GOOSE SHOOTING. 253 



it goes away, in order that birds hard hit, but still able 

 to proceed for some distance, may be seen to separate 

 themselves from the flock and to come down. Unless 

 very carefully marked, such birds are likely to be lost to 

 the gunner, unless he is provided with a dog. 



At every lull in the flight, it is the practice to leave 

 the pit and go out to gather the dead geese ; and toward 

 the middle of the day, when the morning flight has 

 ceased, the more distant ground should be carefully 

 looked over by the gunner, and, if practicable, systemat- 

 ically hunted out with a dog. The result of this search 

 will often add largely to the bag. 



Sometimes, instead of digging pits in the stubble 

 fields, the gunners conceal themselves in the straw 

 stacks which may still be standing in the field, and do 

 their shooting from them. The straw stacks having 

 been there before the geese came in the fall, are familiar 

 objects to the birds, and cause them no alarm. Often 

 they pass close over them or feed on the ground near 

 them. Where these stacks are used for hiding places, 

 the decoys are scattered around them in the most con- 

 venient situation. 



It is not common for the passing flocks to alight with 

 the decoys in the stubble fields ; usually by the time that 

 the birds have approached close to them, the decoys 

 are recognized as deceptions, and the flock turns off. 



Goose shooting in the wheat stubbles is also practiced 

 in parts of Washington. Pits are dug and decoys put 

 out, just as in the stubbles of Dakota and Nebraska, and 

 the birds come readily to the decoys. 



