ON MISSOURI RIVER BARS 8 1 



As the day was warm, the wind being in the south. 

 we lay in the sand and recounted the many trips we 

 had made together in pursuit of these royal birds, the 

 gamiest of them all. How many we had killed and how 

 they sometimes got away from us. How we had taken 

 our friends with us on these hunts and how excited they 

 would be when the birds were coming in and they could 

 not wait for them to get close enough for a sure shot. 

 It certainly tries the nei'ves even of the veterans when 

 the big fellows are coming directly towards you. You 

 have to have a steady hand and good eye, as they are 

 not as easy a mark as they seem for so large a bird. 



Vio produced his old goose caller, one of his own in- 

 vention, and he can tallc the goose language to perfec- 

 tion. He has talked many an old gander into leading 

 his flock right up to our blind and we taken plenty of 

 toll from them. 



*'It don't seem like goose weather to me, it is so 

 warm," I remarked, as I removed my hunting coat. 



''Well, they have been here and will retuni," he re- 

 marked. 



I was leaning against a root, looking to the northwest, 

 when I discovered a long line of geese coming down the 

 river. ''Get down!" I exclaimed, "here they come!" 



We were both dowai in an instant. The geese were 

 now about one-half mile west of us, when Vio got his 

 caller to working. They now headed directly for us 



