Roosting 
Turkeys 
By OSCEOLA 
OM and I had spent the after- 
al noon in tramping the river 
swamp hunting for a bunch of 
turkeys we knew frequented that sec- 
tion. 
We had started in below Boggy 
Branch and hunted Pine Island care- 
fully; had waded through mud knee 
deep to cross the Branch and then had 
beaten back and forth up along the 
river and well out into the heavy tim- 
ber toward the open, but not a feather 
had we seen. Signs there were aplenty. 
In the higher, drier woods, the birds 
had scratched for acorns and bay 
berries and their wide-spread toes had 
left deep impress in several places 
where they had crossed the border of 
a pool or a drying creek. It was late 
in the winter. The cypress 
trees were hanging well covered 
with their short, yellowish- 
brown festoon of bloom, urged: 
forward to an unusually early 
date by several rains within the 
preceding fortnight. These 
blooms are our first sign of an 
approaching spring. A_ red- 
shouldered hawk had been 
circling high overhead, fre- 
quently calling in long-drawn, 
high-keyed quavers as he gazed 
far down searching for a lunch; 
cardinals were in abundance all 
through the swamp, usually 
now in small flocks, the bright- 
coated males making brilliant 
contrast to the dull colors of 
leaves and grass, and when one 
flitted into the shining rich-green of 
the heavy foliage of a magnolia, the 
contrast was indeed intense. Many of 
the old live oaks, scattered throughout 
the swamp, were now showing the dull 
dun-color, preparatory to dropping 
their leaves, while the water oaks for 
the most part were bare. 
W* were having some warm sun- 
shiny days of spring-like cheer, 
but the early and late ends of day- 
light were still tempered as of winter. 
To make our hunt the more thorough 

birds. 
thick magnolia and cypress swamps. 
sportsman who aspires to success in the 
pursuit of this wary bird must match his 
craft against that of a creature whose elu- 
siveness is well nigh uncanny. 
big-game hunters say that it is an easier task 
to stalk a white-tailed deer than a turkey. 
REGAL PRIDE 

we separated frequently, and would 
try to get together again, perhaps a 
half-hour later, at some designated 
point. Finally, well along in the 
afternoon, Tom declared it was “no 
use, someone must have been ahead of 
us and run them across the river.” 
IISA AUTO 
Abiding only in America, the wild turkey 
is the largest and most magnificent of game 
In the Southland, turkeys frequent 
The 
AVCUTLUTUTULUVUT 
There seemed scarcely time, not hav- 
ing a boat at hand, to go up to the 
bridge and then two miles or more 
down on the other side of the river, so 
we hunted on up the swamp, crossed 
the bridge road, and in an hour before 
sunset had arrived above New Ground 
Branch and had settled ourselves as 
comfortably as possible at the foot of 
a huge old pine just back from the 
low, wet, river bottom, and were hop- 
ing to see or hear some turkeys before 
dark. We were now in one of our 
choice localities for the big birds. 
Seasoned 
Hunting America’s 
Largest Game Bird 
in the Swamps 
of the Southland 
Hereabouts we had killed numerous 
turkeys in the past few years. Up the 
Branch but two or three hundred 
yards, Frank had shot two by a skill- 
ful stalk; near the same place Tom and 
I had killed one from a blind, and 
earlier Tom had killed two single birds. 
j\ from where we sat, Fannie 
had flushed a big gobbler that I 
knocked down, and but a short way up 
the stream, the dog had pointed a 
young hen only last fall which, when 
she flushed, had so taken us all by sur- 
prise that the three of us missed her 
clean, and she went off, under fifty 
yards distance, and somebody sent twe 
loads after her! Farther up the creek, 
but still within less than a half-mile 
of where we sat, I had killed 
the prize bird, a grand old 
gobbler, one New Year’s after- 
noon, and across the creek close 
by that same place had tumbled 
two birds, within an_ hour’s 
time, as they flew out from the 
tops of tall pines. Well might 
we consider it a “Happy Hunt- 
ing Ground,” and these are but 
a part of the results of our 
hunting the wary birds in that 
district. 
Immense old cypress trees 
reared their wide - spreading 
branches over toward the river. 
The lower denser growth there 
was for the most part tupelo 
and ash, with a few cabbage 
palmettos, but over that way 
the mud caused by the higher tides 
came in but a few rods distant. With 
a sharply-defined line the higher, drier 
woods were characterized by pines, 
sweet gums, live and water oaks and 
magnolias, and occasionally there were 
some soft maples and catalpas, while 
in that part of the swamp were to be 
found in places considerable under- 
growth of holly, cedar and others of 
smaller size. 
We knew that the chances for our 
seeing any birds were quite remote; 
they would soon be through with their 
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