. Feathered game of the Northeast . the barbs letting go theirhold, when he is away like a bullet, his wings amere haze as they roar through the branches. Occasionally the farmers cur is trainedfor a ^patridge dawg; that is to say, his nat-ural propensities to bark and yap are turnedto some account He runs in upon the youngflocks, which instantly take to the trees; thedog then makes such a noise with his continua^yelping and running about that the birds seeand hear nothing but this miserable intruder,and so allow the mighty hunter to creep unob-served within easy distance, maybe to take aresti
. Feathered game of the Northeast . the barbs letting go theirhold, when he is away like a bullet, his wings amere haze as they roar through the branches. Occasionally the farmers cur is trainedfor a ^patridge dawg; that is to say, his nat-ural propensities to bark and yap are turnedto some account He runs in upon the youngflocks, which instantly take to the trees; thedog then makes such a noise with his continua^yelping and running about that the birds seeand hear nothing but this miserable intruder,and so allow the mighty hunter to creep unob-served within easy distance, maybe to take aresting shot at their motionless bodies. Oftenhonest cocker spaniels are degraded by thislow practice. In the mind of the sportsman thisstands almost as high as driving a doe to waterand paddling a canoe alongside to blow herbrains out with a charge of buckshot. There is a widespread notion that when aflock is thus treed a pot-shooter may secureseveral birds before they will take alarm andfly if he will take care to shoot the lowest one. ii tj) THE RUFFED GROUSE 35 first and thus avoid alarming the flock by thedead birds tumbling down among them. I donot say this cannot be done; I only say that Ihave never seen it done—hope I never shall—and while this may take place in the northernwilderness, the shooter who counts on gettingmore than one chance at a roosting flock in thecovers near civilization is laying up materialfor his own disappointment. The RuffedGrouse in my locality, at least, have passed thisstage in their intellectual development thesemany years, and in the east generally, thesportsman fairly earns all of these birds whichhis skill and good fortune combine to bring intohis hands. Though any lawful season is a good time tohunt this game, most sportsmen prefer thesport when Octobers frosts and winds haveswept some of the brown leaves from thebranches in the covers, when with the gloriousautumn weather, the brilliant colors of the flam-ing maples, the softer tones of oa
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgameandgamebirds
