6 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



smaller game, such as squirrels, rabbits, ducks, 

 and quail. I was sixteen years of age when I 

 began to hunt the wild turkeys. I discovered 

 then that although I was able to do good calling 

 I had much more to learn to cope successfully 

 with the wily ways of this bird. It took years of 

 the closest observation and study to acquire the 

 knowledge which later made me a successful 

 turkey hunter, and I have gained this knowledge 

 only after tramping over thousands of miles of 

 wild territory, through swamps and hummocks, 

 over hills and rugged mountain sides, through 

 deep gulches, quagmires, and cane brakes, and 

 spending many hours in fallen treetops, behind 

 logs or other natural cover, not to be observed, 

 but to observe, by day and by night, in rain, 

 wind, and storm. I have hunted the wild tur- 

 keys on the great prairies and thickets of Texas, 

 along the open river bottoms of the Brazos, 

 Colorado, Trinity, San Jacinto, Bernardo, as 

 well as the rivers, creeks, hills, and valleys of 

 Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

 With all modesty, I believe I have killed as 

 many old gobblers with patriarchal beards as 



