The Red Flannel Rag

was too close to shoot, he just grabbed the turkey by the legs. The turkey flew and

carri ed Uncle Jim with him. After holding on to the turkey’s legs for some time and

distance, Uncle Jim’s hands became tired, so he let loose of the turkey, spit in each

hand, rubbed them together, grabbed the turkey’s legs again and continued his ride to

the next ridge.

Many of the men in Hopkins Gap loved to hunt for raccoon because the skins

brought a good price from fur buyers. Occasionally, if the coon was young, the family

ate the meat. Mom fixed it once or twice, but I think I was away from home when they

ate it. My sister-in-law, Hilda, baked raccoon many times. She skinned it, cut off its

head, packed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and celery around it, and baked it. It

smelled delicious while it baked but I didn’t eat any of her raccoon either .

Probably the most important reason for coon hunting was the battle of wits

between man, dog, and the raccoon. It was a lot of fun to hear the dogs bark as they

followed the coon’s tracks. After days of being educated about coon hunting, I went with

Uncle Shirley and my brothers. By the time I got into the mountains, I knew a lot about

raccoon, dogs, and the hunting process. Uncle Shirley, who to this day is considered the

authority on coon hunting in Hopkins Gap, told me, “You have to know three thin gs to

hunt coons. You have to know the coon’s habits, you have to know the kind of weather

that he likes for wanderin’, and you have to know the areas he runs in. It’s no point in

huntin’ coons in an area that has a lot of underground dens and den trees, because the

dogs can’t get him out of a den.”

A coon will use another animal’s den under a pile of rocks or go into a den tree.

Uncle Shirley bragged, “In my younger days, I would cut the tree down or set fire to it to

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