Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1885-02-03

NNN NI" AfHHAINHt NAN
SHOOTING WILD GEESE ~ PEN.
BROkE AND VICINITY.

.
BROkE AND VICINITY
Within radius Of four miles fom
| this little village. lie thirteen pond', vary
ing IN sire from the large and beautiful
silver Lake. % the wee gem u Little
sandy. p,tfcci circle IN form With
waters a. clear a. crystal. lieing only
eight o. ten mile. from the coast. u hap.
pens that thousand. q Wild geese and
ducks pass along Ia their spfins mig'A-
lions norih~afd. from the last q March
% the hfsi q May. and during their re-
turn. commencing on the hfsi kalf Of
september and on the margins q I've
Il the ponds stands have been erected
. from ~hich tie spoftsmen o. this vicinity
,hoo, those that can BE- decoyed within
range q their guns
4 tusf account Of The arrangements
made a. The sport. The methods q con.
dgciing .i snd the success ~ this season
may not BE- uninicrcsiing % some % the
readers u the DrvocEAr
Their stands ar simply small houses.
reaf.y tea by twelve feet in siEe. boarded
shinsled and furnished Ia the interior
Nth cooking range. beds, table,. and Ia
some belonging % wealthy pariie.. ate
plasisr,d walls. cArp,iei doors aud lux.
ur.oa. easy chairs. In IRON; ia board
fence four Zee, high With portfolios fioni-
ins The water. both holse All fence De-.
ins completed, covered ~.ih green branch
81 ~ iioc. Here che spofismen spend
iay, aal nishs fr weeks. guns loaded
ari al~ay. near a. hand.
May ariifciAl deooy. o. WOOL Afc an.
chorrd IN the pond and an Old male
goose .s fastened on che shore, While the
young ones. ~iih long cords tied % their
.ess % distinguish them from The wll
src.e When they Afc Ca The wing, ar Ia
The peas bear By. AsAh'ck dfa~s hear
tte.e young geese are thro-n into the
ar and circle around the pond, The oh
dccoy Constantly calling aud thus allaf-
ns The Wild geese near The stand.
Abog, thirty years ago. Ebin Drake,
a. Silver Lake. secured two Mid geese.
which be used "a decoys. ALL from which
BE- raised yoang ones 10 b. employed iof
the same purpose This year a. The I've
poai. TO hundred and thy live dccoys
wefc used beside. many wooden ones
Ihe fr,, decoy, we're I'D Coz twelve
dollars. nov pair j. valued from
twea,y 10 forty dollars. according 20 their
usefulness a. ieooys. iof aocAslonally q
bird retains Ia. Mid ins,inc, and gives
warning % the approaching dock instead
o.. en,icing them in BY an encouraging
call.
Dafing the sport.ng season this fall,
~ hundfed and scseniy.nine Mid geese
wefe Killed a, The twelve stands on the
mArgia Of the i've ponds A, silver
Lake. two hundred and twenty iwo geese
were killed hfty-seven deo0ys being
used. In addition 10 these about seven
hundred duck, were shot. This game
i forwarded 20 Boston BY express and
odd Ia the market The geese weigh
from eight 70 twelve pounds aud eel
from eighty cents 20 a dollar. and the
ducks eel for sevehiy.fve cents = pair.
Taking all things into consideration. the
Cos, o. preparation. Of buying and feed
ing deooys, and the time spent in the
sport. il will be seen. Is no, profitable
employment. estimating simply as mat.
ter q dollars and cents.
PerhAp. some Of the "besi shots made
by the gunner. in this place may be Of
in,eres, 10 those who engage in this sPof,
Ia old Oxford County.
Al Indian Head Pond. FIVE men ia one
stand killed nineteen geese out Of hock
Of tweniy-,hree. At the same stand,
which j. no, half mile from our house.
twelve gunners killed iweniy-iour geese
wi,hou, reloading their guns. According
TO the regulations Acknowledged by all
the spofi.men. twelve birds belonged 10
the owners Of the stand and decoys, and
the remaining twelve 10 those who shot.
Any person is allowed 70 take a chance.
subjeo, 10 this regulation and share the
game tha, may be killed. This Is per-
mii,ed TO keep those who DO no, own
stands in good humor and deter them
from frightening the Aoeks by random
shots in the woods.
Bat the premium sho, ever made
hereAbogis WAS made by an neighbor Of
ours, who told the story 10 Us, somewha,
after this manner;
zone cold afternoon We fellows were
At the stand by Big Sandy Pond, when
flock Of geese hove in sight. We ,ryed
three hours to deeoy them in, bat they
were too shy. and the boy. 10, tired and
wen, of, leaving me and Black Bill, a
negro who used to be about here. down
10 the stand. At last, seven separated
from the main flock and were jus, light
ing in the pond when Bill in bis excite
ment fired bis gun. OF course they al
once rose, when | caught one Of the two
barelled guns which stood right a, hand,
with the frs, sho, brOagh, down two,
and with the second one fell, | esugh,
another gun and killed two with the two
barrels. | seized the third gun and killed
two more. So with Elk shots killed
seven geese. the entire flock after they
commenced to rise from the water and
were on the wing.
The man who accomplished thi. Was
soldier in the civil var, and he and many
others from this vicinity were famous for
their rife shots Some were promoted TO
the shsrp-shootsrs and served through
the war. Betsy TKorwoop.