AFTER GEESE 99 



bear, etc. ; so that any one starting on an 

 outing was reasonably sure of securing a 

 good-sized bag, even if he shut both eyes 

 when he fired. 



On Monday, September 28, 1891, I left 

 Calgary for a week's shooting at Bed Deer 

 Lake and vicinity. This was 12 miles from 

 the town, and not much frequented by 

 sportsmen on account of its distance. When 

 approaching the house of the friend with 

 whom I was to stay, I noticed in a field, a 

 few hundred yards away, a large flock of wavy 

 (white) geese, and a larger one of Canadian, 

 feeding on the dropped wheat; so I rushed 

 my horse into the yard, scarcely taking time 

 to unharness him, and, having persuaded my 

 country friend to take his gun and accompany 

 me, we moved off in quick-march pace towards 

 the game. 



The ground being very level, as is a very 

 large portion of the prairie, to get within shot 

 of them we had to go down on all-fours and 

 creep. There is a great knack in this per- 

 formance which unskilled hands know not of. 

 Most hunters, and many of them old ones at 

 that, are so anxious to see how successful 



