enables them to outstrip any other animal. I have often, when on a
good horse, been obliged to abandon the attempt to put them up, after
following them for several hours. This habit of continued running, in
rainy or very damp weather of any kind, is not peculiar to the Wild
Turkey, but is common to all gallinaceous birds. In America, the different
species of Grouse exhibit the same tendency.
In spring, when the males are much emaciated, in consequence of their
attentions to the females, it sometimes happens that, on plain and open
ground, they may be overtaken by a swift dog, in which case they squat,
and allow themselves to be seized, either by the dog, or the hunter who
has followed on a good horse. I have heard of such occurrences, but
never had the pleasure of seeing an instance of them.
Good dogs scent the Turkeys, when in large flocks, at extraordinary
distances,—I think I may venture to say half a mile. Should the dog
be well trained to this sport, he sets off* at full speed, and in silence, until
he sees the birds, when he instantly barks, and pushing as much as
possible into the centre of the flock, forces the whole to take wing in different
directions. This is of great advantage to the hunter, for should
the Turkeys all go one way, they would soon leave their perches and
run again. But when they separate in this manner, and the weather happens
to be calm and lowering, a person accustomed to this kind of sport
finds the birds with ease, and shoots them at pleasure.
When Turkeys alight on a tree, it is sometimes very difficult to see
them, which is owing to their standing perfectly motionless. Should you
discover one, when it is down on its legs upon the branch, you may approach
it with less care. But if it is standing erect, the greatest precaution
is necessary, for should it discover you, it instantly flies off, frequently
to such a distance that it would be vain to follow.
When a Turkey is merely winged by a shot, it falls quickly to the
ground in a slanting direction. Then, instead of losing time by tumbling
and rolling over, as other birds often do when wounded, it runs
off at such a rate, that unless the hunter be provided with a swift
dog, he may bid farewell to it. I recollect coming on one shot in this
manner, more than a mile from the tree where it had been perched, my
dog having traced it to this distance, through one of those thick canebrakes
that cover many portions of our rich alluvial lands near the banks
of our western rivers. Turkeys are easily killed if shot in the head, the
neck, or the upper part of the breast; but if hit in the hind parts only,
they often fly so far as to be lost to the hunter. During winter many of
our real hunters shoot them by moonlight, on the roosts, where these birds
will frequently stand a repetition of the reports of a rifle, although they
would fly from the attack of an owl, or even perhaps from his presence.
Thus-sometimes nearly a whole flock is secured by men capable of using
these guns in such circumstances. They are often destroyed in great
numbers when most worthless, that is, early in the fall or autumn, when
many are killed in their attempt to cross the rivers, or immediately after
they reach the shore.
Whilst speaking of the shooting of Turkeys, I feel no hesitation in relating
the following occurrence, which happened to myself. While in
search of game, one afternoon late in autumn, when the males go together,
and the females are by themselves also, I heard the clucking of one
of the latter, and immediately finding her perched on a fence, made towards
her. Advancing slowly and cautiously, I heard the yelping notes
of some gobblers, when I stopped and listened in order to ascertain the
direction in which they came. I then ran to meet the birds, hid myself
by the side of a large fallen tree, cocked my gun, and waited with impatience
for a good opportunity. The gobblers continued yelping in
answer to the female, which all this while remained on the fence. I
looked over the log and saw about thirty fine cocks advancing rather
cautiously towards the very spot where I lay concealed. They came so
near that the light in their eyes could easily be perceived, when I fired one
barrel, and killed three. The rest, instead of flying off, fell a strutting
around their dead companions, and had I not looked on shooting again
as murder without necessity, I might have secured at least another. So
I shewed myself, and marching to the place where the dead birds were,
drove away the survivors. I may also mention, that a friend of mine
-shot a fine hen, from his horse, with a pistol, as the poor thing was
probably returning to her nest to lay.
Should you, good-natured reader, be a sportsman, and now and then
have been fortunate in the exercise of your craft, the following incident,
which I shall relate to you as I had it from the mouth of an honest
farmer, may prove interesting. Turkeys were very abundant in his
neighbourhood, and, resorting to his corn fields, at the period when the
maize had just shot up from the ground, destroyed great quantities of it.
This induced him to swear vengeance against the species. He cut a long
trench in a favourable situation, put a great quantity of corn in it, and