486 



FOJREST AND STREAM. 



[Jau- 18, 1887. 



§dg dnd 



Address aU communications to fhe Foi'&st and Stream Fub. Co. 



A THREE-PRONGED BUCK. 



THE western slope of the Allegheny Mountains, where 

 the Conemaugh River breaks thi-ough, is composed 

 of three gi-eat divisions, or ridges. The first of these, 

 on the west, is the Chestnut ridge, the second the 

 Laurel, and the tliird the main ridge, or the AHeghenies 

 proper. Fi-om the glades and siJui's of the first range, 

 nearly aU of the mountain proper is very rough, wild 

 country. As a consequence, there are very few seLtle- 

 ments on it, and the tim.e will never come when they 

 will be very numerous. Between these ranges there are 

 valleys, which ai-e more or less extensive, and which are 

 occupied for farming and grazing purposes. There are 

 also many towns of good size, some of them almost reach- 

 ing the limits of cities. These mountains are full of 

 game. When I say they are full of it, I do not want to 

 be understood as intending to convey the idea that one 

 can go out at any time and load a wagon with game, but 

 that there are wild tm-keys in small numbers in the 

 Chestnut ridge, and tm-keys and deer in the two higher 

 ranges. I have had the pleasure of follo^ving the track 

 of deer over the hills of Laurel ridge in the Avinters of 

 the last ten years, and such is the rouglmess of the 

 country in which they stay that, notwithstanding the 

 fact that there are sometimes so many hunters in the 

 woods that it is really dangerous to be out, yet there 

 seem to be as many deer there to-day as there were ten 

 years ago. 



"When the first snow of the season begins to f aU — and I 

 know that the f amihar haxmts of the thickets, runways 

 and crossings are covei'ed with the white mantle which 

 makes known the goings of the deer — I become as restless 

 as if I had never been lost in a mountaiu fog or snow and 

 had never vowed that if I got safely out of the eternal tliick- 

 ets and into some place of safety and comfort I would 

 never be f oohsh enough to trv the tempting of Providence 

 again. But when the soft flakes come sifting down, the 

 Btvidy becomes odious and I feel as if I would smother it if 

 I did not get out into it somehow. If there is no possibil- 

 ity of my getting to the hills, where the deer will lead 

 me a wild and often useless chase, I take down my rifle, 

 the companion of so many eventful days in the woods 

 and lovingly talk to it of the better days that are to come. 

 Then when the time does come, when the duties of busi- 

 ness may be laid aside for a few days, I feel like a school- 

 boy with a long vacation before him. 



Two weeks ago I received word from a hunting com- 

 panion, with whom I had searched the wilds of the north- 

 ern parts of this State for game, that he would be with 

 me for a hmit on my old grounds here. He aiTiA ed on 

 time, but only to tell me that he could not go. I had made 

 my arrangements and concluded not to be disappointed 

 in'my trip. So I had only to slip over to a neighbor who 

 is always in for an expedition of this kind when it is pos- 

 sible for hun to get away, and foxmd him all ready for 

 the start. "Wlien he heard that I was going, it put the 

 fever into him so that he said he intended to go wli ether 

 I asked him or not. 



It was raining in the morning when we boarded the 

 cars for om- twenty miles' ride, but we thought that the 

 rain here wovdd be snow when we got to the top of 

 the ridge. When we changed cars at the intersection we 

 found another hunting companion, who lived in a town 

 at the foot of the moimtains, and who invited us to stay 

 with him and he would go out with us. So when we left 

 the cars, without waiting to get dinner, with only a kmch 

 in our pockets, we strack out for the high ground. The 

 first question to be settled was as to what part of the 

 ground we should go over, as it was afternoon and we 

 must get back that night. Fi-ank insisted on going up 

 through the "gap of rocks,'' a very high part of the moim- 

 tains, because he had killed a fawn there a few days 

 before. I insisted on taking an easier climb for that 

 afternoon, and then ti-ying bis gi-ound when we had a full 

 day before us. By insisting, I at last succeeded in turn- 

 ing his hard head in the right direction, but he declared 

 there was no game on that gTomid. It took us two weary 

 hours of the hardest climbing to get to the htmting 

 gi-ounds at the top of the ridge. All the way up I was 

 continually reminded of my folly in taking the party to 

 a ground where there was no game, and was tlifeatened 

 with the dii-est consequences if such should prove to be 

 the fact. 



