222 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



tainted, but by no means allow him to tear the 

 wing or bite the flesh of the turkey. You might 

 set him after a tame turkey now and then, but 

 this might bring him some day to grief by a load 

 of shot from your good neighbor. 



Take the dog with you on a few hunts in the 

 woods for turkej^s. If you find a flock, put him 

 after them at once and let him flush them, which 

 he will hardly fail to do. Then, if you can kill 

 one over him, your turkey dog is well-nigh made. 

 Having had your turkeys flushed, you can walk 

 slowly and cautiously in the direction they flew, 

 looking into every tree, and you will soon see one 

 or two of them perched upon a limb. To get 

 your bird now is easy if you have a good rifle; 

 and you had better not be out if you haven't 

 one, as no kind of shooting requires better marks- 

 manship than turkey shooting, especially in the 

 timber. Having treed your turkey, you may get 

 several shots, and meantime the dog is allowed 

 to trot around and bark as he sees fit, as the more 

 noise he makes the more is the attention of the 

 birds diverted from you to him; but after you 

 have looked among the trees in a few hundred 



