12 8 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 8, 1887. 



QUAIL IN THE OAK WOODS. 



\\7 E 8° eight miles to the oak woods to try our hand 

 ▼ * on quail. It is a fine day, misty and damp. Reach- 

 ing the ground Sport, my liver and white pointer, points a 

 fine covey, but they are wild, rise out of range and go 

 into the woods. We dismount and follow the scattered 

 birds and Spot points again. Three birds rise, I get the 

 last with the right barrel, just as a cotton-tail jumps 

 from under my feet, and I bring him to bag with the 

 left. The thicket here is very dense and we go further on. 



The next covey is pointed by Carlo, John's lemon and 

 white po'nter, a fine looking dog. John dismounts first, 

 walks up and gets one shot— a clean miss. We think we 

 have marked them down and follow. The dogs are rang- 

 ing beautifully and Sport points, a bird rises, I fire and 

 the bird is grassed iust as John levels his gun; he recovers 

 arms and wonders how I get all the good shots. We go 

 still further into the thicket and Sport flushes a covey 

 from the windward side, so they are up and off without 

 a shot, except one bird that turns and stops in a pine tree. 

 John and I walk up and the bird flies from a tree 20yds. 

 to my left. John misses again. We follow them (or en- 

 deavor to do so) and find one bird, which is pointed by 

 Sport. We walk up through wet weeds and grass; all is 

 excitement. I propose to John to select the birds on our 

 respective sides and. he says, ''We'll take 'em any Avay we 

 can get 'em." I give the word and one bird rises. We 

 both fire, the bird is dead and Sport retrieves it nicely. 



We start back to our horses and walk over a bird; I fire 

 and miss. We continue our march and Sport points, 

 backed by Carlo. The bird rises to me. I fire and miss 

 again. This is the last bird we can find of this covey, so 

 we mount our horses and ride over the hill to a neighbor- 

 ing bottom. John is wet, gets cold, sees a convenient 

 house and steps in to warm, while I ride slowly up a little 

 branch and allow Sport to hunt it thoroughly. I go about 

 a hundred yards, cross and find one more covey. At my 

 first shot John comes out and wants to know if I have 

 started any birds, and just as I respond in the affirmative 

 Sport points again. The bird rises and I bring it to bag. 

 John has marked down two or three birds and has fol- 

 lowed them higher into the woods. In a little while I 

 hear five shots in rapid succession. He has now lost the 

 last of the covey and emerges from the woods with one 

 bird. 



On our way around to the Ninety-six road Carlo points 

 a covey, but it is getting late and we turn our steps home- 

 ward. R. H. M., Jb. 

 Trenton, S. C._ 



LABOR AND REFRESHMENT. 



OWING to the inclemency of the weather, and other 

 equally potential causes, I did not indulge very 

 much, during the last season, in the sports of the field. 

 Now and then, however, when the day was inviting, my 

 business engagements permitted, and a genial companion 

 or two could be had, I hitched up my old horse Frank, 

 put in the buggy a change of clothing, my little hammer- 

 less 14-bore, and about 200 loaded shells, whistled up my 

 bobtailed pointer Argo, and set out in quest of some 

 laborious and healthful amusement. These trips always 

 made my dog happy, for he looked forward to the grati- 

 fica ion of Iris highest ambition. 



During the month of December last my friend, B. W. 

 Jethell, of Rockingham county, in this State, came with 

 his wife on a visit to her immediate family. He was ac- 

 companied by Mr. Griff Rinn. Both had their guns and 

 were well supplied with ammunition. After a week or 

 two spent in our vicinity, enjoying themselves by frequent 

 j aunts into the country and bagging quite a quantity of 

 game, Mr. Rinn returned to his residence, leaving Mr. 

 Jethell to get all he could, in the way of sport, from the 

 fields and woods in the upper part of our county. It 

 happened that soon after Mr. R. took his departure Major 

 Edwin Gully, a native of Virginia, most of Ms life a cos- 

 mopolitan, and at present a traveling salesman for a well- 

 known grocer of Richmond, came among us and en- 

 livened our dullness by his sparkling presence. Gully is 

 an enthusiast in hunting and fishing, and can relate some 

 remarkable tales of his former exploits. He is a fair shot 

 — no doubt of that— but like most men who love the rod 

 and gun, he now and then allows his imagination to out- 

 run his facts, and in consequence at times he "bends a 

 rousing whid" without "nailing it wi' scripture." 



Gully was anxious to take a hunt, and equally anxious 

 to take along my young setter Eck, for whom he had 

 formed a decided attachment. I agreed to take him to a 

 place owned by me about twelve miles north of our town , 

 where I have a house which I occasionally occupy during 

 the summer, and in which I keep some beds and other 

 furni ure which make it anice place for "camping" when 

 I choose to hunt in that vicinity. 1 also let him have the 

 use of my gun and supplied him with shells. Je'hell 

 aforesaid and Dr. Still Weele, a local sportsman, joined 

 us. We shot a little on the way as well as after oar 

 arrival, and by n ght we had probably two dozen birds. 

