The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-07-26
HUNTING WILD GEESE.
Decoy Fowl That Are Glad to Entrap
Their Own Kind.
From the Chicago 1ntcr-ocean.


In many parts Of the south wild geese
breeding is carried on for the benefit
of sportsmen, especially along the reed
bound shores of Hyde county, n. c.,
where years ago some one wounded a
goose, bred from II and spread its pro-
duct through the district. Here are
goose yards, and as soon as a hunter
enters the yard the inmates know like
dogs, that they are going hunting and
squawk, fight and struggle to be the
flrst to be taken out and placed in the
coop or bag in which they are carried
to the grounds. pieces of green, tough
rotted turf are cut and staked out in
four or five inches of water, and a
goose is tethered to each stake and al
lowed to stand on the sod. Thus placed,
the goose has the appearance of rest
ing. The hunter retires to his blind to
watch, not the skyline, but the tethered
geese Suddenly one stirS, another fol-
lows suit, a muffled sound is made by
one, and then away off Will be seen
streak of moving gray dots, which
quickly develop into q flock, gander and
goose in the lead, goslings to the rear.
The birds drop we'll out of shot, to see
II the quality of the geese on the sods
permits a visit without loss of caste.
The goslings, needless of social forms,
| gayly start forward to gossip with the
| decoys, but the parents head them off,
scolding, cackling with many modula-
tions and much emphasis of tone gab-
| bling wise saws and modern instances
innumerable, as wise parents have
| done to children since the world began,
ORC 1INy hn inns a1
! yields to the clamorous gable of the
decoy flock, which has kept up a flood
of praises of the choice feeding ground.
He slowly drifts down with much i'm
portance, his females behind the young
sters in their train. His eye is glued on
| that patch of reeds, and even a mans
| eye at the opening no bigger than a
| dollar, a bright coat button glinting in
the sun, the glearl of diamond or the
| lock of a gun, even the awkward flop
of tethered goose from off its sod, is
| sufficient to send them away bag and
| baggage, and good-day, good-day to
| them.
a curious feature of these live decoy
| geese is that they must not be shot
| over The hunter is warned that, no
| matter what happens, he must
wait until the strangers paddle to
one side or the other of the decoys
and failing, that, he must let his
chance go by, for if he once fires
| directly over the tethered birds they
get nervous. and at the approach Of
stranger flocks remember what hap
pened and, showing fear disturb and
| unsettle the strangers. Firing to the
side they do not appear to mind and
| the older birds who have been out one
or two seasons, when they see the gun
go up, down charge" like a veteran
setter or pointer, on their pieces oc
sod, Chatterng like parrots after the
wild birds are dropped Tanned geese
have been used on Long Island and
other places, but not so generally as
in Hyde county.
On the great South bay, Long ISL
and. the geese are shot from quaint
| boats, which are so designed that they
will float on water or may be pushed
along the ice by the occupant, having
steel runners underneath. When the
geese are around, the hunter, in a
white oversuit, pushes off from shore
and paddles over to the foe, his i'm
| petus carrying him on to it. Then
with iron-shod ore he pushes over
it, across the next open water and
the next foe, until he gets to the piece
of open water he aims at far enough
| removed from the shore. Then he
places his stakes, draws his white
apron over him, and, with his gun
across his chest, lies back in his boat
to freeze until the geese come. If they
are around some are generally bagged;
but it is cold, hard work. Neverthe-
less, the grounds could not be reached
by any other method, the ice being
too treacherous to bear an ordinary
blind. This the geese appear to know.