Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-03-19
Old Times.

/ should pe 81 allowed with great npchs
/ of swaHs. sand-hiII cranes, and wild
/ geese. aud the creeks covered with It's
/ myrIads Of wild ducks. What great
f1ocks If swans and all the other kinds
| # waterfowl would come up from the
: nth in just such storms a. we have
been having $he last five days. You
could see thousa and thousands OF
waterfowl-fio flock after flock - with
/ hundreds Of swans AMI geese ID a flock
AID such a noise as they made as they
sailed over your head, with their
".onk,n "horkn How We used to
stand and watch them as they sailed
past way up in the heavens. There is
something grand in suc;4 u sight-a
feeling OF escs tacy, and you stand and
watch, and wonder what paIt of the
world will be their breeding ground
through the summer months. | have
always felt when watching them a
strong desire TO mount up Oh eagles
wings and soar away TO the regions of
the north, TO spend the easons in the
uubroken, uninhabited region Of the
north. What wild visions would come
trooping up in my mind; a country
peopled only with the wild beasts ard
wild fowl; & country which, | believe
to be the home of the mastadon. and
countless nu mbers of buffalo, elk &,
moose, deer, and thousands Of other
Il In L T h..
lieve there is country between the
Hudson Bay ard the Pacific Ocean-a
land of wide prairies, meadows,
streams and lakes-all filled with life;
a land where no man has been able TO
set foot or disturb the solitudes of na-
ture. How often [ have thought /
should like to spend the balance of my
life in exploring tha: vast region where
no human foot has strsyed.
we'll remember one year, way back
in the years Of long ago, about The
last days of February or the first days
of March. We bad a succession OF
storms, thunder and lightning, rain,
sIeet, hail, and high waters. One
morning, after fearful stormy night,
| there came up from the south such
swarms of wild-fowl, swans. cranes,
and geese. [ never saw such a sight
| before. a bout eigt or nine O'Clock the
| wind swept around into the north
| perfect hurricane, with snow, sieei,
and hail. The wind blew so hard as
TO beat those great f1ocks OF swans and
cranes and geese to the ground. One
grea. flock of swans was passing my
house: the wind and hail beat them
! down so they almost struck the build
ling. | was at tie bar IN at the time
| W hen I heard those swans trumpting
ran II the house TO get my gun. but
before I could it they had just passed
out Of reach. As | looked over the
fields and meadows | could see grea'
fiocks of geese on The ground-a bun
dred In some of the fiocks. l had Zig
shot gun I had just bought OF Tong &
Carson. I took that gun snd started
out for geese. Tie fields were so large
| could not get in reach OF them. AT
/ ter two or three trials. / saw large
flock in in the middle of the meadow
east OF fathers barr; there were lo'
of cattle on the side of the meadow next
the barn. I have always noticed that
wild geese are not afraid Of horses oil
cattle. and will let them approach very
near them. So / went way arouod
and got to the barn and got me 81
srmfull Of fodder. With one arm
around the fodder, which l held before
me, I "a kei slowly towards the flock
of geese. Taev did not appear 10 be
afraid of ne. They co lid not see what
was: as | walked towards them slow
ly, they would stand and gaze ST ME,
as much as 10 say, ''Whn are y0u?'
| When had gpt near enough 10 shoot,
let the fodder fall and threw NY gun
/ TO nv face and fired one barrel, aud,
as they raised to fly, fired the other
| barrel. | killed three great big black
| necks al the first shot, and two at the
9th, shot-five in all. Thought that
wa pretty aood, and they were great,
| ia, fellows, fatlened on the wild rice in
| the Southern swamps.
| l have often taken an uu brella, car
ried il open, held down b.fore ne, 81
as TO hide my head and body from the
geese; they think it some sort Of al
animal. | tell you, there were but fe"
things | couldn't get at, if I set myself
about it. | have walked up to a deer
in the open woods, by putting. if in
the winter months. dry leaves in the
| bdtton-holes OF my clothes, in my cap
around my face. so they would lie cut
tat. all over me. l would look like 6
ldrfed bush. If in the summer, treab
off buuches IF green leaves and cove!
mvself with Them. Every step, every
mo:i. u. Dlusl be slow aud with care
iItis the quick motions that frighteE
the game A hunter. to be successful
must use strategy. have often, where
Ideer. or turkey. or wild geese, came in
the fields, taken horse and driven II
before me, with one hand holding tht
horses tail, to guide it, the other hold
ling my gun. When near as l waDte<
10 be. would let the horse go, and a
the same TIME bring my guu 10 my
tace and shoot. And a hunter to b
isuceessful must not be in too much o
q hurry: take things easy.