 An excellent and cheerful fire was soon blazing in the 

 chimney place. Gully and Jethell pride themselves upon 

 their capacity as cooks, and f they possess the qualifica- 

 tions of which they boast, either could get a large salary 

 at any fashionable restaurant as chef de cuisine. I did 

 not choose to settle then- respective claims to superiority, 

 but ventured to suggest that Gully should heat the water 

 and clean the frying-pan, while Jethell showed his skill 

 in dressing the birds, Dr. Still bringing the water from 

 the spring. 



In the morning Gully would change places with him. 

 Dr. Still acknowledged that his skill lay in being able to 

 determine the quality of the food which they prepared, 

 I claimed the exclusive privilege of making the coffee. 

 With this division of labor we managed to get up a meal 

 which satisfied our hunger. I used the old style coffee 

 pot, boiling a little and then settling with a cup of cold 

 water. If I had had one of these two-story coffee pots, 

 called a Biggin, and dripped the coffee, no doubt the 

 flavor of the beans would have been far better preserved. 

 As to this new-fangled humbug, which professes to distil 

 the liquid, and greatly economize the grain — 1 did not 

 want it. An eloquent agent who traveled and lied all ! 

 over our county in regard to the merits of the invention 

 exhausted his art of persuasion upon me without being 

 able to swindle me out of the dollar which he coveted. 

 Distilling coffee in a piece of the cheapest tinware, with- 

 out a condenser! And a dollar for an article which would 

 have been expensive at twenty cents! It is well for 

 many of these agents that I am not the Czarissimus of j 

 this country. 1 



Next morning at an early hour our horses were 

 harnessed, two saddles strapped to the buggies and we 

 set out to try Borne fields lying on the waters of Mount- 

 ain Creek, about four miles distant. Men and dogs went 

 forward "with hope elate, the Elysian palm quite soon 

 to win." Reaching the vicinity Jethell and 1 saddled 

 the horses and with Argo and Barney, J.'s old "yaller 

 dog," who had been savagely treated in his youth, en- 

 tered an old plantation which I had never hunted, but 

 which I had heard would afford us plenty of sport. Gully 

 and Still acted the part of infantry in the war and had 

 Eck and Dick, two setters who had keen noses and dull 

 heads. For supreme fools I have never known these two 

 canines to be surpasse;!. Those two sportsmen took a 

 different route and went where I knew they would find 

 birds abundantly, for I had tried it. 



Jethell and I ranged field after field, inviting in the 

 highest degree, and found not a bird. On and on we 

 went. At last, in a pine thicket destitute of low cover, 

 our dogs scented birds and came to a point. They flew 

 up wild, but J. got in one shot and winged a bird.' The 

 balance of the covey scattered, some taking trees. He 

 got another shot and missed. Soon, though, he called 

 me, and on my going to him he said that he saw a bird 

 perched upon the limb of what he called an old-field pine. 

 We got him to fly and both of us gave him a. salute. We 

 thought we had only wasted our loads, but the little bob- 

 tail saw better than we did, for dashing down the hill he 

 soon returned with the bird in his mouth. There being 

 no use of further pursuit we went f orward to try to find 

 another covey. It took a long while to do it, but we did 

 succeed at last. They flushed upon the first challenge of 

 the dogs, and J., firing from his horn, got one at long 

 range. They went into the woods, of course, so did we. 

 We managed to get three or four more and gave it up. 



During a part of this time we had been disheartened by 

 hearing frequent shots of the guns of Gully and Still, and 

 felt that at least they were having a chance to beat us 

 badly in the hunt. We still had hope, however, that we 

 would get to the right place after a while. Going on 

 about a half mile, our dogs came to a stand in an open 

 old-field near cultivated land. Hitching our horse we 

 approached, and as the covey rose we succeeded in get- 

 ting two birds. We could not see where they settled, but 

 as they flew across the field, and there were some nice- 

 looking places in it, we entered it. Running over the 

 wind, oiu' dogs flushed a fine covey. One of the birds 

 took a different course, and we went after him. Pretty 

 soon Argo got scent, and did some pretty reading, with 

 an occasional halting stand. At last coming to a point, I 

 ordered him on; he sprang forward, but nothing ran. 

 Barney, the unfortunate, came up, and stood at the foot 

 of a thick cedar, and then out went the bird. It being 

 my chance by agreement — the bird giving us a side shot 

 to the right-^-I discharged one barrel, only to get plenty 

 of feathers. Then Jethell fired, picking him a little more. 

 My second barrel brought it to the ground, and Argo, as 

 usual, unbidden, retrieved the game. 



