Haitian Archer 1943
Mai. 15
$0. 1
Moccasins for the Still Hunter By Cassius H. Styles
Any man that stands over a buck that he has cleanly brought down with his hunting arrow, knows a satisfaction that is beyond descrip tion. With his primitive weapon he has heavily handicapped himself, and yet he has beaten one of the cleverest strategists at that strate gist’s own game, Woodcraft. Yes, it is mainly by Woodcraft that an archer succeeds. Of course you should be a good shot, but that is secondary, for how much good is the hunting arrow when a deer is crashing away, full gallop, through
“I pulled Forrest Nagler’s leg until it was out of joint, and then even it was a full two years before I put the soft yellow velvet shoes on.”
brush a hundred and fifty yards off? Or, as is really more often the case, if that deer is cooly sneaking out of your bailiwick without even letting you see or hear him? With the advent of the present day long range military rifle the art of hunting went out of existence, and as quickly as did the horse and buggy before the automobile. Up to 1910 few rifles were found in the woods with which deer could be pro perly, cleanly killed at over a hundred yards. So the deer stalkers up to that date were good woodsmen. They had to be. Three of the best hunters of that period were Theodore Roosevelt. Hoarce Kephart, and Stewart Ed ward White. It should be noted that all three of these wore moccasins in deer stalking, as a matter of course. Here I would like to digress for a moment to mention that much whole dome, beneficial “fireside hunting” may be had evenings between open seasons, by the hunter who owns “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman,” by Roosevelt, and “Camp and Trail” by Mr. White, as well as Kephart’s “Camping and Woodcraft.” He will re-read these many times. Hunting with the bow to be suc cessful must be followed as an art. No one has ever been consistently lucky with our weapon who did not have the shrewd acute sensibilities of an artist. How many, for instance, realize that Arthur Young was a concert violinist? Unless you hunt in the rain, you will not do your best except in moccasins. Then why is it that so few ever do wear these “smoke tanned shoes of silence,” to quote Mr. White’s musical phrase? For one thing, they are today al-