330 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



is our first trip out, of course it is impossible to tell just 

 what time to look for them; but it is perfectly safe to 

 say that it will be at the same time as yesterday after- 

 noon, and that it will be the same time to-morrow after- 

 noon, for it is a remarkable peculiarity of wild geese 

 that they leave their roosting-grounds and go out to 

 feed with a regularity truly wonderful. I have fre- 

 quently timed their afternoon nights so accurately that 

 I would not have five minutes to wait after setting up my 

 decoys. 



" Whoa!" 



Look at that stubble-field yonder! it's full of 'em, just 

 as sure as you're alive. What! want to get out and 

 make a sneak on them? My dear fellow, you couldn't 

 get within rifle-shot of them to save your life. The grass 

 is high, to be sure, but the stubble-field is much larger 

 than it looks from this distance; they are near the center 

 of it, and if you could crawl to its edge without being 

 discovered which is extremely improbable you would 

 still be 150 yards away. Take my advice now, as well as 

 hereafter; don't ever waste your time trying to creep 

 upon geese sitting either on a stubble or in a corn-field. 

 It is an almost impossible task. 



There they go! They got suspicious at our stopping; 

 evidence to them that we were plotting them no good. 

 Lots of them, are there not? Must be a dozen or twenty 

 big flocks in that outfit. They are going to the river. 

 Let us drive over and take a look at the field. Had we 

 kept on driving, they would not have taken flight, unless 

 we drove very close to them. When there is a chance to 

 make a sneak on them, the team must not be stopped, but 

 the shooter drop out of the wagon into the grass while 

 the team is moving; and while the team and driver 

 endeavor to retain the attention of the geese, the hunter 

 crawls up on them from an opposite direction. We 



