Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1895-11-22
WITH GUN AND ROD
Wld Geese Coming in and Shot
guns Are Banging.
TELLS A GOOD FISH STORY
on the American River the Angler Can
Quickly Catch More Trout Than
lie Can Carry.

/
ana 1t Is expected that the first real
stormy weather will bring them along
IN sufficient numbers to afford fine
sport A number have been killed al
reaoy' Out they are not yet plentiful
PROFESSOR w. A. Monroe killed O fine
one saturday afternoon in wheat field
on the prairie east of the city. There
was quite large flock, but it was hard
10 approach them without being seen
MI. Monroe managed to get within
| range by crawling several hundred
yards nat on the ground, and winged
one as they rose. Quite a number OF
geese are said to have been killed in
Inc Big Bend country lately, says the
| Spokesman-Review.
Goose-shooting affords fine snort
when the birds are plentiful, but they
are exceedingly wary and the hunter
usually has to employ strategy in order
| TO be able to get within range. Expert
enced hunters declare that nature has
| equipped the goose with a telescope
| eye, which enables it to see further
than any other kind of game. This
long-range vision, while enabling them
to detect the presence of an approach
ing hunter long distance off, also
lures them to destruction when decoys
are employed. 1t is estimated by old
goose-hunters that they can see a de-
coy distance of two miles.
The most successful way to hunt geese
when they are frequenting the grain
fields Is by means of a pit and decoys
Decoy geese, which may be procured at
the gun stores, are made Of a single
sheet of tin or sheet iron, cut in The
form of goose and painted on both
sides in the exact colors of a wild goose
Viewed from the side it is almost i'm
possible to distinguish them from the
genuine article, and hunters secreted
in pit waiting for geese to come over
are often annoyed by having other
hunters creep up and blaze away at
their decoys, which are often seriously
damaged by being perforated by large
shot or rifle balls. Some hunters make
their own decoys out of pasteboard
which answers the purpose very WELL
The decoys are provided with leg,
which is stuck into the ground.
The flying geese, being able to see the
decoys a long distance, and thinking
they are fellow-geese that have found
somthing good to eat, fly toward them
and begin to circle around them, flying
lower and lower, until they sometimes
fly within few feet of the hunter con-
cealed in the pit. They seldom light
with the decoys, but they fly down
within few feet of the ground, and
this is the hunters opportunity. He
rises up suddenly and pours the heavy
shot into the ranks of the unsuspecting
flock. He seldom gets in more than TWO
barrels, but if he is good shot and the
geese are in easy distance he is pretty
sure to get one and possibly three or
four. A goose will carry off lot of
heavy shot unless hit in vital spot.
If he gets a single shot under the wing,
however, or If even the tip of a wing is
broken, he is gone goose. He may fly
some distance, but the moment he
leaves the flock the hunter knows he is
hit, and that he will hit the ground
before going more than few hundred
yards at the most. The hunter con-
cealed in the pit, when he hears geese
approaching, must lie as still as the
earth around him, for the slightest
movement, even the raising of finger,
will be detected by the birds with the
telescope eyes.
ing, provided the wind is favorable and
the hunter does not allow them to get
sight of him at any time. 1t is said that
if they ever catch glimpse of him, no
matter how far he may be away or
what direction he may take after being
discovered, he can never get within
shooting distance. The geese do not
take any chances, and although they
may not take flight at once, their sus-
picions are aroused, and while the
hunter is approaching behind hill or
ditch, confident that they have forgot
ten having seen him, they raise a warn
ing cry and fly away.
Geese pay no attention to cattle or
horses, and are aften seen feeding near
them. 1t is, therefore, much easier to
approach them on horseback or in a
vehicle than on foot. A horseman, by
riding along at an even gait, may often
ride within a hundred yards of them
unless they have been shot at from
horseback before, and then, by turning
and riding straight at them at full
speed, may get within easy range for
shotgun before they can get off the
ground and under way.