336 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



of space is simply astonishing. It will be well for you to 

 remember this when you come to shooting at them over 

 decoys, instead of deluding yourself with the idea that 

 because they are a big bird you could not miss one if you 

 tried. You heard about the chap, didn' t you, that com- 

 plained that "all the rabbits hereabouts are about six 

 inches too short \ ' ' You have had enough experience on 

 other game birds to know that when a flock arises you 

 must single out your bird instead of shooting into the 

 flock at random. Well, the same rule holds good on 

 goose-shooting. Always try, too, to get your gun on one 

 in a bunch; if you miss it, you may catch one next to it, 

 and you stand a good chance of knocking down two or 

 more with one barrel. If a goose falls on the stubble or 

 prairie out of your sight, go and get it at once, unless 

 there are particular reasons why you should not leave 

 your position. Often birds that you may think fell stone 

 dead are only winged or badly wounded, and the read- 

 iness and facility with which a wounded goose will hide 

 in six inches of grass is astonishing. I have had wounded 

 geese get away from me on a prairie under circumstances 

 in which it would not seem possible for a quail to escape. 



Just reach me another sandwich, please. 



Did I ever use live decoys ? Well, yes, after a fash- 

 ion. I do not think much of them, and, furthermore, I 

 never talked with an experienced goose-hunter who did. 

 We read considerable about them in books and writings 

 on field sports, but my own experience and the experi- 

 ence of others leads me to believe that live geese decoys 

 are a delusion and a fraud. All that I have ever seen, 

 when taken into a field and picketed out, would go the 

 length of the string, and then stretch flat on the ground 

 and lie there. A friend of mine had three which, when 

 at home in the yard, would pretty near burst their 

 throats calling when a flock went over the house, but 



