Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1890 — A GREAT DAY FOR GAME. [ARTICLE]

A GREAT DAY FOR GAME.

The Bemarkabls Bag of a True Savannah Sportsman. — . lkl '; All in the Fog, Reside Wild Beasts, Fowl and Creeping Things in Plenty Enough t> • Ary ■ ■T“Quick business ?” “You bet” The hunter rested a little, and throwing himself down in one of the market stalls, he began the story o> ins last day’s hunt on the river. “It was a very heavy fog and when the boys and I got out two hours before day we had a durn site of trouble to see our way along through the swamps. We were on our way to the bo.it at the river for ducks, it was a -Splendid morning and we wanted to get there about the time the ducks were getting out. We. blundered through the bushes, slipping in the mud till we got nearly U> the river bank. W hat did we see ? A big wildcat running on a log not twentyfive yards away* witn a squirrel in bis mouth. We stopped. The wildcat kept coming. When he got a littie closer he threw his heal up and began to scent" He stueLed us. and when he saw us he squatted on his haunches as a cat does when it is charming a bird. “I walked up slowly with my gun, sighted, and when i pulled the trigger •the 'eritber’ st rted to t*tm. It was a minute before the smoke cleared away. We went up to the place where the animal had been, but we couldn’t find anything. Missed -him? Must have; dnd we started on, the boys in front, and I stopped to reload my gun. Before I got loaded I heard a whoop, and the boys came running back. They said that a big bear had possession of the bout I had killed more bears than you can shake a stick at, and it was fun for me. We crept ~aloflg cautiously

back to the boat. 1 had my gun cocked, ready to blow a hole in bruin. The boat was swinging about in the water and the chain was ruttling. It sent cold chills coursing through the boys, but it only served to excite interest in me. W.e got down to the boat and what did we lind but the wild cat lying dead in the bottom with the squirrel in his mouth. In was fun for the boys, but it was a great disappointment to me. We threw the cat on the bank and washing the blood out of the boat started for the duck ground.” ' “How about the ducks?"

“It was the biggest day for ducks I ever knew. The flopping of the ducks’ wings made the boys fairly dance. The first flock we drove up made a terrible noise. We rowed along, and ducks kept flying up all around us. Finally we rowed by a small flock and they would not fly. That did mg good. That was the result of not firing into them. Around a swamp head I heard the quack of an English drake. It was thegame I was after. We rowed cautiously around the head, stopping behind a eiump of bushes in the water. The stream was full of ducks, and I thought the boys would have a Muck fit’ We paddled along up toward them, keeping the clump of trees between us until we got in good distance, and then we opened on thorn.”

“How many?” “Nineteen big English ducks. Killed them at one shot. If I could have seen to put in another shot I believe I could have killed half as many more with the second barrel. Never heard such a noise in my life as they got up out of the water and shook themselves and left for Florida. The flapping of their wings the qu icking and splashing of water made a loud row. We started buck, and as we were rounding the head, J saw a rippling in it w s a drove of summer ducks, but when it got nearer I saw it was three Otters. I stopped TEe boat, but the animal saw us and turned around the clump of trees.

••Whirling the boat around, we turned too. and all .that I could see in the bushes a black spot. I cut lose at it When the smoke cleared up we found all three otters dead. We lugged them in the boat and rowed back. Just as we got in sigh! of the bank we encountered a deer which the dogs had just run into the river. He came swimwith the tip end of his nose out gjj the water, i turned the boat and paddled Swiftly untH we got alongside of the »nirn 1, when we made a lasso of the boat chain and threw it over the horns of the buck. One of the boya held the chain to up the side of the boat and I reached down and cut the buck’s throat We carried him into camp. • It was the biggest haul I have ever known. Our camp was a very poorly built shanty, with boards stretched across pine poles for beds. We were provided with blankets which served as a mattress. Our coats served as pillows. The game was stowed away in the shanty, and toward midnight I was aroused by something under the blanket It was breathing, and at each breath it ra'sed mo up. That is. *t raised my hair up, for it was under my head. I confess that for the first time in my Vamp experience I was scared. I lay still without turning over or moving a muscle until day. I counted every breath thatthe thing drew. When the boys woke up and began to tumble and roll about I told them very easily to get up .ind open the door and pull the cover ofT of me and clear the way, that there was something the matter. I was mighty pale, they s od, and they suspected that I had a nightmare. They did s F directed and I made a triumphant leap, shouting to the boys to run for life, and we piled out of the ahaaty together. ’ r V_ . 1 _ _ “What was it under your head?" ••Wnat do you think? A monster a’tlesnake. We killed it and it had Ik-ee of the ducks and the Squirrel in ’« stomach.”—Savanna (Ga.) Mews.