A MOUNTAIN TOP GROUSE HUNT. 



REV. J. E. APPLEY. 



The last day of October I met the Doctor 

 at the Weehawken terminal of the Ontario 

 & Western railroad. Our route lay along the 

 Hudson, over the Shawongunk range and 

 through the beautiful Neversink valley. Had 

 we not had a definite destination before us 

 we might have been enticed from the train, 

 to begin operations with dog and gun at any 

 one of many places passed; but we sat on 

 the safety valve of our enthusiasm and 

 pushed forward. Late in the day we reached 

 our goal, one of those little hamlets nestling 

 among the mountains along the Delaware 

 river, a trading outlet for a vast area of 

 almost unbroken forest lands, where deer 

 roam, bear occasionally prowl, and wildcats, 

 foxes, coons, hares, rabbits and grouse 

 abound. 



The evening was spent in a walk and an 

 hour's chat, for we were guests. At an un- 

 usually early hour the next morning I was 

 brought to a sitting posture in bed by the 

 report of a shot gun. As soon as I could 

 command my thoughts I remembered that 

 Doctor had a new gun, and had had but 

 little chance to try it. Sure enough, when 

 I went down stairs, there was my medical 

 friend, togged in boots, leggins, pants, coat 

 and cap, fondly contemplating his new 

 weapon. I was hardly able to keep him 

 still long enough to eat breakfast. 



Both being green, we determined to take 

 it easy the first day, so we started out 

 with an old hound, to get some rabbits; re- 

 serving the mountain climb for the second 

 day. We had gone but a few steps from the 

 house when a rabbit popped out from a bed 

 of ferns. He was taken back to the house, 

 and a new start was made. As we began 

 the ascent of the hill the dog started an- 

 other rabbit. I turned to look for Doctor, 

 who had lagged behind, and just then a 

 grouse burst from the cover behind me. He 

 was an instant too slow in starting, and I 

 dropped him before he could get out of range. 

 A few rods farther on I saw a second bird 

 on the ground. It rose as it caught my eye, 

 but did not get higher than a man's head. 

 This was all accidental and unplanned, for 

 we were after rabbits. However, no other 

 birds interrupted our hunt that day. 



The day for the hunt on the mountain 

 dawned, crisp and beautiful. We took, as 

 companion and helper, Ben, a red and white 

 setter, true as steel, keen as a briar and 

 steady as a clock. 



Directly back of the house, where we were 

 stopping, and not more than 20 rods from it, 

 rises a mile-high mountain. What used to 

 be a runway for logs is still an open path 

 to the top. One mighty ledge of rocks over- 



lies another, with narrow strips of brush 

 and small trees between, until one ledge, re- 

 ceding more than its fellows, allows a heav- 

 ily wooded plateau to break the Western 

 slope of the summit. 



Near the middle of the plateau Ben 

 came to a stand by the side of a large rock, 

 at the edge of a thicket. As we approached, 

 a grouse flushed and flew straight up the 

 mountain, through the tangle. We emptied 

 our guns on general principles, but without 

 effect. Fnding no other birds on that level, 

 we determined to follow the one flushed. 

 We clambered over fallen trees and over, 

 under and around rocks. Just as we were 

 raising ourselves to the next bench the bird 

 flew, still straight up the mountain. An- 

 other hard climb resulted in an ineffectual 

 snap shot, and we saw the bird alight 4 

 ledges higher, so we let him go. At last, 

 with Ben at heel, we set out to find a spring 

 that I knew existed just beneath the lower 

 end of the ledge. There we slaked our 

 thirst and sat beside the spring until I hap- 

 pened to see Ben pointing staunchly with- 

 in 35 feet of us. We jumped up and pre- 

 sented arms, just as the bird broke cover. 

 Doctor knocked a few feathers from him, 

 and that was all. That time the grouse 

 flew so far that pursuit was impossible. 



It was after 11 o'clock, and still we had 

 no birds. _ Ben worked as faithfully as if 

 we had killed at every rise. Soon he found 

 a trail and followed it half a mile. It was 

 rough traveling, and we found it difficult to 

 keep up with the dog. Doctor was insisting 

 that Ben was fooling us or being fooled, 

 when_ the old dog crouched and looked 

 knowingly over his shoulder at us. We 

 moved up a bit, and off went 7 grouse in 

 as many directions. Two charges of shot 

 hurtled fruitlessly into space, and 2 dis- 

 gusted men and a dog in similar mood 

 looked at one another. 



Ben was off at the word, and we soon 

 found and bagged one of the flock. Doc- 

 tor, who was some rods ahead, put up an- 

 other bird that flew back and fell to my 

 gun. A few minutes later, my companion 

 succeeded in getting his first bird. We were 

 on the point of abandoning search for the 

 remainder of the bevy when, by a beautiful 

 point, Ben gave me an excellent opportunity 

 and the bag became heavier by another 

 bird. 



No more birds were found that day, and 

 the trip down the mountain was not so ex- 

 citing as the climb in the morning. Never- 

 theless, when we reached the house and ex- 

 hibited 4 beautiful grouse we were content, 

 and even glad, we had been no luckier. 



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