Just here let me say, that despite the judgment of 

 others, I think there would be far fewer lost dead birds if 

 dogs retrieved at once. No doubt the "drop to shot" plan 

 enables a sportsman to shoot more frequently. But I 

 have often seen instances where nearly-one third of the 

 dropped birds remained in the field when the dogs were 

 put to hunting them only after the shooting was over. 



To return. After tramping around to no purpose we 

 came back to where we supposed the flushed covey, 

 and the first one we started, had located, and soon" I 

 got up two birds in the woods, bagging both. Jethell 

 found by accident the first covey, but not being on the 

 lookout they escaped, with only the loss of one bird and 

 quite a number of feathers from another. On we went, 

 and after a while we found more birds. Jethell got two 

 of them, I wasted several shells to no purpose. Becom- 

 ing disgusted we started back to the buggies, and on the 

 way got up another covey, from which he got two more 

 birds. I was again unfortunate — or rather unsuccessful. 

 When we reached the buggies we had only fourteen birds. 

 Of these he killed one-half and one was in doubt, so that 

 the score stood 7| to He killed t wo others after that, 

 while I was resting; when I was thus engaged I heard an 

 almost constant f usilade from Gully and Still. Not long, 

 though, they came up, having between them twenty- 

 seven Bob Whites. On being asked how many times 

 they shot they showed some hesitation in their answer, 

 but at last acknowledged that they had used about 

 seventy-five shells, and ought to have had at least forty 

 birds. The wind had become very high and the atmos- 

 phere was much colder. We returned to our camping 

 place with forty-two birds, tired and hungry. A fire was 

 started, and with commendable promptness our cooks 

 had prepared a very satisfactory repast, which was evi- 

 dently much enjoyed by Jethell, who is fond of good eat- 

 ing, * None of us failed entirely. 



After supper, and Gully and Still had smoked the pipe 

 of peace— or a pipe a piece if you prefer [I hope "M.," of 

 North ide, will not criticise], and I had contented myself 

 with a chew of what is called fine-cut tobacco, J. looking 

 on like a gentleman, it was proposed by Gully that we 

 amuse ourselves with a friendly game of euchre. Hav- 

 ing a desire to beat somebody at something, he chose me 

 as a partner. But alas, the fates were against us. By 

 shee • good luck, of course, our opponents achieved a 

 triumph. Soon after this we were in bed. 



My dog Eck had a habit of growling and barking all 

 night at some imaginary enemy. To quiet him it was 

 thought best to lay a bag on the floor of my room near 

 the hearth and let him sleep upon it. Not long after we 

 retired to bed, the ungrateful little whelp serenaded us 

 with his usual music, and made "night hideous." The 

 others told me that Eck was only responding to the 

 challenges which I had made by my habit of snoring. 

 They may not have slandered me. Truth compels me to 

 say that I do not regard them as incapable of such con- 

 duct. 



The following morning we left for home, and on the 

 way got a few more birds. When we got home we had 

 a bounteous Supply for our households, and felt refreshed 

 and strengthened by our active exercise and change of 

 habits of fife, 



Poor Eck! He was a favorite with my family. He 

 staid at home like an honest dog, and "sentineled the 

 bed," like "the faithful Gelert, the flower of all Ms race." 

 He growled and barked at chickens, and things real and 

 unreal, both by day and night.. But he acted as a guard, 

 nevertheless. The poor fellow had an excellent nose, 

 great industry in the field, and Avas very staunch on a I 



point. He would not retrieve, and lacked in sense. He 

 c ould not find the way home, and was often lost. In 

 the early spring, on another visit of Gully, he took both 

 my dogs and went after snipe. Eck has not been 

 seen dnce, so far as I know. I think he ran until 

 he fell in the water in a fit and was drowned. Though 

 not "the gift of Royal John," he was presented to me 

 when a small pup by my friend Eck. Galloway, of 

 Reidsville, the excellent sheriff of Rockingham county, 

 and came of gentle blood, his ancestors on both sides 

 being duly registered. Gull 7 was sorely grieved that the 

 poor fellow should have been lost and has promised me 

 that he will get me another to take his place, provided I 

 will let him hunt when he comes along and have the use 

 of my guns. He can get either at his election, and I in- 

 dulge the hope that when the next season opens I shall 

 see his genial ruddy face and sandy hair, albeit some- 

 what frosted, and enjoy with him and others some in- 

 spiring jaunts, fraught with unalloyed joy ancj. rosy 

 health. Wells. 



Ellebbe Spbingb, K. C, May 2. 



TWO DAYS ON THE TRAIL. 



