322 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fNov. 28, 1882. 



THE TEAM CAPTAINCY. 

 r pHE resignation of Col. Bodine from the position of 



* captain of flap team of 1883 fdaves the way clear for 

 really effectual work in the making up of the American 

 representatives for the buttle of July next. We have here- 

 tofore spoken very freely of the merits and failings of Col. 

 Bodine. An excellent shot, he has fairly won the title of 

 "Old Reliable." As a meniberol a team he could always 

 be depended upon for creditable work, and American rifle- 

 men and modern rifle pracLice in this country owe to him a 

 great debt. He was bold enough to accept the captaincy of 

 the team of 1882, at a tune when lie must have known from 

 an examination of men and weapons that defeat was inevi- 

 table. He did what he eould with the material at his com- 

 manri, 1ml in executive ability he displayed a woeful de- 

 ficiency, and in his report upon the match he antagonized 

 the. press, the public and the militiamen of the country. 

 H« losM.ho confidence of the very classes to whom lieshould 

 appeal for support in making up a strong team, and it 

 eould only have been intended as a compliment, and not as 

 a real appointment, when the board named him as captain 

 of the coming team. 



The question of the best method of selection^ a team 

 captain has always been an open one. and very diverse 

 views arc held on this subject. Those who hold that the 

 team captains should be appointed witkoul any special 

 reference to the wising of the tentn men point to Great 

 Britain for examples. There the team captain is decided 

 upon and the men join the team under hiur. Here such a 

 plan is distasteful to the shooting men, It flavors too much 

 of a mild despotism and is not. democratic enough to suit 

 our American notions, All the American teams that have 

 met with success in their matches have been under the man- 

 agement, chosen by the men, and the suggestion that any 

 other plan was to be substituted acted as a wet blanket upon 

 the enthusiasm which was growing upon the question of the 



match of 1883. Now. however, when the shooting men 



come to learn that after all the team men, who may fairly 

 be expected to have their best interests at heart, are to be 

 permitted the choice of a team captain, a new and heartier 

 interest in the matter may be counted upon. Such is the 



only just, the only American, and what is more important 



the only successful method. 



Tub: Spatwows Must Qo.— The latest: Boston institution 

 Is an anti-English sparrow society for the repeal of all ex- 

 isting laws protecting that bird, and the adoption of efficicut 

 means for his destruction. The ladies of the ITub are the 

 prime movers in this crusade. Tf they really desire, to see 

 the sparrow exterminated, let them demonstrate its edible 

 qualities. The Massachusetts Governor-elect is a great 

 friend ot song birds, and will be apt to give gubernatorial 

 sanction to the sparrow slayers. 



Fish Pictitkks.— At the American Art Gallery, No. 

 East Twenty-third street there are now on exhibition 

 studies of a striped bass and one of a red snapper. These 

 pictures are by the late Mi, S. A, Kitbourne, which is say- 

 ing all that can be said in their praise. The exhibition is 

 one of artists' studies and is well worth a visit. 



FABLES FOR SPORTSMEN. 

 IX. — THE CAT AND THE PIKE. 



A CAT would go a-fishing, but could catch no Fish for fear 

 -£*- of wetting hia feet. Seeing a Pike in the depths below 

 him, taking with ease and great pleasure all the Dace, Roach 

 and Perch he desired, he called to him, saying, "How is it, 

 Master Pike, that you can take Fish without wetting your 

 feet."' 



"Verily, Master Grimalkin," answered the Pike, "it is the 

 easiest thing in the world for me. I ha vo no feet I" 



MORAL. 



Try Wildfowl shooting iu December or watching a Runway 

 n wintry weather, or wading to thy knees in a cold Bog for 

 snipe, or fishing in a pouring rain, or anything which is sport 

 to some, but misery to others, and thou wilt shortly discover 

 whether thou art a Cat or a Pike. 



IJu §port<minn §miri$L 



GOOSE HUNT ON THE RIVER PLATTE. 



THE River Platte is noted as an excellent shooting ground 

 lor wild geese, especially in the fall, as they are mi 

 grating southward. At that season of the year it is chiefly 

 a bed of sand, dotted here and there with towhoads of vari- 

 ous shapes and dimensions, among which the stream cuts its 

 wav, in the form of thousands of rivulets, that make myri- 

 ads of sandbars upon which the geese will gather sometimes 

 by the acre, when undisturbed for any length of time, to 

 loiter away the while between their hours of feeding. Now 

 and then a large island, of many miles square, intervenes, 

 but usually, in such eases, the water of the river, during a 

 low stage, runs chiefly in one channel, leaving the other 

 comparatively dry. These larger islands, for the most part, 

 are very fertile and settled up with farmers. The adjacent 

 country, especially in the middle part of the State, is pretty 

 well under cultivation, and the fields of corn and wheat fur- 

 nish ample provender for the geese. These leave the river 

 about the dawn of day and go out in quest of food, return- 

 ing from nine to half-past eleven in the forenoon to drink, 

 take a rest, and chew their cud. The chances of bagging 

 many of them as they go out ars not numerous. Occasion- 

 ally a "single-footer" will come into the decoys for company, 



and once in a while a small flock, iu their investigations, 

 will come near enough to offer a shot at long range, but or- 

 dinarily the shooting does not become serious till the return 

 from the tields. The gee&e go back to the country between 

 8 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon and return about dark, 

 These habits vary some, according to the state of the wea- 

 ther. If the day is bright and clear, the birds do not stay so 

 long away from the river; on the contrary, if it be dark, 

 with little wind, they loiter about in the "fields the larger 

 part of the day, and in rainy weather occasionally do not 

 come back at all. I speak now of the habits of geese that 

 appear upon the Platte. 



Last year, on account of a hitch or two, I lost an oppor- 

 tunity to accompany a party of good boys who went up the 

 river on a goose huiit and who had fine sport, but I then 

 made up my mind that that, thing wouldn't occur again. T 

 began preparing for it early in March by borrowing two 

 dozen first-class decoys of the Marooner Club at Vicks'burg, 

 and bringing them up here with me a clay or so later. 

 From the hour- of my arrival here till the affair was defin- 

 itely settled, 1 was busy "fishing" around for an invitation 

 to be one of the party who knew the grounds and had at - 

 lamzcmeuls for quarters during the hunt. 1 pledged myself 

 to be faithful in chasing and bringing to bag the wounded 

 geese, and that pledge apparently decided the matter in my 

 favor. Mr. O. F. Foote, an intelligent farmer who lives 

 some sixtecu miles north of Juniata, a little town on the 

 Burlington & Missouri River Railroad (iu Nebraska) about 

 one hundred miles west of Lincoln, had agreed to write Jack 

 Lauham, of Crete, when the geese were down in sufficient 

 numbers to warrant oui coming. 



The party, as originally constituted, was composed of the 

 said Jack Lauham, H. D. Hathaway,, manager of the State 

 Journal Company; C. L. Baum, of 'the hardware house of 

 D. & C. L. Baum; Dr. S. F. Rouse, manager of the White* 

 brenst Coal Company; Mr. Kendall, Land Commissioner of 

 the State and myself, all of Lincoln, except the Crete man, 

 who was boss of the expedition. 



On Monday, the 16th of October, Mr. Foote wrote to 

 Jack that the geese were there and ripe, but owing to some 

 delays in the mail this news did not reach us till the follow- 

 ing Saturday. Wednesday was set as the day for starting. 

 f n the meantime Kendall got mixed up in politics and could 

 not well extricate himself, so retired from this hunt. His 

 place was filled by Hon. A. G. Adams, of Burlington, Iowa, 

 a young man of wondrous avoirdupois, but an enthusiastic 

 sportsman- This member came down to Lincoln on Monday. 

 Thobig stories he heaid about geese on the Platte so stirred 

 his youthful ardor, there was no holding him. He cavorted 

 about like a young colt in a canebrake. Rouse was nol 

 much better. He was up there last year and he knew what 

 was in store for him. I never saw such nervous men. 

 Monday afternoon I dropped into Doc's office aud found the 

 two busily loading shells, their faces aglow with pleasurable 

 anticipations- 



" What's the matter?" says I, "What's your hurry?" 

 "Oh, we can't wait," replied Doc, "we" are going up to 

 morrow, my young friend here has come on for this hunt, 

 and don't feel like loafing around Lincoln two or three days. 

 I am ready, and so we'll go up to-morrow." 



The rest of us, after vainly remonstrating with these wild 

 huntsmen, held a council and expressed our views. One 

 said he hoped it would rain the day after they got there and the 

 shooting would be poor, or that Adams would stick in the 

 quicksands; another thought these men would frighten 

 away every groose within a radius of ten miles, and we all 

 knew they would go up there aud go all over Foote's house 

 a id select the best room and softest bed in it; but we man- 

 aged to curb our passions before any one -got crippled, and 

 allowed Rouse and Adams to depart, in peace on Tuesday 

 with the two dozen decoys we had made for the occasion. 

 The next day Hathaway, Baum and 1 took the Denver 

 train at noon, picking up Jack at Crete, and arriving at 

 Hastings near five o'clock; ate the lunchman out of house, 

 and home. Here we changed cars, and took the Kearney 

 extension of the B. & M., and after a run of thirty minutes, 

 reached Juniata. Our team was awaiting us at "the depot. 

