April 10, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



229 



TURKEY HUNTING IN TEXAS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As a great many of your readers may be interested in 

 turkey hunting I send you a rough drawing of a caller 

 used by us. We got it from Col. Geo. W. Baylor, of El 

 Paso, Texas, who is one of the best hunters living, and 

 he got it from a Cherokee Indian, I believe. It is by far 

 the most perfect device made to hunt with, as you can 

 imitate a hen or gobbler and never make a mistake, 

 which one is very liable to do with a quill, and then it is 

 a perfect imitation and a quill is not. Now, as how to 

 make it. Get a piece of white pine, or poplar is better, 

 lin. thick and Sin. wide, and with a chisel and sharp 

 knife make a mortise, as per dotted lines. One side 

 should be left about ^in. wide and the other shaved down 

 till it sounds exactly like a turkey. A slit should be cut 

 in the middle of the thin side to give it a coarse kind of 

 Bound. A piece of slate 41n. wide and Sin. long is used 

 on the thin side in about the same way a bow is used on 

 a violin, and by scraping in the middlethe gobbler is im- 

 itated, and on or near each end a hen is imitated. Great 

 care should be taken to keep the slate scraped on the 

 guard of your gun, so that it will not be too smooth, so 

 as to squeak. In a little while one gets very expert in 

 the use of it, so by one scrape with the slate flat on the 

 edge of the caller, and two with the slate tilted on edge 

 and three flat again you have the perfect call of a turkey, 

 keow, kee, kee, keow, keow, keow. If my description has 

 not been clear I will say that the caller is simply a box 

 cut out of a board and held in the left hand and fiddled 

 on with a piece of slate. Any boy with a jack-knife can 

 make one, only go slow when it gets nearly right, as a 

 few cuts too many will spoil it. 



I would almost as soon be without my gun as my caller. 

 I do not enjoy much sneaking tip under a tree in the 

 dark and potting some luckless old gobbler. Of course, 

 when a fellow is hungry and there is not much meat in 

 camp, he will take any advantage of his adversary, but 

 as for the sport in it there is about as much as there is in 

 going to a hen roost. I have done a good deal of it, how- 

 ever. When" I was sixteen a friend of mine and I killed 



little of everything. I remember only a few: venison, 

 turkey, bacon, garlick, bologna sausage, hindleg of a 

 squirrel, onions, potatoes, some half -cooked beans, etc., 

 and then he fried the whole mees, and we at once pro- 

 nounced it the best dish we had ever eaten. Simpson 

 wanted to know what it should be called, and I suggested 

 pot-pourri. We told Shooke his fortune was secure, for 

 if he failed in the insurance business we would recom- 

 mend him to Jean LoUstaneau, of the Elite, for a cook. 



The day before we had been practicing with our rifles 

 near camp, and we found a dead cow in the creek soon 

 after. I saw the manager of the ranch next day, and 

 told him there was a dead cow near our camp. He said 

 he supposed it had died of blackleg, and would be down 

 to skin it. He came down with a cowboy about 12, and 

 Simpson went to show him where it was. A half hour 

 later he came back with a long face and said, "Boys, you 

 have played the devil; you shot that cow." "By ganny," 

 said I, "where did we hit her?" "In the neck," says Jim. 

 So we all went down to have a look, and there Bure 

 enough was old "Sookey" with a clotted bruised-looking 

 place in her neck and a small hole in her hide. Well, it 

 was fun to listen to the talk that followed. I felt parti- 

 cularly bad, as I had asked permission to hunt in the 

 pasture, and had been cautioned against shooting cattle. 

 We all had been shooting, and even poor Mills had been 

 firing at a tree with a small pistol. At last Simpson re- 

 marked that Shooke must have done it, whereupon there 

 was quite a scene. Shooke flew into a violent rage, and 

 said sarcastically, "Oh, of course, Shooke did it; Shooke 

 does everything." I cooled them off by remarking that 

 there was only one thing to do, and that was to pay for 

 her, and asked Mr. Russell what she was worth, and he 

 said $10. 



"Well, boys," said I with a rather mournful look, 

 "let's fork out. It's not the money that is hurting me, 

 but it is the looks of the thing. But," I added, "it's one 

 time since I been in the cow business that I am glad 

 prices are low." We started to hand Mr. Russell the 

 money, and then Simpson broke out in a roar, and wal- 

 lowed around on the ground saying, "It's all a joke." 





I \ 



SUT 



i I 

 1 1 



! ! 



• : 



t 1 1 

 | 1 1 





i i 

 i 



— ii 



TURKEY CALLER. 



21 one night, but it is not often you can get so many, as 

 they fly after the first few shots. I have known men to 

 kill a wagon load in one night. The way I like to hunt 

 turkeys is to start out about daylight, and if there are any 

 in the countrj they are calling and yelping. Then I get 

 up as close as possible and let drive at them, and if I have 

 killed any all right, but if not, what I want to do is to 

 scatter them right and left. I then move off a couple of 

 hundred yards and wait a few minutes and begin to call. 

 It will not be long before you get an answer, for there is 

 one thing I have always noticed, turkeys always come 

 back to where they were first scattered, unless they have 

 been hunted much. Now, if a man hides well he can call 

 them right up to him, but he should not call too much, 

 as it makes them suspicious. Neither should he make 

 too many notes at once on the caller. I generally make 

 three or four. By moving around and shooting first at 

 one and then another you can keep them from getting 

 together, and as long as they are separated you can make 

 them answer the caller. A good way is to let two fellows 

 hunt them, one in front waiting to shoot and the other 

 behind calling. The fellow behind can get in a couple of 

 good wing shots if he is quick enough. The best time to 

 use a caller is in the spring when the turkeys are mating. 

 An old gobbler then will come as hard as he can run, the 

 minute he hears it, and a regular foot race will ensue, 

 and if you are well hidden they will run right upon you. 



Last November four of us had a glorious hunt up in the 

 hills about 25 miles northwest of San Antonio. Three of 

 the fellows were San Antonio boys, and as jolly a set as 

 you ever saw. We went in an ambulance and took a 

 wagon along to carry provisions, tent. etc. They made 

 me chief commissary and I laid in f 15 worth of provi- 

 sions, and as we were only going to stay a week the 

 other fellows thought I was crazy. But I had been 

 camping once or twice before and had seen fellows eat. 



The first evening we got there we all struck out in dif- 

 ferent directions. I took the hired boy with me as I 

 wanted to give him a chance to kill a turkey. We had 

 not gone very far before I began to call and a flock 

 answered, then we hid and I called until they came up 

 within 20yds. and the boy let drive and knocked over a 

 fine gobbler. I took a shot at another with my .82 Win- 

 chester and missed. Then we went a couple of hundred 

 yards off and called again, a turkey came up and I fired 

 again and knocked a lot of feathers out of him. Well I 

 was so mad I went back to camp and found Shooke with 

 four. He said he had gotten in a flock and gotten a dozen 

 shots, knocking turkeys in all directions and run himself 

 down after the wounded ones, clubbing them with the 

 butt end of his gun. Shooke had never killed any before, 

 so he was very much worked up. He thought that to 

 kill turkeys, all a fellow had to do was to shoot them 

 down and club them to death, but as he did not kill any 

 more on the hunt he found that they were not as easy to 

 kill as he imagined. 



Mills and Simpson had found a lot but did not kill any. 

 Next day I loaned Simpson and Mills my caller, and they 

 called a "flock up to within 15ft., and fired and did not 

 kill anything. They showed me the place, and you could 

 have touched them with a fishing pole. The next morn- 

 ing I killed a fine fat buck, and we had venison from 

 then on. 'Twas here that Shooke made a name for him- 

 self as a cook. He argued that sooner or later it had to 

 be all mixed up anyhow, and he proposed to mix it up at 

 the "jump," So we went to the mess chest and got a 



Russell and the cowboy laughed too, but Shooke, Mills 

 and I did not crack a smile. Shooke only turned to the 

 jokers and said, "That's a horse on us, let's have a drink." 



Simpson told that joke all over town when we got 

 back, and Shooke, Mills and I have sworn to get even 

 with him if it takes ninety-nine years. 



Well, we knocked around this place and killed fifteen 

 turkeys and then went home. We could have killed 

 double, but they would only have spoiled. There is as 

 fine sport within forty to eighty miles of St. Antonio on 

 any of the three railroads as can be had in America. 

 The cattle men are a big-he axted set that will go to any 

 amount of trouble for their guests and will show you 

 where the best hunting is. As for quail, they are simply 

 here by thousands. It is nothing unusual for two hunt- 

 ers to bag seventy-five to one hundred birds in a day. 

 The largest bag I ever heard of was made last fall by 

 three hunters— 241 quail— and that was made about 

 twenty miles from the city. 



It seems strange to me why more sportsmen don't 

 come down this way. The climate is so mild you can 

 live in a tent all winter with perfect comfort. A. J.W. 



