The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-15
GEESE HUNTING WITH OXEN.
Fortunes Made nt IL in EARLY Days
in California
From the New York Sun

From the New York Sun.
Il made a good deal of money in the
| early days of California, when we used 10
stalk wild geese with oxen" sald ex-Game
Commissioner James Wistar of Pasadena.
Stalking geese with oxen may sound a
little queer, but that's the way we. used TO
hunt 'em in the early days. A good stalk
ing OK, want to tell you, was a valuable
bit Of property forty years ago in Califor-
MA, and we used TO talk about him and
discuss his points just about the same as
sportsemen nowadays discuss the points of
their bird dogs A good stalking OK could
earn his owner anywhere from $50 to s1OO
day If the owner himself was any good.
and enjoyed the sport as much as the hun
ter did.
Il went to California in 1851. and prompt
~ dropped every cent had in gold mine
venture. In all the counties bordering on
the bay, and in fact all along the coast
wild geese occupied the wide and omen
plains by the hundreds of thousands /
have seen more than a thousand acres OF
these big fowl paSturng in a solid block
and that many cattle feeding couldn't have
cleared the grass away as completely as
those geese did. l heard that the killing
Of these geese for market had grown 10
be great Industry, and that some men
were getting rich at 1t. Ranchers were
also Offering bounty for the geese, as cat
tie raising was becoming an important
business, and the geese preempted so much
Of the pasture area that the loss was Sc
rious TO the cattle men. / scraped enough
money together to buy a gun, and aban-
doned gold mining for goose hunting.
when hunting for wild geese on those
plains first began the hunters were able
10 crawl up on them as they fed and get
within easy gunshot. But the geese soon
got on to the sportsmen, and by and by no
one could get within half mile of a
flock. Hiding in grass blinds was tried
and worked well for time, but the cum
ming geese sized the blinds up at last, and
wouldn't come anywhere near a bunch of
grass. So something had to be done
Some one had noticed that cattle feeding
on the plains could crop the grass almost
fowls took no notice OF them. He had an
OK that was even-tempered and accommo-
dating, and one day he turned It loose
and let 1t feed along toward where a
tremendous flock Of geese were pastur.ng
Now and then he'd hurry the OK up a little,
walking close to II on the side away from
the geese. BY and by the OK got close
enough to the geese to satisfy his owner,
who stood still until the OK had passed on
out of the way. Then he ompted one bar
rel of his gun into the flock on the ground
and gave II the other as the birds rose. He.
picked UP stXty-tWo geese. The OK was
somewhat surprised, but didn't object TO
repeating the operation next day, when 1t
was equally successful. Geese were worth
dollar a piece. That was the origin Of
stalking wild geese with oxen. In less
than a month there wasn't a goose hunter
stalking OK.
The oxen soon fell into the full spirit
Of the hunting. Some were better than
others. An OK that understood his bush
ness would feed along toward a. flock of
geese, or pretend to be feeding, not d.
rectly toward them, but carelessly and
by many turnings, because he had d.scov-
cred that the geese had grown suspicious
even OF cattle. and would invariably rise
before an OK that wasn't cute enough to
dlssemble in the course of his feeding
Another thing we soon discovered that
spoke volumes for the astuteness Of the
California wild goose. / made that discov-
cry myself. / mad been shooting for a
week over a big brindled OK that had de-
veioped especial aptitude for the work
and enjoyed IL hugely. My success had
been great when one day / was astOnish-
ed TO zee a big flock Of geese that my OK
and / were stalking get up and fly away
long before we had got within any kind
Of gunshot. The OK was just as much
surprised as / was, and gazed after the
departing flock Tor a moment, and then
turned and looked az me as II demanding
FOne explanation Of that fOcks singular
conduct II seemed 90 me as II he sus-
pecfed me Of having been indiscreet IN
some way and spelling the hunt. Old
Hrindle went back home. showing his dis
appointment plainly. and brOOded over u
90 the rest u the day. Next morning we
went out 10 try the flock again. for they
were sure % BE- On the feeding ground.