Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1880 — Turkey Hunting in Virginia. [ARTICLE]

Turkey Hunting in Virginia.

I have just finished my fifth day of tnrkey hunting in the Virginia woods—glorious days, all of them; in the saddle from eight in the morning until after nightfall, taking out, of course, the blissful hours spent in “tnrkey blind,” listening to the call of the human “yelper,” and the musical retort of the real game bird of America —for. say whi.t you will, and cite ail the authorities from Nimrod to Bogardus to the contrary, the fact will yet remain, taat for genuine health-giving, blood-quickening sport there is nothing known to men or books to be compared with the coy and fitful “yelp” of a wild turkey that is incautiously marching into the very muzzle of your gun I But don't make a mistake here. They don't all march into the muzzle, nor has a hunter been discovered who was sore of his bird at a distance of twenty paces, though standing still and erect, with cleat, unmistakable broadside presented to the hunter’s gaze. There

is many a slip twixt cup and lip, and the difference between a live and dead turkey is not always the pulling of a trigger. But the charm of wild turkey hunting does not- lie wholly in the palling of a trigger.' Mr. Glass' famous recipe for cooking rabbits has a peculiar application to this kind of sport; for the turkeys must be found before they can he shot, and to me the chief Bport lies in the finding. I will not attempt to describe the indescribable charm of hunting the game. To understand it at all one must know the suitcrandings and be in fall harmony therewith —must have some aptitude in the art of “roughing it,” and have sufficient practioe in horseback riding to render a jaout of fifteen or twentymiles a day, over mountains, through valleys, across streams, with fences to pull down, and thickets to penetrate, a pastime instead of a labor. He must be willing if needs be, to ride for hours and days with no more success than an occasional “sign” of the migratory flock, a few tracks in the roadways, scratching* in the fallen leaves, with an occasional scenting of the trail by the keen-nosed dog, ror you mnst know that the ordinary bird dog is of no service in this work. A good turkey dog is a rare article; and indispensable in the finding process. Not only must he have a nose for turkeys, but he must know how to flash a flock when he finds it, giving prompt notioe of the fact.—Chr. Forest and Stream.