Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-07-24
HE FOOLED ZEN.
How Salisbury Cove Man Won Repu,
tation as a Hunter.
From Boston Sunday Herald. ]

w. Thompson OF Salisbury Cove. For
years his remarkab BILE success in bagging
game OF this description has been the
wonder of sportsmen who frequent the
bays and marshes OF Mt. Desert island
and the adjacent region. 1t has been no
uncommon thing for Capt. Thompson to
bring home dozen fine geese and brace
| OF plump ducks after a mornings shoot
ing, when Others, expert sportsmen and
dead shots, had failed to make decent
showing after repeated visits to the same
| localities.
| The secret OF the captains marvellous
success, or luck, as some of his envious
rivals have termed it, is now laid bare.
| He is a breeder OF wild ducks and geese,
| and whenever he has gone hunting he
| has pressed into his service wild ganders
and ducks to act as decoys. To these UNI
| sophisticated "come ons" more than to
| the accurateness of his aim and the gen.
eral skill of his shooting he is
famous shot-Capt. Thompson owes his
| unrivaled record as hunter OF wild fowl.
81 have had my fun with the boys long
enough" says this veteran nimrod, land
now don't mind telling the story of my
wonderful prowess. There is not hing
| better for decoy than a wild gander.
| pick good one from my flock, one that
has been trained to be quiet and steady
under gun fire, take him to spot where
| the geese are in the habit OF going, and
with string tied to his leg allow him to
swim out from the shore. Should a flock
| of geese come anywhere near, the gander
| is dead certain to call them down. Then,
when he geese are within fair rarge,
blaze away from the blind and fetch 'en
every time. The old gander and l work
| together in perfect harmony, and some
| times the resulting slaughter is awful.
suppose it is sort OF confidence game
| that play, but he gender never 'catches
| on to the game, and l use him over and
over again in the manner described.
"Wild ducks are just as effective to
| decoy ducks as are geese to decoy birds
of their kind. have used black ducks,
| gray ducks and mallards with equal sue
cess. There is one duck in my flock that
is worthy of special mention. / shot
thirty-two ducks over him in three morn
ings last spring. He called to beat the
band, but under fire he was as steady as
one of Uncle Sans regular soldiers.
set the decoy duck about 10 yards from
the blind and kept the drake in the blind.
First the decoy would 'calP and then the
drake would chime in and help out the
best she could. The flock came nearer
and nearer and when l judged the mo-
ment opporture pulled the trigger and
the gun did the rest. or course it is not
every wild duck that will stand to be shot
over, and one that is the least bit afraid
of the gun is no good at all. But 1 have
taken a great deal of pains with my de-
coys and always have number on hand
that am sure will do good work.
"How did / make a beginning? We'll
that was the easiest part of it. l got
three wild geese by shooting into flock
and gripping them. was mighty care
full that nothing should happen to the
captives until 1 had obtained couple OF
sittings of eggs, for felt cocksure that, IL
| could get that far, should have flock
of wild geese in due time. Well, sir, the
geese laid the eggs all right, but every
darned one Of them was infertile, and SC
/ had all of my anxiety and labor for
nothing. Not gosling was Matched.
"The following year ! sent to man oil
whom 1 had heard, and VINO claimed tc
have been very successful in breeding
wild geese, and got from him a gander
that was warranted to be all right. paid
sl6 for him, but he proved to be cracker
jack, aud never regretted having paid
what seemed 10 me then to be fancy
price and more than the gander was
worth raised nine goslings that year
and have raised from fifteen to twenty
five annually ever since. l did not have
as much success this year as in previous
ones. My young birds, in roaming about
the farm, got at something that killed
them off. now have a few trained three
year-olds on ganders-and one
pair-goose and gander-of two year ODDS
lings mated.
1.-The wild goose lays but one litter oil
eggs, although she will sometimes lay
three or four extra eggs il her nest is dis
turbed and she is not allowed to sit
When the gosliDg is about four weeks old
| cut off the end of the wing on which
the flight feathers grow, up to the first
Joint. In my opinion this is necessary
because the instinct for migration is SC
strong in them that, even after being
long in captivity, they will leave in the
spring or fall, if the wing be not clipped
as have described.
"Your true sportsman prefers to kill
his goose on the wing, but he does not
particularly care to sit in his blind for
hours at time and watch geese passing
over his head far out of reach of his gun.
There is nothing unsportsmanlike in
using live gapder for decoy.
"Young geese, not trained to stand I'M
der gun, fetch an average Of $40 pair,
mated, goose and gander. pair OF wild
ducks trained for hunting, whether mall
lard, black or gray, bring S5. There is al
n