 It was a tip-tep pair of horses, driven by George Watkius, 

 and we had a charmiug moonlight ride'over to Foote's, whose 

 nousa we reached before nine o'clock. As we drove up to 

 the door our two friends came out to greet and welcome us 

 and help us in with our traps. They soon gave us an ac- 

 count of the situa'ion. To start with, the geese were "thin," 

 much "thinner" than they were last year; they were wild; 

 the river was lined with hunters, native and foreign born; 

 the weather had grown warm since Foote wrote, and the 

 geese had mostly taken to parts uuknown, the few that re- 

 mained having learned that death lurked within the numer- 

 ous blinds that loomed up from the sandbars, and usually 

 gave them a w T ide berth. Adams aud Rouse had killed only 

 twelve geese during the entire day. It was not such news 

 as we had hoped to receive, but it did not discourage us. 

 We resolved to work harder, 



Mrs. Foote's beds were clean and soft, the rooms were 

 comfortable and we slept as soundly as hunters usually do 

 under such circumstances. The drawbacks were those of 

 our own creation. Adams and Batim snored outright and 

 lustily, Jack hau a kind of exhaust or cut-off to his, Hatha- 

 way's was a species of cluck that gave variety to the enter- 

 tainment, I was the tooth glitter of the party, but that the 

 boys might have a little sleep I put a string in between the 

 teeth of the upper and lower jaw, but 1 guess that during 

 the night I must have swallowed it, for I was aroused by 

 Doc Rouse yelling at the top of his voice. 1 looked over 

 that way, and saw Doc silting up in bed. The full moon 

 was shining iu at the window by his bed and revealed a face 

 haggard and careworn. 

 "What is the matter, Doc? Are you sick?" I queried. 

 "Sick! the d— 11 I wish I was! J"ust listen at this racket. 

 Who ever heard such a fuss. Was that you crushing corn 

 just now? I could stand the sawing you nsw hear going on, 

 but when a man goes to smashing every tooth in his head 

 human flesh can't stand it. Even the baby has been aroused 

 downstairs. Gods! listen to the noises around me! I have 

 been lying here two mortal hours suffering agonies Of the 

 damned," and with that he raised his voice aud in tones 

 louder than a war whoop yelled, "Give us a rest!" 



Of course this settled it. Every one of the seven sleepers 

 up stairs, Mr. and Mrs. Foote, and every chick and child 

 down stairs awoke as though an earthquake was tumbling 

 tae house upside down. Directly we heard the work of 

 getting breakfast ill progress, when all hands tumbled out 

 of bed and got ready. Let us pass over the consumption of 

 Mrs. Foote's food. No human being would credit the story 

 were I to tell it. 



Mr. Foote's house is on the southern bank of the Platte. 

 Ordinarily the best shooting is near the house. Rouse and 



Adams were located just above. After breakfast Hathaway 

 and Lauham built blinds from willows not far away from 

 the house, using a part of the. artificial decovs and dead geese 

 from tfleir neighbors' blind, while Baum and I had Ge&rge 

 tak ili' " 'in and drive us a mile aud a half down the river. 

 Here we loaded the wagon with brush, and driving out upon 

 the bar unloaded it, built our blind, put out twenty -four 

 artificial decoys and awaited the flight. Three miles below 

 us was a large partv from Falls City, in this State; above 

 house was another party from Salem, .shooting from sink 

 boxes, with single individuals sandwiched in now and then 

 till the river was one unbioken picket line. When the geese, 

 near nine, began to come in from the tields, they seemed to 

 give Baum and me the "go by," and as we heard the thunder- 

 ing up and down the river from the other fellows, we grew 

 ■stive and unhappy. At last, near noon, five brant pnss- 

 g our way, catching sight of our decoys, came in and we 

 locked down three of them. The other two circled around 

 while and coming buck to look after their dead companions, 

 e ' 'lifted 1 ' fhem, thus annihilating the entire flock, aud some- 

 hat soothing our feelings. A little later we secured a pair 

 of Canada geese, and from that time until after three o'clock 

 did not get a shot. Hailing George, wc had him drive the 

 wagon out to us, when we loaded up our blind and traps and 

 went a mile further down the river, where we rebuilt the 

 blind ami put out decoys, having completed this work by 

 four o'clock, From that time till dark we had fair shooting, 

 running our score up to nineteen, seven of which were brant 

 and the only brant he and I killed on this hunt. On return- 

 ng to the house we found the scores of the others about 

 qua! to our own, but nobody enthusiastic. Supper was 

 availing us and it did not require two invitations to induce 

 us to sit down to the table, it would have made the heart 

 of a dyspeptic cpiail for him to see us demolish things. In 

 his eagerness to get in his work, Jack poured the cream, in- 

 tended for his eoifee, into the sugar bowl, aud Baum appro- 

 priated a two-gallon dish of stewed onions to his own use 

 aud began eatiug from it, when he was brought to conscious- 

 ness by other members of the party who had a fondness for 

 onions as well as himself. After supper guns were cleaned, 

 aud then in the big room, around the fire, the incidents of 

 the day were recounted. There had been many clear misses 

 during the day, but every one was going to do better on the 

 morrow. 