We had skirted along the crest of the mountain for an 

 hour without seeing a sign, and I was beginning to search 

 for some way by which to save my scalp, when we 

 crossed a fresh buck track. It was evident to each that 

 it was only a few minutes old. We immediately ar- 

 ranged for a flanking hxmt. That is, one was to follow 

 the track, while each of the othei-s were to keep about 

 a Imndred yards on either side of Mm. In this way some 

 one would get a shot, if we routed him up. Did you ever 

 follow a wai-y old mountain buck that has eai-s enough 

 for a mule, eyes like those of an eagle and the nose of a 

 sleuth hound? If you never did, your education is defi- 

 cient and your experience laclung an important element. 

 The ground here is very rocky and uneven, covered with 

 more or less bmsh and small timber, but there is very 

 little of it that is open woods. When a deer knows that 

 he is pursued he usually takes the roughest ground he 

 can find, and if possible gets the sim, hill and wind on 

 you. Fortunately for us this one did not know that we 

 were after him. We learned afterward tliat he had been 

 followed some time earlier in the day. Something of 

 this we suspected from liis peculiar motions. We 

 followed slowly, scanning everything Avithin the range 

 of vision, watching every crook and turn in his 

 devious windings, and creeping up carefully to 

 every knoll to look over on the bench below to 

 see if he was not either lying down or watch- 

 ing on his back tiuck to see if he was pm-sued. 

 After about an hour of tliis continual watcliing, 

 Frank got a glimpse of him at a hundred yards as he 

 stepped out to move on. Instantly there was the voice of 

 a .45-75 rifle heard, a puff of smoke seen, and then a gen- 

 eral advance all along the line to see what had been the 

 result. We did not rush up, but each advanced with rifle 

 ready for a shot. When we reached the spot where he 

 had been seen there was presented to om- gaze as beauti- 

 ful a sight as ever met the eyes of a hunter. There, in all 

 his glory, lay a three-pronged buck, as sleek as a mole 



and as fat aa butter. The bullet had struck him in the 

 middle of the neck and so stxmned him as to knock him 

 down. It was but the work of a minute to put a foot on 

 his horn to hold him and then send a knife to the hilt into 

 his throat. 



It is one thing to kill a deer in this rough coimtry and 

 quite another to get him out of it. We cut two saplings 

 and lashed them together, and then lashed him on this 

 improvised sled and commenced our weary drag of two 

 miles over stones and through tliickets and briers, until we 

 could get him to a place which could be reached by a horse. 

 When we did at last get there we were not by any means 

 cold, and it would not be "stretching the blanket" any to 

 say that we were tired. Two of us waited there while the 

 other went on down and sent a horse after the deer. 

 When the horse arrived we were cai-eful not to let it see 

 or smeU the deer, and so had no difficulty in putting it 

 on before the inessenger. Following the' horse through 

 the darkness of a three-miles' ti-amp brought us to om- 

 stopping place. Thus, in that half day's tramp we had 

 covered twelve miles of momitain travel, killed a deer, 

 gotten good and tired, and, if you had seen the way the 

 supper disappeared, had found an appetite and were well 

 satisfied. Homerus, 



IN TURKEY COVER. 