San Antonio, Texas. 



SPORT IN TEXAS. 



BEEVILLE, Texas, March 11.— I have just finished 

 the perusal of Forest and Stream, which does not 

 reach here until Mondays; would like much to have it 

 for Sunday evening reading. It is right amusing to a 

 Texas sportsman to read of passing laws for the protec- 

 tion of rabbits and some other game, when here these 

 pests are a nuisance. I was out a few evenings ago to 

 shoot quail, and I think I must have seen fifty in a space 

 of ten acres. We only kill them with the rifle for sport, 

 shooting their heads off. I verily believe that I have 

 seen a thousand in a two days' hunt, not good days for 

 rabbits either. And again the idea of only killing a dozen 

 or so of quail in half a day's hunt sounds almost unrea- 

 sonable to us. A party of Houston, Texas, sportsmen 

 were out a few days since and bagged nearly 400 in a 

 day's shoot not over four miles from Beeville. If persons 

 desiring a pleasant as well as successful hunt will com- 

 municate with me marked Box 20, Beeville, Texas, I will 

 give all information in my power. Sportsmen seem to 

 have overlooked this part of Uncle Sam's domain in their 

 search for pleasure and game. Ducks are still found on 

 lakes, marshes and creeks in vast numbers and not very 

 shy. Some geese and brant are yet here and seem re- 

 luctant to leave, as the winter has been unusually mild. 

 Robin redbreast has put in his appearance in larger num- 

 bers than heretofore known. The robin is not as common 

 here as in other Southern States. I heard a gentleman 

 say a short time ago that a crow or raven had never been 

 seen nearer than thirty miles to Beeville, and none west 

 of here to the Rio Grande River. T. J. S. 



Game in Town.— Albany, N. Y., April 1.— This morn- 

 ing a boy brought me a bird, which he said he had found 

 dead under a telephone wire. He did not know what 

 kind of a bird it was, but on seeing it I recognized one of 

 the finest woodcock I ever saw, in beautiful condition. 

 The bird must have flown against the wire the night be- 

 fore in the lumber district here, I trust I will not break 

 any of the game laws if I eat the unlucky woodcock.— 

 Woodcock. 



A VERDICT FOR THE PEOPLE. 



AN important case was decided last month in Frank- 

 lin county, New York, in the court before Judge 

 Tappan and a jury. We copy the report of the case from 

 the Malone Palladium of March 21: 



"One of the most interesting cases tried at this term of 

 court was an action brought by Game Protector Pond, in 

 the name of The People vs. Daniel I. McNeal, Jr., of 

 Waverly, N. Y., to recover $100 penalty for killing a deer 

 out of season, and having the meat in his possession. 

 This was the second trial. The case was tried in March, 

 1889, before Judge Putnam and a jury, and the jury ren- 

 dered a verdict in favor of defendant for no cause of 

 action, and Mr. Pond, by his counsel, W. J. Mears, ap- 

 pealed the case to the general term, where the judgment 

 was immediately reversed on the ground that the verdict 

 was wholly unsupported by the evidence. The presiding 

 judge, Learned, m writing the opinion of the court, ex- 

 pressed himself strongly in favor of the game laws. The 

 case came on again for trial last week before Judge Tap- 

 pan and a jury, and the trial occupied two days. The 

 plaintiff showed by one Gregory that defendant shot and 

 helped skin the deer at Cold Brook and that the deer was 

 packed in a basket and brought home by defendant. One 

 Pearl swore that he saw venison in the basket. Thos. 

 McNasser, Hutchins and Sherman testified to admissions 

 made by defendant showing that he had venison in the 

 basket. It appeared that after the offense was committed 

 the defendant, in order to get ahead of the game pro- 

 tector, got himself sued before a justice and a settlement 

 was had for ten dollars. The defendant relied on this as 

 a bar, but the court ruled it out. The defendant denied 

 that he killed any deer or had knowledge of any venison. 

 His story was that witness Gregory went hunting and 

 came back into camp saying that he had brought back a 

 nice rabbit in the basket, and that the basket was con- 

 veyed by Gregory and defendant's uncle to their home 

 and that he had no knowledge of what was in the basket, 

 although he was one of the party. It was proved that 

 the basket and contents weighed about 601bs. , which was 

 rather heavy for a rabbit, and the jury must have thought 

 so, for they rendered a verdict in favor of plaintiff. The 

 case was tried by J. W. Mears and W. P. Cantwell for 

 plaintiff, and W. J. Webb and J. P. Badger for defend- 

 ant. Game Protector Pond is entitled to great credit for 

 the diligence and perseverance with which he has prose- 

 cuted this and other violations of the game laws. He is 

 a terror to violators, and since he was appointed such vio- 

 lations have become less frequent. He is a faithful pub- 

 lic officer and should have the support of all good citizens. 

