Sept. 2, ipos.j 
forest and stream. 
191 
Gatnping in Louisiana. 
When the “Cannon Ball” stopped at Eldorado that 
Saturday morning the small group of negroes gathered 
:3fl the Store platforiHj watehed w;th interest to see 
yhat Important personage would alight ftoni the trttittj 
IS feidOi-ado was only a small station and the iast ex- 
iress Was sekloffl khOWn to stoPi atid then only for some 
mg Who had a “puil.^’ kortuttately. we were in this 
'itegdry, SO thh bgfore-tiientiqhgd dusky ai|gre|atiqtl 
leheld quite a jahtty disfefflb&rkfed, tO-Wlt, Mr. Austin 
and his young son, Howard, Mr. Laiieasteh Ihipodj 
kharlib aitd toiri, the nggrO coOk and cllambernlaid, 
FeSpeetiveiy, and. thg writer, The eattipmgsdu,tnt, pro- 
visions, a skiff and a duck boat had been shipped thrge 
days before by freight, and Mr. Lancaster had been as- 
sured by the railroad people that they would be waiting 
for us when we arrived, the distance from Vicksburg 
being only 25 miles; What, then, was our surprise and 
disappointntent to ,find that nothing had been seen nor 
heard -of bur traps. . We imrHediately resorted to that 
itiost halidy ihstruffiefit, the lonf-distailce ■ pllonq> alld 
after about an bourns wait, ascertained that the 
articles had never gotten away from the river bank op- 
posite Vicksburg and could not reach us earlier than 
about 10 o’clock at night. We had expected to be_ in 
eai-np that afternoon and to put in Sunday m locating 
thg beat ratiggS; Our .intention had. been to launch our 
boats in the river, winch rhii Within 306 yards of thq 
station, and row down about fifteen miles to old 
camping site of Mr, Lancaster’s, where he had found 
a good many turkeys a year before, but Hter inter- 
viewing an old trapper who was familiar with the sur: 
rounding woods for miles, we decided to load our traps 
on two Of ' the plantation wagons, and- haul them across 
a nfeck Of land about. two., miles in^widtji that; would , put 
li.^ sdtiie eighf Bt h|hh tiillfes up the riverj which made a 
big bend at this point. 
After dinner Tripod and I set out to explore the pro- 
posed camping site. We declined the proffered horses, 
as we are, both good, walkers, and at the end of half an 
hour were standing on the river bank two miles away. 
A small bateau was found and^ Wg , paddled ^ across. 
Tripod scrambled up the bank and disappeared into the 
WOodo, while t kept to the boat, paddling cldS0 tO tliG 
left bank of the stream, under the heavy overhanging 
timber. Pretty soon I saw a black squirrel high up on 
a cypress tree just at the water’s edge. With as little 
commotion as possible I brought the boat nearly under 
the tree and waited,.. S,ooii hi§ head appeared and the 
ntixt mommit he was flOunderiri:g .in the water and the 
hext was iyihg in the bottom of the bdfe 9 .u. I paddlea 
about half a mile up stream and then turned back, but 
saw only squirrels, bagging four. It was beginning to 
grow dark and I was afraid Tripod had missed his way. 
hut soon beard him halloo not 100 yards away, and in 
a few- moment? we - wetCj oit the either _side trudging 
back by the light df d yOulig, fflo^on. Tripod said that 
he had hushed font furkeyte riOt h duarlgr Ot,Et mile from 
where he left the boat, and marked them ill a eVprefe? 
h’-'ake^ and proposed that we get out early the next 
morning and"” try to get some meat. SO' 4 A, M, fopna 
u§ retracing otir steps over the frozen ground, and at 
tii6 first gfay §tfeak hf ddw.ii, had tdkfefi hfi dht' 
tloiiB, .f just ili. ffoht bi ah .old eyfifesi Snd 
ich varus to the rear. .Tr^*^'"'" chHrf fine .careers 
Tiitc I jj!jUiiihel:j ol' wriry _ ^ 
lirst to kill, so lie generously pit 
favorable position. He had his call along, and as 
soon as we were properly stationed, gave a few yelps. 
