WILD-GOOSE SHOOTING 157 



No matter what weapon you may be armed with, 

 to stalk geese on open ground far from any sort of 

 shelter is, under ordinary conditions, a most difficult 

 undertaking. In some places, it is true, you may 

 perhaps be able to crawl up within range of them 

 under cover of some high bank, or by following the 

 line of some convenient dyke ; but such natural 

 advantages are not common in the haunts of grey 

 geese. Still, the unexpected does occasionally happen, 

 and I have been told of a case when a Scotch 

 gillie, hailing from Pomona in the Orkneys, actually 

 succeeded in stalking and killing, with an old double- 

 barrelled muzzle-loader, no fewer than thirteen out 

 of twenty white-fronted geese which comprised the 

 entire gaggle at which he fired. 



There are times, too, when you may find it answer 

 your purpose to carry the war into the enemy's 

 country, and by digging a pit and concealing yourself 

 at their feeding or resting places you may, perhaps, 

 get a shot if the geese chance to fly or pitch within 

 a reasonable distance of your ambush. Needless to 

 say considerable care will be required in selecting a 

 site for the excavation of the pit, and in order to 

 render the same inconspicuous to their sharp eyes, 

 the material used for covering it up must of necessity 

 be in general harmony with the surroundings. The 