Just north of the blind occupied by Baum and myself 

 was a wide channel running around an island about two 

 miles in length, and through which flowed a little stream 

 about fifteen feet wide and three or four inches deep. This 

 seemed to be a favorite resort of the geese, aud they would 

 collect there by the hundred. Once during the day Baum 

 waded the river and put them in motion, and later 1 did the 

 same thing. They left the place reluctantly, but when they 

 got fairly started in their flight up and down the river the 

 music began. After they had passed out of sight we could 

 note theii progress by "the booming of the guns from the 

 blinds as they flew over them. Having told the boys of this 

 place it was decided that Jack and Adams go down there 

 and try it. Jack was to look after Adams, pilot liim across 

 the river and see that he did not go down in the quicksands. 

 The young man feared his avoirdupois, and the quicksands 

 are bad in the Platte. So tl ese two gentlemen went down 

 in the wagon with Baum and myself the second day, carry- 

 ing down some dead geese for decoys, and crossed the river, 

 where Baum aud I built our first blind, Jack carrying over 

 the biggest load. But Jack is wonderful on the cany. 

 That night I was telling the boys of the load I saw him take 

 across the river, when they related v hat they had seen him 

 do the day before. On going out from his house he and his 

 party found a large blind left by other parties that needed 

 repairs. Billy Foote, the old gentleman's son, hautcd out a 

 load of brush with the pony to make repairs, a load so large 

 that the pony stalled upon the sands and some of the party- 

 had to go to the rescue. Dunrg the day it was decided re- 

 move the blind near half a mile down the river, and Jack's 

 partuer went off to arrange for it. While he was abseut 

 Jack tore down the blind, whipped a stout cord out of his 

 pocket and tied it around it, then deliberately shouldered 

 the unwieldy bundle and marched off with it. Hathaway 

 says — and Hathaway is a truthful man — that when he saw 

 the thing going down the bar he though, it was the pony 

 loaded down to the guards on both sides with brush and 

 Billy on top of it. 



But Adams and Jack, especially the latter, did not meet 

 with much success in the new territory, and Jack changed 

 again the next clay to a position where he had lair shooting, 

 the reverse falling to the fate of Adams, who abandoned his 

 blind, but in crossing the river at night to join Baum and 

 myself in the wagon ou our return 10 the house, fell in with 

 cpiicksunds, got over his depth, and went to the house afoot 

 to keep from freezing, beating us iu by half an hour or 

 more. The next day, both Jack and Adams moved back- 

 to blinds near the house for the two ilays remaining to us, 

 George ferrying the dead geese in what we called the dead, 

 channel, aci'oss the river on horseback and then hauling all 

 from both their- blinds up to the house, where they went 

 out upon the bars to do duty again as decoys. Baum and 

 I stuck to our position down tht river till the. last day but 

 one of the hunt, when at night, after an unsatisfactory day's 

 sport, we tied up our geese in bunches of six, loaded (hem 

 in the wagon, and hauled them to the house, where they 

 were hung up iu the corn crib. On the morning of the last 

 day Baum borrowed some dead geese from other blinds and 

 went into a small one of his own, while I went into the bliud 

 with Jack, all near the house. During all this time Hath- 

 away had stuck to his origiual blind and had set out so 

 many dead geese that his decoy was very attractive and 

 brought in the living ones. One day that cool, quiet, 

 patient hunter brought to bag twenty-eight geese and a few 

 ducks, the latter Ironi flocks that happened to fly his way 

 in passing up and down the river. One day a flock of geese 

 lit in the water near our blinds (we had the third day erected 

 two small ones instead of the one large one) and at the 

 signal by Baum he got in his first barrel as they sat in the 

 water, and 1 as they arose. Owing to smoke interfering I 

 could not see the flock after the first discharge, but banged 

 away in their direction. When the smoke cleared away 

 we saw two geese "dead as a mackerel" and six wounded 

 ones making off in every direction, two of them striking for 

 the swift current near the opposite shore, where I chased 

 them for nearly half a mile, once getting in water that 

 came within an "inch of the top of my w T ading pants. Baum 

 raced around over the bars and iu the shoalcr water sifter 

 the four others. We succeeded in capturing them all, but 

 returned to our biiiids nearly exhausted. That same day 

 four geese came into the decoys, and at the signal Baum r s 

 gun cracked, and I tumbled ni}' goose. I then drew upon 

 the next one I saw, but just as my finger bent upon the 