IN the latter part of one November our party of six gun- 

 ners camped on the summit of the Alleghenies, near 

 the line of the Tyrone and Clearfield railway, Pa. Here for 

 six or seven successive years we had spent a week annu- 

 ually, pleasantly and profitably, for although after the 

 advent of railroads in this section the deer diminished in 

 number with wonderful rapidity, yet by the complete 

 knowledge we possessed of the country, and the manner 

 in which our exploits were conducted, we usually returned 

 with some trophies of our skill. 



On the occasion to which I particularly refer, after 

 landing in camp and putting everything in order, it was 

 decided to drive a ridge near by where we had been more 

 successful in routing deer than anywhere within the 

 limits of our hunting grounds. 



It had been discovered on a former visit to these grounds 

 that when deer were route 1 they sometimes failed to 

 make their appearance, but slipped out at an unguarded 

 point. We investigated the matter and found that at the 

 north end of the ridge, which broke off very abruptly 

 and was quite rocky and rough, the more wary and ven- 

 turesome old bucks had selected their way, of escape; so 

 at this point one of the party took his stand, the other 

 prominent runouts being watched as usual, leaving two 

 men with dogs to do the driving. Probably an horn- 

 passed when the clear report of a rifle echoed over the 

 hills from the rocky hillside below, and after the assembly 

 call was given we hastened to the spot. The buck was 

 gone, but a profuse sprinkling of blood on the ground 

 and brush told very plainly that he had been severely 

 wounded. 



There was scarcely enough snow upon the ground to 

 show the print of a track, but one of our number being 

 an expert in this line, we took the trail with confidence, 

 having first proven the unreliability of our dogs, which 

 flatly refused to assist us. Progress was slow and diffi- 

 cult, but the search was continued until after the sun dis- 

 appeared and we were reminded of the near approach of 

 night. During the afternoon the wounded buck, in com- 

 pany with another, had been seen: but his cunning pre- 

 vented our getting a shot at either of them. That night, 

 while we toasted our shins around the camp-fire, plans 

 were laid for capturing the buck the next clay, and we 

 then laid ourselves down to enjoy well-earned repose. 



Morning dawned, revealing a cloudless sky. Breakfast 

 was hastily prepared and served by our jolly cook, and 

 we hurried away to the point where we had left the trail 

 on the previous evening. During the night the buck had 

 wandered about over a small space of ground, crossing 

 and recrossing his track, finally ljing down, as we after- 

 ward discovered. The runouts near where he was sup- 

 posed to be secreted were manned and two of the party 

 took up the trail. It was tedious work and required the 

 patience of a Job, but the buck was considered worth the 

 labor, aud we determined to have him if possible. Finally 

 he was routed from his bed, and at once begun his zigzag- 

 course in order to elude pursuit, so that it was not only 

 difficult to follow him but our plans for getting a shot 

 were completely battled. It was then proposed to follow 

 the trail abreast as the buck traveled slowly and bled 

 freely, drinking wherever opportunity afforded. Here 

 and there clots of blood and pieces of flesh were found 

 on the bushes; the snow had almost entirely disappeared 

 but the blood betrayed his pathway and enabled us to 

 keep bis trail. The course taken by the deer was princi- 

 pally through thickets of barren brush which afforded 

 excellent cover. Toward evening his route described 

 circle after circle, and night came down again without 

 our catching a glimpse of him. Feeling that persever- 

 ance would reward our toil, it was agreed that the trace 

 should be continued next day. Strange to say the buck 

 did not seem disposed to leave the brush, although the 

 second day he headed toward the laurel and creeks of 

 lower ground. In all probability this was because he had 

 not been pursued by dogs. An old mountaineer, living 

 about two miles from our camp and whom we employed 

 to transport our traps from the railway, owned a valu- 

 able dog, which we secured for the final effort. 



Morning again favored us with clear weather, but it 

 was late before the fresh trail was taken. Fearing the 

 dog might start the buck aud run him off without giving 

 us a chance to kill him, he was tied to one of the party 

 and started on, while we kept a sharp lookout in all direc- 

 tions. For several hours the winding course was pursued 

 until the dog by his eagerness showed that the buck was 

 not far off. Stationing ourselves in and on either side of 

 the ravine, the dog was loosed. In a few minutes the 

 deer bounded from the hillside with the dog close at his 

 heels, and was brought to bay. Turning quickly with 

 flashing eyes and hair pointing toward his head, the buck 

 assumed a defensive attitude, when a rifle ball crashed 

 through his brain, and the lifeless form lay stretched 

 upon the ground. Examination showed a wound in the 

 stomach, a portion of which protruded several inches 

 through the opening made by the bullet. Nothing had 

 entered the stomach after the wound was produced ex- 

 cept water, which ran off, mingled with blood, and this 

 alone made it possible to keep the trail. We had followed 

 this deer from Monday noon until Wednesday afternoon, 

 and although nearly half the week was already spent, 

 we felt fully repaid for our pains and were 1601bs. of 

 venison the gainers thereby. F. G. 



Tyrone, Pa. 



