persons to proceed cautiously through the woods 
till they came upon a flock, then suddenly fire 
at random amongst them, the object being to 
scatter them in all directions. 'When thus scat¬ 
tered they will invariably return to the same 
spot to get together again, the old ones coming 
first to call their young together. The hunters, 
hid in some secluded place with their turkey 
calls’ ready for use, would wait patiently for 
the return of the old birds. These turkey-calls 
consist of the hollow bone of the turkeys wing, 
and, in the mouth of an experienced hunter 
can be made to exactly imitate the piping sound 
of the mother bird when calling her brood to¬ 
gether. Soon the maternal notes of the old 
birds are heard, and the hunters respond with 
their ‘calls,’ luring them on to certain destruc¬ 
tion. After the old birds are killed, the young 
ones fall an easy prey to the unerring aim of 
the skilful marksman. The flesh of the turkey 
is esteemed a great luxury, and one of the most 
delicious meals I think I ever ate was made 
from steak cut from the breast of a young tur¬ 
key, fried in butter, and partaken after a hard 
day’s hunt, in which a companion and myself 
killed seven large fine birds-” 
In 1777 near Pamlico Sound, Elkanah Watson 
gives “chase to a wild turkey, that maintained 
his equal right to the road, like a true North 
Carolina Republican; and, in spite of our efforts, 
he stretched away upon his long legs, far beyond 
our reach.” The Hon. C. A, Murray holds to 
a somewhat different opinion- In the neighbor¬ 
hood of Kansas River, when he is “crossing a 
wooded ravine a flock of turkeys, containing I 
think fifty or sixty, rose, and flew to a neighbor¬ 
ing thicket; as they were on the wing I fired 
a ball at random among them; it broke two 
or three feathers, but killed none. When my 
companions arrived, I halted them for half an 
hour, and went with the young American lad 
in pursuit of them; but they had beat us com¬ 
pletely in the thicket, and we saw nothing more 
of them. Had we got them out on the open 
prairie we should have had excellent sport. A 
wild turkey runs with exceeding swiftness, but 
he cannot keep it up long, and his wings are 
not proportioned to the great weight of his 
body, so as to enable him to fly far. I have 
been told, that on a fair plain without trees, an 
active Indian or white man, could run one down 
In little more than an hour.” The same gentle¬ 
man recounts a hand-to-hand encounter he has 
with a wild turkey at Leesburgh, Va. “I was 
crossing a wooded ravine, when a large gobbler 
(so is the fulDgrown wild turkey-cock called 
here) started from the brushwood; my gun 
was only loaded with very small partridge-shot, 
but I discharged both barrels after the flying 
enemy, accidentally broke his wing; he came to 
the ground, and began to run like an ostrich. 
The little spaniel pursued in gallant style; but 
when he came up, was too small to hurt or hold 
his antagonist. I threw down my rifle and joined 
in the pursuit; at length I got hold of the tur¬ 
key’s leg; the grass was slippery with ice, and 
in his desperate struggle to escape he pulled me 
over on the ground, then he scratched my hands 
with his claws, and nearly blinded me by flap¬ 
ping his great wings over my face and eyes; 
at last I contrived to seize his neck, and soon 
put an end to the contest. As he was too heavy 
a burthen for my little companion,' I strung 
FOREST AND STREAM 
him across my back, and shouldering my rifle, 
returned in triumph to Leesburgh. During my 
walk homeward I felt no disposition to com¬ 
plain of the cold; for independent of my ac¬ 
coutrements, the turkey’s weight proved, on my 
arrival, to be twenty-eight pounds.” 
Flint suggests another method for Kentucky 
in Boone’s day. He holds that “A man sta¬ 
tioned near one of these paths (buffalo or bear 
paths) could kill game enough, with turkeys— 
in an hour, to supply the wants of a month. In 
Virginia Bruce suggests a method somewhat 
akin to that of Tibbits. He writes “Of the 
two varieties of game (partridge and turkey), 
it is probable that the pursuit of the wild tur¬ 
key afforded the Virginians much exertion as 
well as wariness to come up with it and kill it. 
Blinds of pine or oak boughs were erected at 
different eligible spots in the woods, and here, 
after scattering the flocks with trained dogs, 
the hunters would hide themselves, and by skil¬ 
ful use of the yelp, soon call up the confused 
and unsuspecting birds within range of the guns.” 