"QHADOW,"in Forest and Stream of Dec. 9, sug- 

 kj gests only that which none of your contributors 

 have advised, i. e, , the sport and practicability of shoot- 

 ing turkeys over pointers and setters. In fact I think 

 that while many sportsmen have now and then done so, 

 they suppose tliat the cases were exceptional and that the 

 wild, very wild tiu'key will lie to a dog. While I have 

 not made tm-key hunting with a dog the main object, I 

 have suflicient experience and observation to convince 

 me that a wild turkey will lie only too close to be found 

 in cover without a dog; and lie often as close as a quail, 

 at any time in good cover close enough to get to shoot 

 when they flush. So I propose to flush some of the sports- 

 men, who have had opportunities, with my story of how 

 I had them. 



My fii-st was tliirty yeai's ago, on the Elkhorn River, 

 Neb. While shooting there with a friend grouse, chick- 

 ens, ducks, deer, etc., we found tm-keys. After a flight 

 they always sought cover of grass, rushes, etc. There 

 was no difficulty in marking them, and it was simj^ly a 

 question of walking right on to them or my friend's setter 

 being able to get to them. The first flock we found were 

 under a bluff overlooking the river bottom land. Some 

 sixteen or twenty flew into a dry slough filled with 

 rushes, which had grown very tall, but were then a 

 broken down, tangled and interwoven mass, about 4ft. 

 high, impenetrable to the dog, and indescribably fa- 

 tiguing to man, as every step had to be over, not tln-ough. 

 While ti-ying to compass the four-foot lift, my first 

 turkey attempted to rise from under the raised foot. 

 Had I thrown myself forward I could iiave caught it, but 

 I caught something else, not necessarily exioiainable to 

 deer shooters or the inhabitants of Charleston, and during 

 the half hour or so that tm-key was tumbling and disen- 

 gaging itself from those di-y rushes, I was trying to 

 compose myself, but I was so anxious for the poor 

 turkey to get out and away, that when it did 

 make its appearance, I assisted it with the muzzle of my 

 gun, which, unfortimately for my kindly reputation, and 

 the turkey, discharged itself. That composed me. I 

 didn't hang the fragments by a string over my brand 

 new moleskin coat. I was composed enough to stop my 

 friend from spoiling another turkey, which was putting 

 him through the same experience. So he held on imtil 

 his turkey had covered a fair distance, then gave the 

 right barrel, then the left. As it jjassed me within range 

 I gave it riglit and left, and at each shot bunches of 

 feathers flew and so did the tiu-key for a lumdited yards, 

 and afterward rose again before me, having the hinder 

 parts all shot away. Of course I gave it the fifth charge 

 and declined that fragment. That slough was not SOyds. 

 wide, and the whole flock had alighted within 150yds. of 

 its length, yet we were able to walk up but two more, 

 which we secured in good order. At least twelve to six- 

 teen turkeys were still lying so close that the rusthng, 

 talking and shooting would not start them. We were 

 convinced that they had not rim out, as we afterward 

 carried the dog over' to find the much shot at one, and we 

 found no others. 



On another occasion while limching we marked four 

 turkeys alight in grass, oidy one to two feet high, and 

 they were found and pointed very close. One that had 

 rim a short distance I coidd not find nor flush, until I 

 liied the dog on to the turkey's tail and had to step past 

 the dog to kick it up. While shooting at the four, a fifth, 

 a large gobbler, came sailing over my companion and 

 dropped to his intei-view; as I passed to assist him with 

 the dog to find, two deer jumped up before me. The first 

 one fell down, but as I secured the second one the first 

 got up and got away; and they too had been pointed where 

 they lay quietly Avhile six shots were fired at the turkeys 

 not 50yds. away. 



Here in the dense laurel of Pennsylvania hills and 

 mountains the tm-keys lie in cover. In November, as the 

 last of my experience, I was driving down a steep moun- 

 tain road when I saw five turkeys feeding. As I drove 

 near to them they went olf the road down the mountain 

 side. Satisfied that they had merely passed fai' enough 

 to cover, I tied my horse, uncased the grm and shells, and 

 put my dog to heel, intending to follow the road down to 

 Avhere they had passed out of sight. Unluckily, within 

 6yds. of it'a read led down and away, and I thought that 

 the turkeys had taken this; so I went down for oOyds., 

 when, feeling convinced that I was mistaken and look- 

 ing back and along the steep, lam-el-covered mountain 

 side, I concluded to send my dog in. The tm-keys rose 

 up within a few yards of the main road, from the exact 

 spot where my first impression had placed tliem, by neg- 

 lecting which I also scored a lost chance for a sure double. 

 Neai- the foot of the moimtain I saw one rise from the 

 road and fly into the woods, and, again taking gun and 

 dog, I had the pleasure of raising it with the dog from 

 scarcely cover enough to hide it and not eight steps from 

 me. I scored one. 



These are not my only experiences, but are enough to 

 convince me that you have plenty of readers who can 

 tell tales of turkeys over dogs, and induce si)ortsmen who 

 may mark tm-keys go into cover to follow with their dogs 

 and get some shooting not otherwise on then- programme. 



Thompsoitsotvn, Pa. Juniata. 



COOT SHOOTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I cannot refrain from correcting an unfavorable im- 

 pression that "O. O. S." recently tried to give of the coot. 

 His description (Nov. 11) refers more to the loon, northern 

 diver or peggingawl. I consider a coot for the most part 

 very shy. I doubt if "O. O. S." ever had one fight in his 

 boat while hunting for them. If cooked properly their 

 flesh is very tender and not fishy at aU. I have heard 

 sportsmen say they preferred the'm to a canvasback, and 

 they knew how canvasbacks tasted, too. 



I have shot coot upon the southern coast and they are 

 the same kind that we get here in Massachusetts. The 

 sportsmen who go to our point here for coot shooting are 

 not pot-hunters, tliey go for the mere sport of the thing, 

 and sport it is, for I'have been there myself, and this sea- 

 son, too. Let "O. O. S." come to Old Plymouth and go 

 down to Monument Point, and see how long it would be 

 before he could rise in his boat when two single birds fly 

 by him, one on each side of his boat, SOyds. distance. If 

 he can bring them both down, one with each barrel, hs 

 would, with us, be called a good shot. Or let him sit in 

 his boat with a little east wind and a good chop, and how 

 many single buds do you suppose he would bring to bag? 

 Clark Holmes, who is our champion coot shooter, has 

 been known to kill nineteen single birds in succession, I 

 have seen him kill one on each side of his boat, one with 

 each barrel, several times in a mornings gunning. 



Let me give your readers a correct account of how coots 

 are killed and what sport it is. First, one must rise early 

 (which is very healthy), eat a hearty breakfast and Avalt 

 to the point, say an eighth of a mile. The boat should be 

 perfectly tight; the decoys from five to eight ia number. 

 Row off and select your berth, throw over yom- anchor , 

 fill and light your pipe, lie down in your boat out of the 

 wind if there be any, and wait for approaching daylight. 

 When fight appears you should try to get into a line with 

 the other boats, stationed from eighty to one hundred 

 yards apart. Sti-ing out your decoys and anchor them 

 twenty to thirty yards ahead of you. By this time the 

 birds will have begun to fly. Be ready with shells in gun, 

 overcoat and mittens off. The first flock is in sight, and 

 tlie ever welcome sound of "Norad! Nor' ad!" jiasses along 

 the line from boat to boat. Each mau crouches down in 

 Ills boat and awaits the coming flock, evei-y one by chance 

 expecting a shot; but the buds generally Ay through over 

 the boats, though sometimes I have known them to give 

 a whole line a shot, when, after the fusflade, scarcely a 

 bn-d would be left. The fortunate men who happen to be 

 imder the unfortvmate birds, fii-e into the flock, and if 

 near enough, generally get from one to eight. If it be a 

 clear morning and you yourself are sharing the sport, it 

 is gi-eat fun to see them fall, and it is sport for me to see 

 other sportsmen drop them as well as to kill them myself. 

