336 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 19, 1895. 



$Htije |?#fj und %ntu 



CHICKEN SHOOTING. 



Chicken shooting is a much simpler form of wing- 

 shooting than is that of quail, woodcock, ruffed grouse, 

 snipe or ducks. Indeed , it may be considered the simplest 

 of all wing-shooting, for there is in it no cover to obstruct 

 the view or to shield the bird; the birds are large, Blow of 

 wing and easily approached. As they frequent the open 

 prairie, the shooter requires no knowledge of woodcraft, 

 and his powers of endurance are but little tried, since in 

 most instances he rides in a wagon until such times as the 

 dogs point. Moreover, in chicken shooting, a fair degree 

 of skill with the gun will produce more material results 

 in the way of birds brought to bag than will the same 

 degree of skill exercised against any other game bird. 



AH this is true up to a certain limitation— one of weather; 



THB CHICKEN COUNTRY. 



that is, when the frosty nights come and the cool, steady 

 winds of fall set in, the birds become wilder naturally. 

 If they have been disturbed much by pursuit, it adds to 

 their wariness and wildness. Also, as the autumn weather 

 becomes more pronounced, the birds become stronger, 

 more heavily feathered, and take much longer flights. 

 Early in the season their flight may be from 50 to 200yds. ; 

 in late September or early October it may be so far that 

 the eye can but indistinctly mark their lighting, or they 

 may even fly entirely out of sight. 



Considering the size and hardihood of the chicken in 

 withstanding the extremes of heat and cold, it is rather an 

 easy bird to bring to bag. Ordinary loads of ammunition 

 give good results up to the time when colder weather 

 changes its habits, as aforementioned. After that, when 

 its body is protected by a thick coat of feathers — when it 

 flushes wild at the extremes of gunshot range, or even 

 quite out of gunshot— heavy loads, skillful shooting and 

 good dogs are required to bring this bird to bag. 



After the chickens pack — which they do as soon as the 

 nights become frosty and the days windy — the sport may 

 then be considered as ended, for it is so uncertain in all its 

 details that it is very unsatisfactory in its action and 

 meager in its material results. This limitation in the 

 average season is in the latter part of September or early 

 in October; though, as the habitat of the chicken covers a 

 vast area of country — from the Gulf of Mexico far up into 

 British America — no arbitrary season can be set for the 

 change from sluggish habits to wild activity; but at what- 

 ever time the warm weather ends, the lazy habits of the 

 chicken end also. 



Although chicken shooting, in the quality of the sport 

 it affords, may be inferior to other kinds of wing-shoot- 

 ing, yet it comes happily at a time when there is a dearth 

 of other shooting— that is, in August and September. 

 Furthermore, it gives shooting to the multitude. The 

 home of the chicken is so vast and so accessible, and the 

 birds bo plentiful, that more than any other bird it affords 

 shooting for the people. Woodcock are scarce in num- 

 bers, and they frequent but limited tracts of country. 

 A high degree of skill is necessary to insure even moder- 

 ate success. After the woodcock is brought to bag the 

 shooter has secured something which, if properly cooked, 

 will tickle his palate more than it will fill his stomach. It 

 is but a mouthful as compared to the embonpoint of the 

 chicken. The latter, however, is not a bird which at its 

 best appeals much to the palate, but it is very filling. 

 When skinned and fried, as is the common formula for 

 cooking it by many of the good people who dwell in its 

 native heath, it is positively repellant. Eheu! But, how- 

 ever ill cooked, it never loses its filling qualities. Skinned 

 and fried in grease, or skinned and boiled and stewed, 

 there is always a good quantity of it. A young ohicken 

 may withstand the blighting attempts of a cook who, in 

 his or her fitting vocation, migh t l ave made a good rail- 

 splitter or a good washerwoman, but I suspect the flavor 

 of the young chicken is not inherent— it is probably due 

 more to a good appetite and the better relative flavor of a 

 young bird than an old one. Nevertheless, in this coun- 

 try, the habitat of the chicken, many of the people toil 

 unceasingly to supply the common needs of life, and a 

 Bhade or two more or less of flavor in food is a matter 

 of no moment. The filling properties are important. 

 People who grow the world's supply of wheat and 

 corn, or who toil at loom and hammer, have neither 

 the time nor inclination to study symphonies of taBte 

 in every swallow. Think not, wise reader, that I scoff 

 at honeBt toil and bad cookery. Both have their uses 

 else they presumably would not exist, and many a man 

 who knows good cooking knows little besides. But 

 under better opportunities the chicken improves. In the 

 cities, under the skillful touches of a chef, it iB a table bird 

 at which the lip may not be flippantly curled; but under 

 such circumstances it could not be otherwise, for a skill- 

 ful chef can so artistically prepare and cook a rat that it 

 would be palatable and poetical. In any event, a chicken 

 which goes through the transformation of being killed 

 cooked and eaten all in one day has not been given 

 proper opportunity to qualify for a good thing. After it 

 has severed its connection with this world, it must be 

 allowed several days to appear at its best. There is neces- 

 sarily some care to be observed as to the correct juncture 



if the bird is not kept on ice; but as to the length of time, 

 it varies with the latitude and the degree to which the 

 taste is cultivated. In Louisiana, where there is but the 

 shadow of a real winter, the man of moderately culti- 

 vated taste hangs his birds up by the neck on the wall of 

 tho gallery, or veranda, they thus being subject to only the 

 natural changes and conditions of temperature, some of 

 which, in truth, are quite warm. About the average 

 probationary time is three weeks, but the arbitrary and 

 conclusive test is that when the bird is to a nicety fit for 

 cooking the feathers voluntarily detach themselveB in ones 

 and twos, leisurely, and withal reluctantly, dropping off. 

