University of Virginia Library

HUNTING.

"This constituted one of the greatest amusements, and, in many
instances, one of the chief employments of the early settlers. The
various intrigues of a skillful hunter, such as mimicking a turkey,

owl, wolf, deer, etc., were soon learned, and the eye was taught
to catch, at a glance, the faintest impressions left upon the earth
by any animal. Marks which would be by any but a hunter
overlooked were easily detected. The times and grounds on
which elk, deer, etc., fed were soon learned, and then the important
lesson of preventing spells or enchantments by enemies was
studied, for it is a singular fact that all hunters are more or less
superstitious. Frequently, on leaving home, the wife would throw
the axe at her husband to give him good luck. If he chanced to
fail to kill game, his gun was enchanted or spelled, and some old
woman was shot in effigy, then a silver bullet would be run with a
needle through it and shot at her picture. To remove these spells,
they would sometimes unbreech their rifles, and lay them in a
clear running stream for a certain number of days. If this failed,
they would borrow patching from some other hunter, which
transferred all the bad luck to the lender, etc.

"Game was plenty at the time this country was first settled by
the whites, and, acordingly, the woods furnished most of the
meat. The elks and buffaloes were generally killed at the licks
whither they repaired to salt themselves. Animals were hunted
there not merely for their meat, but for their skins and furs.
These served to pay for powder, lead, or anything else, being nominally
the currency of the country.

"Neither was hunting a mere pastime, devoid of skill, as it now
is. The hunter might be considered somewhat of a meteorologist;
he paid particular attention to the winds, rains, snows, and frosts,
for almost every change altered the location of the game. He
knew the cardinal points of the compass by the thick bark and
moss on the north side of a tree, so that during the darkest and
most gloomy night he knew which was the north, and so the
direction of his home or camp.

"The natural habits of the deer were well studied; and hence he
knew at what times they fed, etc. If, in hunting, he found a deer
at feed, he stopped, and though he might be open to it, did not seek
to obscure himself, but waited till it raised its head and looked
at him. He remained motionless till the deer, satisfied that
nothing was in sight, again commenced feeding. He then began
to advance, if he had the wind of it, and if not, he retreated and

came up another way, so as to place the deer between himself and
the wind. As long as the deer's head was down, he continued to
advance till he saw it shake the tail. In a moment he was the same
motionless object, till again it put down its head. In this way he
would soon approach to within sixty yards, when his unerring rifle
did the work of death. It is a curious fact that deer never put
their heads to the ground, or raise it, without shaking the tail before
doing so."[8]