A Hunting Song
—by W. Tyler Olcott
The yachtsman sings of the bounding waves
And a life on the deep blue sea—
Of a bark that bows to the crested surge,
And the breath of the ocean free.
But give me a dog that is keen of scent,
And a gun that is tried and true,
An autumn day when the dawn wind stirs,
And the woods that are steeped in dew.
There is the sport that is best of all,
In the light of the forest gray;
For what can excel the keen delight
Of hunting at break of day.
Let others sing of the trout that leap
From the pools in the rippling brook,
And the thrill of joy as the click-reel hums
When the “good ones” rise to the hook.
But sing me the song of the sylvan glades,
And the echoing rifle call,
As it rings out clear on the frosty air,
From brush by the old stone wall.
Ah, that is the song that I love best,
And a song that is sweet alway—
The song that breathes of the autumn woods—
Of hunting at break of day.
This piece first appeared in Sporting Classics in our 2017 Jan./Feb. issue, and was originally published in the November 1899 issue of Outing magazine.
This book is a collection of outdoor stories wrapped in the human condition. They were written with an eye toward honesty and cynicism. They will make you laugh out loud, and you will want to carry them with you wherever you go. If this book goes missing, it’s a sure thing that, when you do find it, it will be in the possession of a member of your household, regardless of their interest in casting a fly. The stories cover the gamut from a fishing trip to northern Canada to a little stream that was actually better than remembered, to how the baby boomers almost trampled a sport to death, to a solitary trek along railroad tracks during a cold, dark, and dreary February and many more. Buy Now
