GOOSE SIIOOTINd IN COLORADO. 



W. E. KINO. 



Colorado affords as fine a field for the 

 lover of sport with the gun, as any part of 

 the country. Geese, ducks and other kinds 

 of feathered game are plenty; though of 

 course the range of wild fowl is limited. 



Now 1 have a friend who is a thorough 

 sportsman and a fine shot; and when we 

 heard of a field, some 12 miles from town, 

 where the Canada geese were accustomed 

 to feed, we determined to bag a few. They 

 came in from the South Platte river every 

 morning; so we laid our plans accordingly. 

 We left the town of Sterling at 2 o'clock 

 one afternoon for the ranch of a friend, 

 near the feeding ground of the geese. 



coming up from the West, right over 

 us. 



Rising quickly, we turned our gun-, loo 

 After the rattle of smokeless powder was 

 over, we gathered 3 birds. One struck 200 

 yards away. 



The large flock, unsuspicious of danger 

 before, turned at our shots, lighting with 

 the 2 out on the prairie. We had to wait 

 only a few minutes when we had another 

 shot, this time bringing down 4 birds. 



The flock from which we killed these 

 also joined the geese on the prairie. 



I suggested going out and flushing them, 

 for they would go back to the river; but 



BY COURTESY OF "THE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. 



THE LARGE FLOCK TURNED AT OUR SHOTS." 

 From a Painting by Chas. A. Zimmerman. 



On our way down we killed 11 ducks — 

 brown-heads and mallards. Arriving at the 

 ranch, we put up for the night. 



The next morning we made an early start 

 for the stubble field, reaching it by day- 

 light. My companion placed the decoys, 

 30 in number; while I gathered weeds and 

 straw to make a blind. This was built in 

 an irrigating ditch near the middle of the 

 field. Before our blind was finished, 2 

 geese were seen coming. Of course they 

 saw us and turned while well out of range; 

 but lit some distance away on the prairie. 



The blind and decoys were hardly ar- 

 ranged when we saw a large flock outlined 

 against the Eastern sky. Yes, they were 

 coming toward our field. We hugged the 

 ground closer and lay securely hidden, lis- 

 tening to their loud and familiar " honks." 

 In a few minutes they would be in range. 

 Suddenly we were surprised by 6 geese 



later in the morning would probably return 

 to the field. I scared them up, and had 

 barely returned to the blind when we saw 

 3 birds coming directly to the decoys. Of 

 these we got one each. The 3d, frightened 

 and squawking, came circling around, try- 

 ing to locate its companions. Within easy 

 range we fired a volley that almost made 

 the ground tremble; but every shot was a 

 clean miss. The frightened bird, shaking 

 its tail as if bidding us a long farewell, made 

 its way safely back to the river. 



We remained in the field until 10 o'clock, 

 but the first flocks did not come back. As 

 the flight was over, I started to gather up 

 the decoys and birds, while my friend went 

 for his buggy to haul them in. We did not 

 care to pack such a load to the ranch. 



With 9 geese and 11 ducks, we were satis- 

 fied to start homeward. On reaching 

 Cedar creek, we gathered in 5 more brown- 



J 9 