In the country of the Chickasaws (1724), ac¬ 
cording to Du Pratz, a dog is necessary to 
hunt them. “The second day I had a turkey- 
hen brought to regale me. The discoverer who 
killed it, told me, there are a great many in the 
same place, but that he could do nothing without 
a dog. I have often heard of a turkey-chace, 
but never had an opportunity of being at one. 
On coming to the spot, we soon discovered the 
hens, which ran off with such speed, that the 
swiftest Indian would lose his labour in attempt¬ 
ing to outrun them. My dog soon came up 
with them, which made them take to their wings, 
and perch on the next trees; as long as they 
are not pursued in this manner, they only run, 
and are soon out of sight. I came near the 
place of retreat, killed the largest, a second and 
my discoverer a third. We might have killed 
the whole flock; for while they see any men, 
they never quit the tree they have once perched 
on. Shooting scares them not, as they only look 
at the bird that drops, and set up a timorous 
cry, as he falls.” In Canada (1844) Godley 
reports that “Wild turkeys are tracked in the 
snow, and stalked like deer with rifles; they 
show excellent sport, but are very scarce in 
our provinces.” When along the Alleghany 
River, Pa. (1807), Christian Schultz relies on 
an air gun. “It frequently happens that after 
shooting one from a tree, you find it busted 
by falling on the ground; they are remarkably 
tame, and if alarmed, generally take to a tree, 
especially if disturbed by a dog. I found my 
air gun of great use in shooting this game, for 
if there were five or six of them in one tree, 
I was always sure of bringing them all down,” 
and at Cedar Bluffs on the Mississippi, he praises 
this weapon as follows: “my air gun which had 
been charged a few hours before for the pur¬ 
pose of shooting at a flock of wild turkeys, was 
worth a dozen common guns at a moderate dis¬ 
tance.” 
Quite frequently we find the wild turkey is 
hunted on horseback. Anburey, on a journey 
to Richmond, Va., overtakes “a flock of wild 
turkeys; a couple of spaniels we had with us 
pursued them, and it is incredible how swift they 
run, as neither of us, though we galloped our 
horses, could overtake them, although they run 
near two hundred yards before they took flight; 
581 
christmas^dThners 
Will You Help 
THE 
SALVATION 
ARMY 
LASSIES 
Throughout the 
United States to 
supply 
300,000 
Poor People 
with 
CHRISTMAS 
DINNERS. 
Send Donations to 
COMMANDER 
MISS BOOTH 
118 W. 14th Street, New York City 
Western Dept., Commissioner Estill, 108 N.Dearborn St., Chicago 
Motor Boat For Sale 
Length, 26 ft.; beam, 6 ft. 6 ins.; draft. 2 
ft. 9 ins. Open launch passenger cockpit and 
engine cockpit. Hull mahogany throughout, 
copper fastened, new last spring. All fittings, 
wheel and shaft bronze. Engine—Loew Victor, 
2 cylinder, 4 cycle, 12-15 H.P., Atwater-Kent 
ignition, Schebler carbureter. All equipment on 
board—lights, life preservers, etc., as. required by 
inspectors. May be seen by appointment with 
Geo. Colley 
Tel. Yonkers 3782 Price $600.00 
NAVAL ARCHITECT 
Designer of 
All Classes of Sailing Yachts and Motor Boats 
V Bottoms, swift, handsome, able, a specialty 
J. L. FOSTER, 
Orcas, Washington 
HUNTSMKgEED DIXON’S GRAPHITE 
KeepJbagCT^^dlock mechanism in perfect 
conditi<4r Booklet 
52-Pmjw^fflple sehtTfeCj— 
JOSEFM DtXON/CI^UCfBLELeeCi JERSEY CITY, N. J. 
ARTHUR BINNEY 
(Formerly STEWART & BINNEY) 
Naval Architect and Yacht Broker 
MASON BLDG., KILBY STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 
Cable Address: “Designer,” Boston 
JOHN MURGATROYD 
ESTABLISHED 1882 
TAXIDERMIST 
High Grade Work in All Branches of Taxidermy 
57 West 24th Street, NEW YORK CITY 
Christmas Number 
December 5th 
LOOK FOR IT! 
