THE WILD GOOSE. 331 



reach the field, and find, upon looking it over carefully, 

 that while it does not give evidence of having been a 

 regular feeding-ground for any considerable length of 

 time, yet it is a likely looking spot — not a house within a 

 mile of it, and away from any road. It is almost noon, 

 the sun is getting hot, and taking everything into consid- 

 eration, we might as well halt right here for a time. We 

 may get some good shooting here this afternoon, or 

 toward evening. We wiU unload our decoys and shovels, 

 and drive over into that swale a half-mile away, take the 

 horses from the buggy, and while they get a little fresh 

 grass, we will sample the contents of the lunch-basket, 

 which, aside from the substantials, contains a few bottles 

 of ginger ale — ^the best drink for prairie hunting you can 

 find. 



As we have got several hours to dispose of here, per- 

 haps no better opportunity will come to give you a few 

 hints on goose-shooting in general, flavored, may be, with 

 some interesting personal reminiscences. 



In the first place, there is quite a science in setting up 

 decoys properly, and in locating or arranging your pit or 

 blind in connection with them. The decoys should be 

 set at least ten feet apart, with the face of the profiles 

 toward the direction from which the geese are most likely 

 to come. A part of the decoys want to be set at right 

 angles to the others, of course, so that the sides of some 

 of them show from any direction. When set out ten feet 

 apart, they will look pretty well spread out; but if you 

 wUl step off a couple of hundred yards or so, they vdll 

 look much more like a genuine flock of geese than when 

 set closer together. It is strange how life-like they look 

 when set out properly. I have had mine crawled upon 

 and shot at on two different occasions, much to my 

 amusement. They present a much more natural appear- 

 ance than a decoy-duck, I tliink. By the way, let me 



