In the Tallahatchie Swamps. 
That there exists such a thing as luck will 
probably never be granted by many city dwellers 
and those “learned in the law.” To us of Forest 
and Stream the proofs have been many and 
convincing. Two successive seasons had I jour¬ 
neyed into the land of venison and antlers. 
Morning and evening, for fifteen expectant days, 
did I keep patient vigil beside well used trails, 
but never a shot, while from .time to time one 
that the rifle had a sight. He aimed and killed 
the deer, which had stood pensively through the 
first two shots and the aiming of the third. 
Much feasting in the tribe did not lift the 
weight. One there was who was heavy-hearted, 
for he had been wont to bring in good provision 
of meat. 
So stood the score when, on a snappy morn¬ 
ing in December, Washburn and I left marks for 
a tramp into the wilderness which borders Little 
Tallahatchie River. The pack containing tent, 
in this locality within two years past before the 
mill was built, and as the manager of the mill 
told us that turkeys had been seen recently in 
the vicinity, we decided to camp on a bayou 
about a mile further east. It was about 2:30 
o’clock when we began building the shanty tent 
on a slightly rounded knoll, with a large log 
conveniently located in front for a back log, 
with good bayou water forty feet away and 
plenty of dry wood handy. 
Our tent is the Nessmuk shanty tent described 
OSBORN CARIBOU ON TELERGAPH CREEK, CASSIAR, B. C. 
Courtesy of the British Columbia Bureau of Provincial Information. 
more fortunate would come to camp for men 
and ropes, and there would follow much feast¬ 
ing and rejoicing in the tribe, yet withal my 
heart was sad. 
Again the next year, after fifty weeks of 
patient waiting, our white dwellings were again 
pitched in great cheerfulness and hope on al¬ 
most the same spot, and there were other fifteen 
—yes, twenty days of emptiness. Deer were 
plenty, as tracks, scrapes, horned bushes spoke 
proof. Others saw the bucks. First one and 
then another came in for the men and ropes. 
Even the tenderfoot killed a little deer that 
came near and considerately did target duty. 
At the third shot the tenderfoot bethought him 
blankets and extra clothing weighed thirty-five 
pounds, while the knapsack, with four days’ 
rations, weighed about twenty-five pounds. Be¬ 
fore proceeding more than half a mile we were 
overtaken by two wagons going to a sawmill 
which was on our route and were glad to trans¬ 
fer the packs to one of the wagons. We were 
then more free to explore, and, leaving the road, 
made a detour first east, then south, looking for 
turkey and deer sign. Very little deer and no 
turkey sign was found during the morning, and 
at noon we reached the mill and were invited 
to dine in answer to our fond hopes and empty 
vests. 
Washburn knew that there had been turkeys 
in .“Woodcraft.” It is five feet wide, eight feet 
long, and the height is five and a half feet at 
front and two feet at back. It is made of 
bleached domestic sheeting and was dipped in 
Nessmuk’s waterproofing solution. This how¬ 
ever, like Br’er Johnsing’s baptizin’ “didn’t tuk 
de fus’ time,” and the tent leaked on the first 
test. We had then provided a 7 j 4 by 9, eight- 
ounce army duck fly, mildew proofed, and with 
this over the tent, we kept dry during a hard 
all night rain. 
In the shanty tent with open front and a good 
fire against a big Quitman county backlog, two 
hunters found themselves very comfortable. 
When camp was finished there remained an 
