Goose-shootiny^ 185 



Barnacle are, I believe, the least wary of the Geese, and would 

 be comparativeh' easy to stalk but for the enormous numbers they 

 move about in. After they were driven off the IMacher by the 

 frost and took to the bog, stalking would have been simple enough 

 on the broken ground but for their numbers. These were so great 

 as not only to fill the valleys, but all the surrounding tops as well, 

 and this made apjiroarh from anv quarter out of the question. 



I now propose to sa\' a few words on Geese from the sportsman's 

 point of \'iew. It might be thought that so large a bird would offer 

 an easy mark to any responsible gunner if within, say, forty or fifty 

 yards. That is not so. In the first place, it is e.xtremely hard to 

 judge the distance a Goose may be away from you. I have seen men 

 shoot over and over again at seventy and eighty yards under the 

 impression the birds were inside fifty. Then their large size makes 

 one misjudge their pace altogether. They appear to be travelling 

 much slower than in fact they are. This misconception results in 

 the whole charge going behind the bird altogether, or at best cutting 

 out a few tail feathers. Pounding a Goose in the body, unless he 

 be very close, is sheer waste of time. The breast and belly are so 

 padded with feathers and down as to be practically shot-proof, 

 and the wing-bones from their great strength are hardly more 

 vulnerable ; so that for working purposes the target is reduced to 

 the head and neck only. The total length of the Goose may be 

 thirty-five inches, and something less than a quarter of this is 

 represented by the head and neck. The only method I found at all 

 effective was to make up one's mind, to shoot so far in front of the 

 bird as to be sure of missing it. I do not know that I ever did 

 succeed in putting a charge entirely in front of a Goose, but the only 

 wa\' I could keep forward enough was to fire so far in front that I 

 estimated, after allowing for size and pace, that the whole charge 

 would pass clear of the bird's beak. 



These are diflficulties connected with the bird : there are other 

 and worse connected with the position in which the shooter finds 

 himself when the critical moment for the shot arrives. He may be 

 lying prone on his face, occasionalh' he is to be found on his back, 

 often cramped up behind some small stone, which is hardly big 

 enough to hide a lark, but never standing comfortable and erect 

 on his feet, the only position in which he can use a gun with comfort. 

 Suppose you are walking over the bog unconcernedh' with nothing 

 in sight, when suddenly someone cries : " Look out ! Geese ! ! " 

 Down you go behind a stone, if one is handy ; if not, flat on your 

 chest, keeping your hands, face and gun out of sight as much as 

 possible. If the Geese happen to keep on in your direction, the only 

 chance is to remain absolutely motionless until you decide in your 

 mind that they have reached, or are just reaching their nearest 

 point to you. The\- are now very nearly over your head, and you 

 we will suppose, are l\ing prone in the swamp. Once you move the 



