The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-23
FLIGHT OF THE WILD GEESE
GOOD SHOOTING At THEM ALONG
THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI

THE UPPER MISSLSS4PPI.
Sport Continues About Three Wcehs--
Began Early This Year-After the
Geese Come the Ducks, Woodcoch,
JacIksnipe and Along ia April iht
Small Heron.
Lynxville, Wis, April 6.-Bctwean
| Prairie du Chen and Lacrosse, on the
| Mississippi river, lie two hundred is
lands, varying in size from one acre to
fifty, and in the spring they furnish a
water-bound paradise for the fowler.
Ice is out of the stream each year by
April Is, and this season, because of an
open winter it is moving earlier than
usual. Owing to- the width and depth
of the river and the strength of the
massive weight Of water, thsre is never
a gorge to back 1t up. There is therefore
no widening Of the channel or flooding
of the surrounding lands.
| The birds which follow the Mississippi
| upward to their breeding grounds, far
above ST. Paul, are confined mostly to a
| pathway between banks a half mile
apart. They pass directly over the is
lands in their fights, often stopping for
| days since the food along the edges is
| plentiful. Cottonwoods grow on these
| bits of land, and near to the water are
! tall clumps Of weeds and bushes. Build
ing blinds is not necessary. The gun
ner gets all Of the sport he wants with
ont 6ocprtipp ho MT n Or
down stream which he occupies before
daylight and inhabits each morning I'M
| til 10 O'clock, at which hour the morn
ing flight ceases He goes back to it
when the sun is within half hour of
the western horizon, and shoots through
the long twilight. This river shooting
continues through the three weeks of
the annual migration, and thousands of
wild fowl are slain, markets for them
being found In st. Paul, Minneapolis,
Chicago and small river towns
Ducks have not yet put in an appear
ance, and the snipe and woodcock will
not be along until April Is at the earli-
est, but for ten days wild geese have
been f1ocking to the Itasca region and
beyond and they have furnished excel
lent shooting. In general, the wild goose
is not fish feeder. During the winter
months, which 1t spends in the south, it
finds it's food on the prairies, living up
on tendergrasses, seeds and other vege-
tables. When it has made the long
flight to the north, however, and Is get
ting ready to go to nesting, 1t turns to
flesh. The explanation Is that the goose,
In common with other large wild ami
mails needs certain amount of salt
1t does not find it In vegetables 1t tar
ries along the upper Mississippi for the
clans it gets. The clam beds of the
Mississippi are more than hundred
miles long, and they are constantly dis
turbed by pearl fishers They leave in
Vulnerable clans on the banks, and the
geese get half-dried mussels for the ask
ing. The females are fond of the par
TALLY decayed shells, which they find In
all Of the shadows They eat them In
preparation for the spring laying, just
as hens eat burned oyster shells for the
lime in them.
There has never been calculation of
the number of wild geese that pass
along the upper Mississippi between the
middle of March and the middle Of
sands. For the most part they are fly
ing high bound further up, and intend
ing to alight somewhere between the
banks below Lake Itasca. Those shot
are the geese that struck the river lower
down and are working their way up
stream, feeding from island to island
and purposing to breed this side of
northern Canada.
The style of shooting differs material
ly from that employed in the south or
on the level lands of the Dakotas. In
the west a man lies fiat on his back In
a cornfield, covers himself with stalks
and calls until the nearing fiocks circle
and come down within range. On the
islands the shooting is done entirely
from natural blinds, or else, IL there be
some bare bit of land over which the
geese are passing at a reasonable height, |
the shooter will go to 1t in the dark and
dig a pit in the sands so deep that he
is barely able to see over the edge Of it.
In each instance silhouette decoys if no.
necessary, are a great help, |
and so is the ability to cali, though a
man may slay many geese in a day
without calls or decoys. The goose is a |
creature, however, loves
its kind, and is much more apt to settle
for bait of clans If it gees Its kindred
in the water or upon some sandy bar.
The fact that the river is not entirely
open until later in April limits also in
the choice of feeding ground concen-
trates the birds and makes the shooting
better.
For this sport the ten-gauge gun is
the No. 2 shot being we'll
backed with powder The resistance of