HUNTING TURKEY WITH A DOG 225 



will lacerate the tender skin and tear the flesh — 

 a thing no true sportsman would tolerate. It is 

 easy to teach the dog not to mouth the game by 

 making him take the neck in his mouth every 

 time an opportunity is afforded. If he takes hold 

 of the body, or mouths the feathers, make him let 

 go and take the neck. He will soon learn this. 



The common fox hound also makes a good tur- 

 key dog, and takes naturally to it, but he is too 

 noisy. A turkey dog must not yelp or bark on 

 the track before he sees the birds as the hound 

 does. Turkeys are alarmed easily and prefer to 

 run instead of to fly, and if the dog barks on the 

 trail they will run for miles, all the time probably 

 not one hundred yards in advance of the dog. 

 So the dog for turkeys must keep silent until in 

 sight of them, and then bark savagely until they 

 are all flushed. This the pointer, setter, or ter- 

 rier will do. Be sure to encourage your dog to 

 bark at the turkeys in the trees. 



Audubon says: "In the spring when the 

 males are much emaciated by their attention 

 to the hens, it sometimes happens that, in plain, 

 open ground they may be overtaken by a swift 



