364 With Rod and Gun in New England 



Practically the same methods are employed for geese, except that some 

 thirty or forty live geese decoys are kept in " fly traps," the front being 

 built on an angle. 



These traps are taken back on the wooded hill and a cord run down 

 to the " stand." 



When the wild geese are seen the cord is pulled and the front of the 

 trap drops down, forming a platform from which the decoy geese fly out 

 over the water. 



The trout brooks of Massachusetts are many in number, and there are 

 hundreds of living streams which, if proper efforts were made, might easily 

 be stocked with one of the favorite fishes of the angler. Something has been 

 done in this direction, but vastly more remains to be accomplished. 



The black bass, with which many of our lakes and ponds have been 

 stocked, is now abundant in this State. Pickerel, perch, and other fresh- 

 water fish are found in almost all our ponds and rivers, and they furnish 

 no little sport to those anglers who do not strive for higher game. Our 

 salt-water game fish are so fully treated of in another chapter that any 

 mention of them here is superfluous. 



As before stated, Massachusetts possesses a great variety of game and 

 fish, and she often furnishes our sportsmen with highly satisfactory outings. 



It is something to have at our own doors an opportunity for an occa- 

 sional profitable day's sport, and we cannot be too careful to foster, 

 preserve, and increase the " good the gods have given us." 



The pleasures connected with, and the benefits to be derived from the 

 use of the rod and gun, have been recorded by the pens of many gifted 

 writers. Dr. Heber Bishop, one of our most enthusiastic sportsmen, treats 

 of them in the following language : * 



" To be a successful hunter, a man must have acquired a great many 

 virtues that are not taught in any school but that of the forest primeval. 

 He must learn patience and courage and fortitude. He must be cool in 

 danger, calm in victory, and he must inure himself to privations, which 

 develop the qualities that secure the desideratum of the old philosophy : 

 ' A sound mind in a sound body.' 



" There is nothing that will build up a feeble or impoverished system 

 like the air and the exercise of a hunt after big game in the woods. The 

 long tramps over uneven ground, the all-day journey through the uncleared 

 wilderness, and the treacherous morass and bog, bring into play every 

 muscle and every mental effort that produce strong men capable of coping 

 with any problem that life presents. 



" Everybody is familiar with the character of the native woodsman, 

 whom we all unite in admiring. 



"There is something in the very atmosphere of the uncivilized haunts 



*In Boston Globe. 



