favorable 

 one a little further up the fence along which they were com- 

 ing. Here I lay down, placed the muzzle of my gun through 

 the fence and awaited their arrival. As they were passing 

 abon t thirty yards distant I managed to get three heads and 

 necks in range, and fired. Without waiting to see the re- 

 sult of my shot, I sprung quickly to my feet, aud as two 

 turkeys were winging their way out of the field I fired at 

 one of them and brought it down. On looking around I 

 found that I had killed four out of five large turkeys, three 

 with the first barrel aud one with the second. My friend 

 was so elated over it that he look bis horses from the plow, 

 tied the turkeys together, laid them over the back of one of 

 the horses, and thus look them to the house, where he re- 

 mained the rest of the afternoon. 



Though I have already filled far more space than was in- 

 tended, there is one incident so remarkable that it ought not 

 to be omitted. Some years ago a friend of mine, with five 

 or six others, went one night to shoot turkeys on the roost. 

 After hunting them for a while and firing some unsuccessful 

 shots, they were about to abandon the hunt, and had gathered 

 under a tree where, for some time, they were laughing and 

 talking. One of the parly who had loaded his ritle in the 

 dark was not satisfied as to the result, and proposed to fire it i 

 off. Pointing it toward the root of the tree, he was about to 

 do so, when be remarked that he whs afraid to shoot it, and 

 hesitated. My friend said, " Here, give it to me. I'm not 

 afraid." So, taking the gun, he also held it toward the root 

 of the tree, and was about to press the trigger, when it oc- j 

 currcd to him lhat there might be some danger in firing it in 

 that position. He therefore laughingly remarked, "Wait 

 and I'll kill a turkey." Accordingly he held the gun as far 

 above his head as he could reach, and, pointing it up into the 

 tree-lop overhead, fired. Their consternation may be 

 imagined when right into their midst dropped a turkey 

 which no one had the least idea was in the vicinity. On 

 examination it was found that the ball had struck centrally 

 between the thighs and passed out at the back. The fact 

 that this was done at night with a rifle, without aim, and 

 without the knowledge that a turkey was there, is very won- 

 derful, and certainly worthy of record. 



While I regard the events herein referred to as worthy of 

 note, there is~no doubt in my mind lhat, with the exception 

 of the last, they have been more than eclipsed by the per- 

 formance of others. I have heard of many more than three 

 turkeys being killed at one shot, and, with my knowledge of 

 the. subject, readily recognize the probability of its truth. 

 Hoping, therefore, that on this topic we shall have many 

 items of interest reported for record in Forest and Stream, 

 I, for the nonce, refrain. Splasher, 



Ohio, March 17, 1881, 



