ON REELFOOT LAKE. 



H. M. BROWN. 



Early in November, 1883, our small party 

 visited Reelfort lake, for a week's fishing 

 and shooting. There were judge Wallace 

 McDowell, then of Memphis; W. W. Mc- 

 Dowell, of Nashville, and I, now of Texas. 



We packed into a 2-horse wagon the 

 goods we thought necessary; loaded sev- 

 eral hundred shells, and were off just after 

 noon. The distance was about 18 miles. A 

 few quails, squirrels, doves and rabbits 

 were seen on the way, and occasional ducks 

 and geese; but we took time to shoot only 

 enough quails for supper. 



Camp was pitched on a high piece of 

 ground, not more than 50 feet from the edge 

 of the water, while the sun was yet shin- 

 ing. The Judge, not being partial to camp- 

 ing, went to a sportsmen's hotel near by. 

 In a short time we had a fine string of trout 

 and large perch. 



After supper we went over to the hotel 

 and listened for 2 or 3 hours to stories told 

 by a company of gunners who were staying 

 there. When we returned to camp we were 

 excited and impatient for daylight, so we 

 might see for ourselves the great number 

 of gentle ducks and geese we had heard so 

 glowingly described. 



McDowell and I were boys of 17, only 

 fair shots and not at all well acquainted with 

 the habits and diversions of sportsmen. We 

 knew more of their little peculiarities later. 



Reelfort lake was formed by an earth- 

 quake, during the winter of 1811-12. It is 

 2)2 miles long and 2 to 8 miles wide. The 

 earthquake caused the land to settle more 

 than 20 feet, on an average, and the next 

 overflow of the Mississippi, 12 miles away, 

 filled the depression and formed the lake. 



A.t many places, while on this trip, the 

 trunks of trees were seen, protruding from 

 the water; in fact, the appearance of the 

 lake was that of an overflowed " new- 

 ground." There is one place of more than 

 200 acres that is entirely free from trees. It 

 is known as the Moultrie field, because a 

 man named Moultrie was farming the land 

 when it subsided. Almost every year the 

 Mississippi, during high water, flows 

 through the lake, and several small streams 

 empty into it. 



By daylight we were hidden in the tall, 

 grass, down by the water's^edge, at a point 

 where it seemed likely the ducks would fly 

 well. The morning proved intensely quiet, 

 and rather warmer than usual for the sea- 

 son; so only a few ducks were flying. The 

 scarcity of birds, together with our inex- 

 perience, made it necessary to return with 

 only 5 ducks and one goose. 



Of course our bag would have been 



larger, if most of our ducks had not fallen 

 far out in the lake or in the tall grass along 

 shore. That is what we told the Judge, 

 when he smiled at our small amount of 

 game. He then said we showed evidences 

 of becoming great sportsmen. What do 

 you suppose he meant? 



This failure at duck shooting was more 

 than overbalanced by our success at catch- 

 ing fish. By 4 in the evening we caught 

 more than 100 pounds. They seemed to 

 race with one another to see which could 

 get to the hook first; while the 2 boys did 

 race with each other to see which could 

 catch the greatest number. 



About 4 o'clock we went out with our 

 guns, hoping to redeem ourselves. We 

 were only moderately successful, the hotel 

 sportsmen said. McDowell killed 5 ducks 

 and 2 geese, while I got 4 ducks and one 

 large turkey gobbler. In addition, each se- 

 cured several squirrels. We thought we 

 had had wonderful success, and were not 

 backward in saying so. I would render the 

 same verdict even now, if called on for an 

 opinion. That ended the first day of actual 

 hunting and fishing. We felt well paid for 

 our trip already. 



We were of the opinion the other side of 

 the lake would be better for hunting, so at 

 2 o'clock we were up and speeding across 

 the water in a little dug-out. Our cargo 

 was 2 10 gauge Parkers, 200 loaded shells 

 and a 2-gallon tin bucket full of cooked, 

 things. The lake was 7 miles wide here. 

 As the water was perfectly smooth, we 

 made good time. Before sun-up, we were 

 on the West shore. The trip over was with- 

 out incident except at one time our boat be- 

 came fast on one of the many " knees " — 

 submerged stumps — and we rowed 5 or 10 

 minutes in blissful ignorance that the boat 

 was making no progress. McDowell near- 

 ly upset the dug-out when he reached 

 under and freed it from the " knee." 



We had good shooting on the West side. 

 Ducks were flying constantly, and near the 

 shore. By 10 o'clock we had 25 ducks, half 

 a dozen geese and 21 squirrels. 



Dinner was eaten under a clump of tall 

 hickory trees, and the empty bucket was 

 good evidence we were hungry. After rest- 

 ing a short time we rowed over to Grape 

 island, to fill ourselves and then our bucket 

 with .ripe grapes. During the process we 

 stumbled on 2 large raccoons, which were 

 killed, one with a club and the other with a 

 load of shot. A fat opossum was caught 

 alive. 



About the middle of the afternoon the 

 boat was packed, preparatory to crossing 



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