 At this point, with a good flight, one is either shooting 

 and killing or seeing some one else shoot and kill all the 

 time. If Mr. "O. O. S." will come here and try our coot 

 shooting, I think he will agree with me that it is the most 

 pleasant and most pleasing to the eye of any grmning 

 along the coast. Cooter. 



Plymouth, Mass. 



VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS. 



TAZEWELL COUNTY, in Southwest Virginia, never 

 fails to charm the stranger and visitor, nor does the 

 Scotchman love his native heath, with its blooming 

 heather, more ardently than do the natives of this charm- 

 ing section love their sweet grass-clad coves and valleys, 

 their craggy mountains, their clear, cold, swift-ranning 

 streams, the pure fountain heads of rivers, that wend their 

 way to the south. The natives are of that^ splendid 

 physique so noted in the blue grass regions' of Kentucky, 

 a section this so much resembles. Many of them are of 

 Scotch and Scotch-Msh descent, generous, brave and 

 noble; owning magnificent grazing farms, whose picture- 

 esque hills and vales are crowded with the contented 

 herds of cattle and sheep. 



In the western section of this country, nature once so 

 convulsed, but now so gently at peace in this favored 

 spot, broke up the mountains and spread their steep sides 

 into a beautiful high ground level, called Ward's Cove. I 

 have sometimes thought this beautiful region had, with 

 the divinely skilled hand of Nature, been fiterally carved 

 into beautiful landscapes, so that, when our nation be- 

 comes a surging mass of tii-ed toilers, whose accompfish- 

 ments shall exceed Utopian dreams, there may be found 

 amid piu-e elements of ah-, water, simshine and plenty, 

 the perfection of human rest. 



Yonder on the west of this cove loom the carelessly 

 tossed mountain and its spurs, with soil and altitude that 

 rears the hemlock, the laurel and tlie balsam. Just east 

 is a rival, but the indigenous grass is matted to the top 

 and the adventm-ouB young bovine is making animate its 

 steejjs, in quest of succulent food. North and south in 

 bold relief stand out the spius of the craggy mountain, 

 the dark-shadowed gulfy hollows, through which "No- 

 vember's surly blasts" remind us that the sturdy oak and 

 poplar are the sentries of the udnter storms that will 

 settle down amid us soon. 



Near the middle of this favored spot there bursts boldly 

 from limestone caverns, two noted fountains, which soon 

 commingle their waters, forming a large and swift flow- 

 ing stream. All round here, too, are still the houses of 

 the sturdy pioneer who contested with the Indian this 

 huntsman's paradise. The weu-d and undecipherable 

 figures of these aborigines that yet look fresh on the cliffs 

 would indicate that this was for them a favored land of 

 peace and plenty'. A few hundred paces from these 

 fountains is an inviting place for machinery, the oppor- 

 tunity to erect which was embraced by a fiim of young 

 lawyers, whose manager, also on the bank of this stream, 

 amid the forest of beech, oak and arbor vitse, erected a 

 little cottage for his home. Grteme, one of these legal 

 gentlemen, is fond of sport, and often becomes the guest 

 of his employe on pariridge shooting exploits. 



It is not to be understood that the beautiful region 

 which is described is an eternal paradise in climate. 

 When winter grows well matm-ed nature tires of regal- 

 ing this favored spot with flowering summers, gentle 

 autumns and hazy Indian summers, and now and then 

 wakes up the storm demon that loves to stalk alDOut our 

 altitude. , _ . , 



About the last day of November a robust Episcopal 

 divine, Grseme, CharHe, the miller's son, who earned 

 behind him George, an unadulterated African gammon, 

 about f om-twn, stai-tcd to th« fi«ld on horseback. You 