No resnonee. Another trial. Same result. By this 
time. I was nearly fi-e^eii. liavlhf hien fflotioiiles^i fot 
away 6tf m tfom. Ihen tne music He«?m jp 
Tripod, “yelp! yelp! yelp!” Turkey, “yelp! yelp! yeip ; 
and SO' on, the answering game sounding closer eacn 
time until he was within 150 or 200 yards,- and I coula 
not tell which yelp, came. ^kam THpod; and which from 
ifip Inrkeh, s6. perfect .thfe,- Tdlk;,- ^8ll| 
1, Vi , ; ii ;.. ...,l i.-, til.ikeh »8-ne, 1 .1 
#erd fMrIy alive with squirrels, scampering _ about, 
dihsihg each Other frofii treC ,to_ tree, some sitting not 
thirty feet away alld cHatteting vociferously. The 
turkeys must not be frightened however, sp ^e 
unmolested. Soon an owl s hoot sounded^from the 
onoosite side of the brake, and was answered by another 
S in the woods. Thooght I, “Tr.pod, you cau 
fool" me on the turkey call, but I xnow you from an 
owl ” and moved up a. little to put more distance be- 
tween us and get. a better positron . then was 
heard about a mile .away, . apparently,- b.atlg.' bang, 
bang!*’ the report.s being only a few seconds apart. It 
gOullded from the wrong place to he one of our partjn 
it was growing so dark, and I had seen no tuikeys 
1 abandoned my stand and made toward camp. 
y the fiver, bank, I hailed Charley, who brought the 
skiff and ferfied ihC over. . . • x ^ 
I found Tripod in camp, he', having just come in from 
the opposite direction. “Didn’t yO'il hoot over by the 
brake a little while ago? I said. arnnh trv 
“No, I got so far from the brake that I didnt try 
^°“So^it was^an owl that I heard, and not you. Fooled 
quick motion, as throwing up the hand, or turning the 
head suddenly, is immediately detected by everything 
in the woods within eyeshot; but a very deliberate 
movement is apt to go unnoticed and ordinarily 
traets no more attention than a twig waving in the 
breezd. Never get behind a tree and look out, or you 
will he sure riot to get a shot. Stand in front of the 
"*^“Didn’t yoii hfe^f me shoot away down toward the 
^^“Was that you who shot three fifhfes just after sun- 
^°Tt was; and I got my meat. It was so dark in tfie 
wood.s that I could hardly see the sights when a spike 
buck walked ,ffotJi behind . a fallen tree about sev^^ty- 
five yards off. He bounded off at the first shot, but 
the second staggered ■ him, aiM the last brought him 
down Who’ll go and help bring hint iff? 
Volunteers were not lacking, and we w'ere .SOOtt at 
Tripod’s heels. How he did it was a marvel to fhfe 
rest of us, but in the dim light of a quarter moon he 
Walked a mile through the woods and as straight to the 
deer aS If he, h|d followed that path every day for a 
year, and he had nevM be.en in these woods before that 
day. With an ax and some ropC, a Sort of hand-barro-W 
gAMP VENISON. 
Or lirlef Was iHadC' iipoti which the buck was placed 
and tli8 h8fiiel!^arcl fiiatfch beptl. H was a pretty heavy 
lift, bul finally fpjfp'tinth eaplp.- ^ 
“When tile suii f(J?^ 
uo against a big tree, where I had beerl .m*;. 
lloul ,„ovine nothing but ,uy heapntl eyes, and neirtf 
«ll icicle than .'Uiytlmig else. I had “’S' V A ^ JV, 
before my si ooting haying been confined to quail 
Sk a J sq 1 els. Tripod was my instructor and I 
wTmal % , apt a pupil as 1 could, considering tha 
the theruoiiierfer .-waS abOut 2o degrees Fahr. Under 
his t nelaoe i 1 d donned- sevifal suits Of heavy Under- 
Sea^ p- “ovi these a pair of rusty ol6 tro\i§er,? amd a 
LOADED BUT SOBER. 
tree, and if properly dressed you will blend with it and 
not be seen unless you move. Never wear a coat m 
the woods, as it drags the bushes and interferes with 
Stiealdng. If you get too cold and want to move about 
a little Ot wish tO change your position, take a few 
deliberate steps,- then stop and look carefully about 
the woods,, take d f€w more, etc.” _ 
As day began to break, the squirrels came out and 
took the woods. One little fellow ran down a tree a 
few feet away, scampered through the leaves and up 
the other side of the tree that I was leaning against. 
