March, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
147 
other insect food and such seeds as they 
can then glean. For the most part such 
sections as they then frequent—the open 
piney woods—are well covered with grasses 
sufficiently grown to give the birds good 
cover in which to skulk at the approach of 
real or fancied danger, of which the ever- 
watchful hen gives warning with emphatic 
calls. It is almost impossible for a pedes¬ 
trian to come up with a bunch at this time 
after they are a few days old, unless with 
the aid of a dog; but on horseback it is 
frequently done as the birds are accus¬ 
tomed to stock traveling our open range 
country and are then not so likely to take 
alarm. The birds are extremely fond of 
blackberries and as the fruit ripens in late 
June and early July, will frequent old, 
uncultivated fields where the fruit abounds. 
Later in the summer seeds of many of our 
trees and shrubs add to their menu. “Gray- 
beard” or fringetree, ash, gallberry, bay, 
and palmetto all contribute their'stores and 
the abundant small black grapes are 
much sought after. When cool weather 
arrives the usually abundant crop of 
acorns becomes their dependence and is 
the mast on which they grow fat. By 
this time they are back in the timbered 
river swamps and the thicker wooded 
high “hammocks,” and the legitimate 
hunting season has opened. 
Now their sign is to be discovered in 
the numerous scratchings for acorns, 
palmetto berries, and other mast, some¬ 
times many such marks in close prox¬ 
imity if a goodly bunch of birds are in 
company, or perhaps there may be a 
single spot scraped clear of leaves down 
to the ground and the toe marks per¬ 
haps showing as if a rake had scattered 
the coverings. Now is the appointed 
time for a good dog to get in his spe¬ 
cial work and even a second-rate cur 
can be handled to put up the birds, 
after which the hunter must depend on 
his own skill to secure the prize. With 
us there are two methods to choose 
from after the birds have been flushed 
and presumably treed. Of course oc¬ 
casionally if the hunter has been able 
to follow closely on the heels of the 
dog he may get a shot when the birds 
first fly up, as in scattering one or more 
may come his way. Not unusually the 
dog in his excitement rushes in with 
rapid circling, and of course barking, 
and may overrun one or more of the 
flock, and then the sportsman may get 
his chance, but we do not expect or often 
experience such good fortune. 
Usually we follow up the birds if their 
line of flight has been observed, and this 
is by no means always possible where the 
undergrowth is thick. In such event a 
quartering course must be followed, and 
in either event within two hundred or 
three hundred yards the hunter must begin 
to use the utmost caution and watch the 
tall pines and thick magnolias for the scat¬ 
tered birds which will rarely be found but 
one in a tree. By this method of hunting 
the chances are more than even for a safe 
getaway for the birds. They may have 
had former experience of a similar nature 
and gone far off—perhaps across an inter¬ 
vening stream not fordable to the hunter, 
perhaps the birds are overlooked and fly 
off on the back track, for they are close sit¬ 
ters and it is surprising how insignificant 
such a large body may become—but per¬ 
haps one is sighted and a successful stalk 
serves to reward the skillful hunter and he 
may proudly shoulder his well earned 
trophy and return home with the justifiable 
elation of a work well done. 
F AILING ill his efforts tq get a bird 
from the trees there remains one more 
chance for him to get a bird from the 
scattered bunch; by returning to the vicin¬ 
ity from which the birds were alarmed 
he may expect their return thither unless 
nightfall intervenes or they have become 
so alarmed as to betake themselves entire¬ 
ly out of the neighborhood. The judicious 
use of the famous bone call may now be 
employed to advantage and a blind of some 
description is important. This latter ad¬ 
junct should be as unpretentious as pos¬ 
sible ; a growing cedar bush supplemented 
with one or two palmetto fans or a broken 
limb with a few strands of gray moss, or 
a few fans of the palmetto alone, their 
A lucky turn has brought the chance 
stems thrust into the ground, are sufficient, 
absolute silence and immobility being the 
prerequisites at this time. I have sat 
against the base of a high pine tree and 
made a successful shot, but cannot recom¬ 
mend such a “blind” as the chances of de¬ 
tection by the bird are too great. 
The birds will probably not return direct¬ 
ly over their route of departure so that an 
extensive arc of observation is necessary. 
If the bunch have been previously shot up 
and no other alarm occurs some of the 
young birds may be expected to return in 
the course of an hour or so. Much sooner 
is rather unusual and the “calling” should 
not be hurried. It must be remembered 
the birds were alarmed and while they will 
seek to reassemble, that must be in their 
own good time. 
The most common device in use here 
for calling is the smaller one of the 
two from the second wing joint of an 
adult turkey hen. The same bone from 
an old gobbler is too large and coarse 
while the bone from an immature bird is 
too small, the tone produced being unnat¬ 
urally fine and wiry. In preparing the 
bone both tips are cut off smoothly to open 
up the central cavity and all the marrow 
is removed; when thoroughly dry the bone 
is in proper order. The modus operandi 
is to place the extreme tip of one end of 
the bone just within the lips and clasp both 
hands about the other end, lapping the 
thumbs around the central portion, the 
lower end being enclosed within the palms 
of the hands, which should be held in a 
rounded or somewhat spherical form, two 
or three fingers of one hand being in po¬ 
sition to open and close below as desired 
while the call is being made, thus varying 
the tone. 
By sucking in the breath through the 
bone, the lips being closed rather loosely 
but completely about the bone so that all 
the inhaled air comes through the bone, 
the imitation of the hen turkey is pro¬ 
duced. The air is not inhaled by deep, 
steady draughts but by quick pulls of 
short or longer duration to vary the 
note. An effort to enunciate the sound 
“turk-turk-turk” or “purk-purk-purk” 
with the first effort prolonged to 
“pu-u-u-urk” might in a crude way rep¬ 
resent the manner of making the call. 
I well recall seeing a “turkey bone” 
in my younger days and the total failure 
I made to master its use without any 
instructions, but as I was not in a tur¬ 
key country the only result was a shock 
to my pride in not being able to con¬ 
quer such an innocent looking imple¬ 
ment. A hollow reed can be made to 
answer the purpose of a bone and Is 
used in the same manner as I have at¬ 
tempted to describe; the tip of a Japan¬ 
ese fishing cane is an excellent substi¬ 
tute also, but in either case due regard 
to the capacity of the central cavity 
must be observed and a reed or cane 
with a thin casing or wall should be 
selected. Sometimes two or three 
lengths of cane or reed are slip-jointed 
together, the outer end being larger. 
While I have never used this form of 
call, it is said to be a good one. 
A device consisting of a piece of slate, 
say three or four inches long and half 
as wide, on which a pointed hardwood 
stick five or six inches long is drawn 
is in use in some localities and is quite 
effective when the correct mode has been 
attained. A small piece of corncob or other 
arrangement for holding is slipped about 
midway on the stick. The stick should be 
held rather loosely in one hand and nearly 
perpendicular to the surface of the slate, 
which is held in the other hand. A good 
many screeching, blood-curdling sounds 
may be expected before the correct tone is 
achieved, but like the bone, when once 
learned, it becomes easy to maintain. 
Still another form for a calling device 
for the turkey is made of one piece of 
rather soft wood, poplar or maple being 
recommended. The piece should be about 
four to five inches long, an inch and a half 
deep and about one inch wide. This small 
block is hollowed out into an open box¬ 
like appearance, the ends and bottom being 
comparatively thick to give strength; one 
of the sides to be quite thin, the other 
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