The Turnbo Manuscripts
by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925
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STRANGE INDEED
By S. C. Turnbo
An account of a peculiar incident of hunting was furnished me by Mr. W. A. (Bill) Adams of Protem, Mo. Mr. Adams was born in Hickman County, Kentucky, in 1838. His parents, Benoni and Elizabeth (Nunlee) Adams, come to Howell County, Mo., in 1853. This was a new country then and the wild scenery was beautiful and delightful to the eye. He said that he remembers seeing the land surveyed and laid off into lots where the city of West Plains now is. The town lots were laid off in 1857. A few years after the close of the Civil War Bill Adams went to Carroll County, Ark., and in the early 70’s he moved to Taney County, Mo. Refering to the incident mentioned Mr. Adams said that one day while he was hunting on the divide between the waters of Fine Creek and Osage Creeks in Carroll County he saw and shot a fine buck deer. At the report of the gun the deer hoisted Its tail and ran out of sight. The deer acted as though my bullet had not touched it but more from curiosity than otherwise I went to the spot where the deer was standing when I shot at it and saw a large bunch of fresh deer hair lying on the ground, which I picked up and found the bullet that I had shot out of my rifle enclosed in the middle of the bunch of hair as perfectly intact as when I had taken it from my shot pouch to push it down my rifle gun. I now followed on in the direction the buck had run and discovered it dead in 80 yards of where I had shot it. A close investigation showed that the rifle ball had passed through both kidneys but the wound had not bled one drop as far as I knew and there was no bloodstains on the bullet nor hair. This was a puzzle to me and to this day I have never reached an explanation of the incident I have described to you," said the old time citizen and hunter.
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