He perched on a limb overhead, and began to^ drop 
bark on me. Several others came crawling head first 
down a pecan tree', fifteen feet in front, eyeing me 
closely and when a slight movement was made they 
all “vamoosed” in a great hurry But bigger game 
was iti mind, and the squirrels frolicked about with 
perfect impufiity,- and a seeming knowledge of their 
C Q "1 
When I was almost froife'fi stiff and had seen no deer,, 
a cautious move was made down a depression where 
the walking was comparatively deaf. After a httle, I 
stopped again, cocked rifle in hand, as I always 
it. A careful search of the bank oi the slough to the 
right revealed nothing of unusual interest, and i was- 
iust bringing ffly eyes around toward the ridge on my 
left when I was almosf> deetrified to see, not fifty yard® 
away, leisurely taking his Way along, a big buck with 
a splendid pair of antlers. He WSs crossing the ndge 
at a slight angle, his course lying diagonally across 
mine I he deer was in quite a thicket of saplings, and, 
1 Wa’S afraid that if I tried to shoot through them, the 
ball might flit a trCe and have its force spent or be 
deflected Abotlt Ihirtf feet in front of him there was a 
comparatively open Sp-i'cC, , arid I cautiously raised my 
gun toward this point, and about the time I got to 
my shoulder, the deer stepped out m'to the space. When 
I shot he fell, but was up again in an instant, pursuing 
his course at the same gait as jf nothing unusual had 
habpened. While he was falling and getting up i 
had tiit'hWn another cartridge into the rifle and now 
brought it Up a'gain, as deliberately as before. Just 
as I eot it in positio'11 the deer reached another com- 
paratively open space, and I let him hpe it again. 
He dropped in his tracks. I had imrnediatcly thrown 
in another cartridge, as before. Th'S buck fay on the 
SiiCk ague, it is not a circumstance to tinkeV affuff .. 
strained my eyes to get a glimpse of the turkey, but thar 
first glimpse was not had, for, either hearing the beating 
of my heart or detecting a false note in the call, the 
turkey did not come in sight, but turned back when 
nearly within range, and let us know, by a few desultory 
yelps, that he was getting further away. After an ex- 
amination of the surrounding woods, it developed that 
we had in the semi-darkness, gotten a little too far 
clown into the brake and out of the feeding range, and 
that this probably had excited his suspicions and made 
him afraid to come on. . . , /• 
After Waking a Wide detour ^of solUe forlr or nve 
miles for the purpose of exploring the woOds, we ti- 
crossed ihe river, and a.^ we l^jnded h^ard the ^negroes 
ShUutilil, to tlife iiint.fefe aiffi ifife ivag'oiH 
the halHi-bzeii h,dck.shbt. Piiingr time ibirl d life hi 
dnd pretty well fixed no. A lot of hay had been brought 
from the plahtatioii; and this ivas spread put if 
jfig tfeiits, betweth Wliieh A fly Wiis stretched fot the dm- 
in| room. When we thought that dlnhfef Was over and 
were about to leave the table for the canipfie, M- 
Austin said. “Hold on, boys, wait just a minute^ He then 
tlisiljapeared into the main tent and presuit y re^ 
peared. bearing two big mince pies It fas ust two 
days after Christmas, atid Mrs. Austin had filled uji a 
large basket with all sorts of good Aat 
we were never in a hurry to leave the table until Mr. 
aI't was''simii!^Ir^ said thftjie and How 
„s were less careful of our souls =''At'''Tr;“A?reh 
if we could bring some meat into camp, it was agreea 
tlrt the three Sf us should converge, just after sun- 
doh, aboirthe brake where the turkeys had been 
keen ' and try to locate their roosting place^ I was to 
-S'a staul at the east -'■’■ T'Xk^c'aslefT he 
'.ide about half way ,„j4rtirth lank, 
THE TRAPPER AT HOME. 
dead-grass flannel top-slnrt. a pan oHong 
I°ha'(l worn in spile of protest and pronounced disgust. 
“I'le dole ?many a time when ht"«.'"8 yj 
if nothing else stands hetweeri me and killing a dee , 
wouldn’t like to be m ® m %nnt of a tree with 
My ”y;;''f,'°';,"j”ot'mT?any mote than was abso- 
!mel> Necessary; to turn my head f »}’ '/“S' 
ctifle and search the woods for game. Let all ofy 
nrovements be deliberate,” went the directions. Ariy 
SllSslftTlithrk^%|qA. and put a. 
re«i'nT?P muUf J.h= 
take mty *a^es on this, |p ,,53 i,,,,,. and 
’drteT -fullIl'SS’him. And and not tdl 
them did I begin to. get excited. 
sation that I up my voice and re- 
Sed Two hours before I had heard a single 
probably. Tripod; hut now he must have gone to camp, 
