328 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



match, plenty of heavy under-clothing, and a loose-fit- 

 ting, warm overcoat. Be sure that your hunting-suit and 

 hat is light enough in color. Nine-tenths of the regula- 

 tion canvas suits are too dark. About the gun, it does 

 not matter as to size and weight. A twelve-gauge will do, 

 but a ten-gauge is better, and an eight-gauge is better yet. 

 The principal thing is to hit the geese, and you will be 

 more certain to do it with a gun that you are accustomed 

 to be it light or heavy than one you are unfamiliar 

 with. Everything else being equal, the heavier gun is the 

 better. 



For a ten-gauge gun, the best all-round load for geese is 

 five drams of powder and one ounce of No. 2 shot. When 

 they come in well to the decoys, No. 4's in the right bar- 

 rel and No. 2's in the left is about the thing. Do not 

 be misled into loading any larger shot under any circum- 

 stances. A few loads of heavier shot, for chance shots at 

 long distances, would, not be out of place in your car- 

 tridge-box, and always have a few dozen shells loaded 

 with 6' s for a stray prairie chicken or jack-rabbit. 



Well, suppose you put in an appearance, properly 

 equipped, about November 1st, and find me somewhere 

 in the neighborhood of the Missouri River, in South 

 Dakota. "What is the prospect for geese?" is your first 

 natural inquiry. It's hard to tell; we will have to do a 

 little exploring on the morrow. I do not make a practice 

 of questioning farmers. The sources of information thus 

 taken are too uncertain in results. It has cost me many 

 a wild goose chase to learn this. Not one farmer in ten 

 is a sportsman, and not over one in ten hunt at all, and 

 only an insignificant few have any conception of what 

 constitutes satisfactory shooting. If a stray flock of 

 geese happens to alight on Mr. Farmer's stubble-field 

 or in his corn some morning or evening, it is likely that 

 he will say that "there's piles of 'em." If they chance to 



