The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-03-13
A GOOSING EPISODE.
THE FLOCK OF WILD BIRDS CAME AND
WENT UNFRAMED.

THE FLOCK OF WILD BIRDS CAME AND /
WENT UNFRAMED.
An Observing Hunter became So I'm.
tenaely Interested In .he Evolu.
tionn Of the Fowl Thnt He Concyua.
ed He Wcr.a Not Shoot.
We were tied out OH one Of the
southerly points Of Thoroughfarc is-
land The weather was mild and "a
gentle breeze blew from the northwest.
From the duck shooters point Of view
the only good thing about the day was
that 1t was cloudy and overcast.
The duck shooting had been poor for
q number Of days and promised to con.
tinuc so until there should be change
OF weather. Still, 1 had gone up to
Thoroughfarc on the chance Of getting
a few odd shots during the .lay
In the big sound to the westward and
IN Peters Quarter bay to the east thou
sands OF geese were resting or feeding
and from time to time small hocks
flew from one Of these bodies of water
TO the other, but usually far too high
for Il gun to reach them. Nevertheless,
besides my stand Of wooden duel. dc
coys had taken two live geese dccoys
anu had put them out with a half do,:-
en- wooden goose decoys, and from
some small punches of geese that had
hown over little lower tllnn the 9th
ers l had succeeded in killing two or
three birds.
About the middle Of the incoming a
shin broken line WIS seen fur of 10 the
eastward, which rs we watched 1t
gradually developed into bunch of
Blk or eight geese headed for us and
not more ian one or two gunshots
high. AS they approached Charley
honked In good style. and they Mt once
noticed his cry, replying and seeming
q little to lower their fight. AS they
drew nearer the live decoys saw them
and commenced to cnll In good style,
the gander honking In trumpet tones.
while the goose clucked constantly and
enticingly. On came the wild birds,
lowering their flight stretching out
their necks, and as they drew nearer
seeming eagerly to scrutlnlzc the de-
coys below. The wind had increased
little, and before they reached us they
payed Off to leeward and passed out
side Of the decoys. long gunshot off.
"Don't shoot, don't Shoot" said Char
ley: "they are going to swing"
The dccoys kept up their calling
'Honk! Ah honk!' from the gandcr
and "Nuka. nuka, nuka!' from the
goose and vocifcrous responses came
from the wild birds. Sure enough, aft
er they had got we'll past the dccoys
they swung up into the wind ut
slightly greater elevation and then
turned and came back again. now over
the marsh, n little to the windward Of
the blind. OF course I did not dare
turn my head to watch them, but with
all my ears listened to their mclodi-
Gus cries, which drew nearer and near
er Again Charley called to me, say
ing: Let 'em so by. They'll swing
over the dccoys this time" Presently
out Of the corner Of my left eye I dis
covered the ncnd cf the flock we'll down
below the decoys and saw them turn
and come again with lowered flight
and crooking necks and legs almost be-
ginning to drag toward the water.
Truth to tell, I was so much interested
in the way the birds acted that 1 hard
ly thought much about shooting at
them, but felt great desire to see how
near they could be brought by the talk
Of the decoys, on which their attention
was fixed. AS they turned to come up
again, headed straight over the decoys,
q strong blast Of the 3rcshening wind
caught them, ard again they payed
off to leeward and passed outside of
the decoys.
At that moment heard in the air be-
hind me n startling rushing sound OF
some heavy falling body, and before
could turn my head there swept over
the blind, within five feet Of me, and
splashed into he water Immediately
In front Of the blind and between 1t
and the decoys a tremendous old gan
der. He had separated himself from
the 1iock and had, US 1t seemed, drop
ped from heaven to investigate the live
decOys, toward which, with head erect.
he now swan swiftly. or course 1
could have blown his head off at any
moment, but that would have been to
end the spectacle, and for this I was
not ready.
The flying geese had swung up to
windward and again turned and now
were coming back again, low over the
water. I should have been willing to
spend the day Watching this perform
nnce without firing n shot, but the
show was almost ended. The great
gander on the water swan rapidly to-
ward the decoys and apparently flight
ened them. They sprang from their
stools with tapping wings, and the
gander, thinking that they were rising
In the air, himself took wing and flew
away. My attention was concentrated
on the approaching flock, which, warn
cd by the gandcr's flight, turned be-
fore it again came within shot, and
flew off.
So ut these geese my gun was not dis
charged, but indeed I would rather
have witnessed this sight and enjoyed