332 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



tell you how to " catch on" to decoy-ducks when puzzled 

 over the matter. If you will notice, a decoy-duck always 

 rocks with the action of the waves or ripples on the 

 water; a live duck does not, but retains a perfect perpen- 

 dicular. In setting out your geese decoys, avoid setting 

 them with heads in one direction. This is the position 

 the geese assume when uneasy, or about to take flight, 

 and is not such as to gain the confidence of a passing 

 flock. If shooting alone, and there is a breeze blowing, 

 locate yourself about thirty yards on the leeward side of 

 the decoys. The reason of this is obvious. In common 

 with all wild fowl, geese always alight against the wind. 

 By being on the leeward side, they will, when through 

 circling around the field, fly over you with set wings 

 preparatory to settling among the decoys, and give you a 

 much better shot than you could possibly obtain were 

 you on the opposite side. If you have a companion with 

 you, place the decoys between you, and locate your pits 

 or blinds so that the geese will fly between you, as they 

 come into the decoys toward the wind. You then get a 

 deadly cross-fire on them. 



A friend and myself were thus fixed one afternoon 

 when a flock of five Hutchins geese came in. We killed 

 them all. In a few minutes, another flock of seven came 

 in, and out of them we knocked down six. The poor, 

 lone goose remaining went across the field, turned and 

 came back to the decoys, and we downed him. On 

 another occasion we wiped out a flock of thirteen in 

 much the same manner the geese returning to the decoys 

 the second time. When not much hunted, it is a common 

 occurrence for them to act in this manner, if the hunter 

 or hunters drop into concealment immediately after the 

 first volley. Otherwise a very suspicious and wary bird, 

 the wild goose decoys more readily than any other. Let 

 me relate an instance. I was shooting in a stubble one 