 This for the man of ordinary taste; the epicure prefers 

 that the bird hangs even a while longer. Its true gamy 

 flavor is thus perfected. Thus prepared, it owes no blush 

 for its unworthiness. Thus prepared, it is the prince of 

 good table birds, excepting the ruffed grouse, the quail, 

 the woodcock, the snipe and a few others. Thus pre- 

 pared, no one could recognize it as a relative of its unfor- 

 tunate brother, ignominiously skinned, hastily fried in 

 grease and eaten with a knife. But this is a digression, 

 and in bad form too, inasmuch as the ethics of true sport 

 are distinct and apart from considerations of the stom- 

 ach's needs, notwithstanding that if the stomach fails the 

 whole superstructure falls. 



Returning to a consideration of the bountiful shooting 

 afforded by the chicken, it has been mentioned that the 

 woodcock is few in numbers and its habitat restricted to 

 peculiar conditions, which are too well known to make de- 

 scription necessary. The quail inhabits a large area, but 

 it is comparatively a much more difficult bird to kill, and 

 owing to its surroundings incomparably more difficult to 

 approach. In the chicken country nearly every man and 

 boy is a chicken shooter; in the quail country not one in 

 a hundred is a quail shooter. As for the snipe, it is migra- 

 tory, following certain lines of fligh t in which there is a food 

 supply, for this reason affording sport to a few in a few 

 favored sections. But the chicken, beginning in western 

 Louisiana and extending far into Texas, thence north- 

 ward through the Indian Territory, Nebraska, Kansas, 



brace is used a shooter must confine his efforts to early 

 morning or evening hours, when the heat is less distress- 

 ing and the birds, moving about in search of food, are 

 easier to find. If the shooter desireB to work in the fore- 

 noon till say 10 o'clock, and beginning at 4 o'clock in the 

 afternoon, two brace will be none too many, and even 

 then care will need to be observed in working them 

 within their powers. This is on the assumption that the 

 dogs are in proper condition. Out of condition, the dog 

 can work but a few minutes in the hot sun, and then 

 inefficiently. From 10 o'clock till 4 o'clock there is little 

 gained by seeking, if the day is clear and hot. The birds 

 then are not moving, and they are correspondingly diffi- 



STOPPING TO WATER. 



Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, the Dakotas, thence through a 

 vast scope of country in British America, it affords oppor- 

 tunities to the people in the way of sport which can not 

 be afforded by any other bird. Franklin thought the tur- 

 key should have occupied the easy and dignified position 



cult to find. Running in the hot sun iB very exhausting 

 to the dogs, and if persisted in will result in staleness of 

 the doge — a state in which the dog is worn and ceases to 

 take interest in the pursuit. Both his physical and 

 mental powers have been partially exhausted, and only 

 rest will restore them. This, however, often requires 

 many days— sometimes weeks — hence it is the easier plan 

 to conserve the dog's energies than to lose them for the 

 season. 



In chicken shooting, experienced shooters find a crate 

 a necessity when more than one dog is used. As to the 

 form of the crate, it varies as much as the tastes of the 

 shooters. Some have crates made entirely of slats; others 

 are planked up solid, excepting that open spaces with 

 iron bars are left in the ends or sides for purposes of light 

 and ventilation; while others again are partially slats, 

 partially boards. In any event a crate of some sort is useful 

 and quite necessary. A jug or keg is necessary to provide 

 a water supply. The dogs require quantities of water 

 and need it often. Without it they cannot work up to 

 their proper form, aside from more important humane 

 reasons. However hot it may be on a plane with the 

 shooter, seated comfortably in his wagon, it is many times 

 hotter in the long grass, where the heat is reflected and 

 the breeze is less even if there be any at all. One of the 

 commonest scenes in chicken shooting is that of watering 

 the dogs. Intelligent dogs will often come in for water 

 without orders, and on having their thiret satisfied will 

 promptly and cheerfully resume their work. Some dogs, 

 full of spirit and eagerness, require the careful eye and 

 judgment of the master to check their effort and bring 

 them in to take the needed drink. Do not foolishly 

 imagine that a stimulating drink for the dog is necessary. 

 It is positively harmful. Alcoholic stimulant does not 

 make a dog wiser or more enduring, however much it 

 may add to the powers of his master. As to the latter, as 

 the nerve centers in part cease to co-ordinate, misfit 



VEHICLES USED IN CHICKEN SHOOTING. 



that the eagle does now as a national emblem, although 

 he properly should have had a quart of cranberries ram- 

 pant with the bird, but the prairie chicken would be a 

 better emblem on the escutcheon, for it iB prettier, braver, 

 less noisy and more domestic. 



However little the pursuit of the chicken may test the 

 endurance of the shooter who rides comfortably in his 

 wagon, it can truly be said that the work is most graelling 

 to the dogs. To keep the pursuit up to the proper stand- 

 ard, a brace of dogs at least is needed, and when only a 



thoughts may result in funny Bayings, but the shooting 

 powers for the time being degenerate; the eye, the hand, 

 the judgment are deficient in the true and prompt unison 

 which comes from a brain clear and undisturbed. It is 

 therefore best for man and dog that the flask be left at 

 home, but if it must be taken along, it is best for the dog 

 that his master do the drinking, accidental discharges of 

 the gun excepted. 



• There i8 no arbitrary length of time to set for any dog 

 to work. If the shooter observes that a dog is narrowing 