 The more plenty the game is the more tourists will visit 

 the south part of the county." 



An Object Lesson.— Editor Forest and Stream: The 

 enthusiasm of the hunters coming home with their game 

 and narrating the stirring incidents of the day, at length 

 communicated itself to the household, and our mother 

 was heard to express a wish that she might see a 

 ruffed grouse in his native haunts, and hear him as he 

 rose from the ground, the description of his awful roar 

 having been so fully described to her. The latter part of 

 this wish was at length gratified in a manner at once 

 singular and startling. One morning while seated at the 

 breakfast table, a tremendous noise was heard at the rear 

 of the house, which we supposed on the impulse of the 

 moment was occasioned by some part of the building 

 falling. Rushing to the door I beheld a large brown bird 

 within the partially inclosed stoop. He was up against 

 the roof and was attempting to keep himself there by the 

 rapid motion of his wings. Reaching up, I tried to seize 

 him, but he eluded me and finally fell to the floor and ran 

 down five steps to a piazza, and along it to the rear of the 

 building, and secreted himself under a chair in a corner. 

 I nicked the bird up and brought him into the house. It 

 proved to be a ruffed grouse, which had thus flown into 

 the building. He was, apparently, entirely uninjured, 

 but quite weary with his unusual exertion. He was an 

 object of great interest to us all. I resolved now to gratify 1 

 the desire of our mother to see and hear a grouse rise 

 from the ground. Accordingly I invited her and the 

 rest of the family into the yard, and placing the grouse 

 gently on the grass plat, I stepped back a few feet and 

 clapped my hands. At the sound the bird rose with a 

 most tremendous roar, being so near, and with the speed 

 of the winds directed his flight to the "flats" across the 

 Mohawk River. Mother, turning to us, said: "I now 

 cease to wonder that you like to go a hunting." — Dorp 

 (Schenectady, N. Y.). 



Three Turkeys.— Piedras Negras, Mexico, March 24. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Under the "Odd Shots" I 

 notice that "T. J. S." killed three sandhill cranes at one 

 shot, and another correspondent got three grouse at one 

 shot, using a Winchester rifle. I will say that last fall, 

 while hunting quail on the Rio Escondido, I ran across a 

 flock of wild turkeys, which, probably never having been 

 hunted, were quite tame. I followed them some distance, 

 it being too far to use No. 7 and 8 shot with which I 

 was provided. I finally recollected having a load of 

 No. 5 shot left over from a duck hunt, and slipping this 

 into the gun I headed the flock off as they crossed a 

 ravine, and getting within 40 or 45yds. of them shot at 

 them just as they were entering a thicket, and killed 

 three. ' The load used was 3£drs. Orange Lightning pow- 

 der behind l|oz. No. 5 chilled shot, out of a 12 -gauge 

 Greener ejector weighing 71bs. lOoz. — H. M. D. 



Spring Snipe. — Dayton, Ohio, April 8.— Snipe shooting 

 began here the last day of March. The birds are not fat, 

 but with these warm rains will be in numbers for fine 

 sport. Phil Wenz bagged seven snipe the first afternoon 

 and on April 1 Billy Kiefer brought in thirteen. Good 

 duck shooting on the big reservoirs but not much along 

 the rivers. Teal are fat. John Stoecklein and a friend 

 were out Friday and killed 27 snipe. — Buckeye. 



Impressive Testimonv.— If there be anything in the idea that 

 short speeches are the most impressive, the following direct testi- 

 mony respecting Humphreys' Veterinary Specifics are tothepoint 

 and convincing. Palmer Bros., city livery. La Crosse, Wis., write; 

 "We have used Humphreys' Veterinary Specifics for twelve years, 

 and find no cause for regret, and we cheerfully recommend them 

 to our friends." B. F. Howard, of Duluth, Minn., adds: "I had 

 a very sick horse and was recommended to use these Specifics. I 

 did so, and with the most satisfactory results, and since have 

 never been without a good supply. Being actuated by the princi- 

 ple if you know a good thing tell it, and let your friends have the 

 benefit. I never fail to advise their use to all having the care of 

 valuable stock."- Adv, 



