Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-04

uiner, IN winch L found group of gun
ners waiting for supper.
When I was youngster this body of
water, known as Chebacco lake, was often
the scene of my hunting trips, but rarely
rewarded me with anything larger than q
duck or a coot, and my establishment was
unbounded to find 1t now considered a
veritable happy hunting ground The club
tnat owned the shanty had expended hum
dreds of dollars, first for the land on which
1t stood and several acres adjacent, then
for the building and its fittings. Nor was
this ALL for, after we had supped and slept
and were cut at dawn next morning, L
was shown several hundred dollars worth
of live stock, in the shape of geese and
goslings, wild and tame.
Although 1t Is not perhaps generally
known Massachusetts has always been a
natural feeding ground, or rather stopping
place, for wild geese and ducks on their
migrations. 1t is known, of course, that
they go far north. even to the arctics, every
spring, returning in the autumn. and that
except for rare instances of cripples or
weaklings hating occasionally to breed
only to be got during their protracted
flights. In eastern Massachusetts and par
ticuarly al, along that crooked peninsula,
Cape Cod. there are many ponds and lakes
of clear water amid oak and pine woods,
where the geese, after they have fed at
sea when they are tired with travel,
halt to refresh themselves. Lake Chebacco,
of a small chain hidden in the woods
between Essex and Beverly, was discovered
to be a favorite halfway place with the
wary "ansers.' and hence the shanty and
decoyS.
At the shanty.
The house itself. made of logs with the
bark and rooted with branches, looked
as much like huge pile of brush as art
could make 1t, while the shore for a long
distance was screened by brush fence,
behind which were pens containing focks
Of geese. The windows of the shanty have
shutters which are closed at night and keep
all light from escaping, while the lamps in
side have screens to prevent the glare from
getting outside. AS may be presumed,
strict silence is kept, and the man who fills
the position of Waterman or keeper is
constantly on the lookout for focks and
stray geese.
geese are in flight, which usually lasts from
the first Of October till early in December
mere mas not been a year, l believe, since
the club took possession of it's quarters that
every member has not had fine, fat goose
Tor his Thanksgiving dinner and another
bird or two to present to friend. As the
real sportsman and his friends can tell YOU
mere mere Is greater joy in shooting the game
me victim be an old gander, tough as a
cape Ann tar and salt as shark.
The Decoys in Use.
But now it Is sunrise; ever since the
gray of dawn the Waterman has had sew
eral focks Of decoys, animate and mani
mate, hoating out on the lake AWAY off
IN the distance rides flock of huge wooden
monsters twice as large as life, intended
70 attract the attention of the geese even
When they are far up in the sky They
perchance spy these limitations of their
species and the V-shaped flight descends to
inspect them; discovering the decention
the old gander in lead honks his susncions
ard turns about for the upper atmosphere
But at this moment the ever-watchful
keeper sets open the "iypen" and a dozen
or more goSlingS or yearlings fy with 1oud
clamor out into the lake. where thew ioin
some older geese and begin feeding and
preening their feathers. At the same time
the old captive birds send out welcome
to the strangers which 1t Is mighty hard
for them to resist. The leader is wary.
however and honks cautiously like a
steamer in the fog, but draws little closer
Ihen the formation becomes broken and
the members of the flight speed around in
great concentric circles. gradually contract
ing UNTIL with an upward thrust of their
wings and a swish and sp!ashing of the
water, they are down.
Imagine yourselves with me- reader, be-
mind that screen Of brush. gun in hand
ana hnger on the trigger watching in
tently through a narrow opening Per-
maps your heart does not beat with appre-
hension and your eyes sparkle with an
uclpaton, as right in front of you sails
goose almost as big as a COW,
But you must not fire until the word is
gwen by the manager, for besides bagging
as many of the flock as possible 1t is also
necessary to avoid shooting the tame geese
which perhaps are mingled with the others
There Is period of tense suspense about
this time, as the skilled keeper draws the
I'VE decoyS from out among the wilder
birds, for 1t is pretty safe to wager that
the chances are even for that wary old
gander to perceive the game and honk
his party off out of sight in second
Letting Them Have It,
If he doesn't, however, the signal is
given to 'let 'em have it, first in the
water, then in the air; at which the guns
belch forth, then the gunners rise and give
1t to them on the wing. The water is
strewn with dead and dying birds, the air
Is alive with escaping geese, which are
shot so long they are within range, and
along the shore, among the sedges and
grasses sneak the "cripples."
NO, that was not the way we did 'em
up the morning l was at the shanty. for
somehow 1t was not a good day for geese.
But that my friends had had similar ex-
periences their game book testified, for
there were all their captures set down in
black and white.
They certainly deserved all thew got
however, for If some grim utilitarian should
sarcastcally inquire what they paid for
their sport, they could not conscientiously
own up to less than $50 per goose! That
Is what the captive birds cost anyway,
and the goslings s. apiece Altogether the
sport is rather expensive but that does not
serve to deter those who indulge in 1t:
h.,