22 
FOREST AND STREAM 
January, 1922 
WILD-FOWLING DAYS IN KANSAS 
AN ACCOUNT OF AN EARLY HUNTING TRIP INTO 
THE WIDE MARSHES ALONG THE ARKANSAS RIVER 
By WIDGEON 
E V'ER since our arrival in McPher- 
son, Kansas, whither we had gone 
I on a duck hunt, we had heard 
marvelous stories of the great 
numbers of geese to be found on the 
Arkansas River. These stories had 
aroused our curiosity, and on a recent 
visit to the sloughs, Mr. Scott, our genial 
guest, had offered to take us to the river 
to investigate. So we left McPherson 
early on Sunday morning and arrived 
at “Old Man Scott’s” about ten o’clock. 
Here Aleck, our driver, left us, to return 
for us on the following Tuesday after- 
noon. This was to be our last shooting 
trip in Kansas, as we were to leave for 
the East on Wednesday evening. 
After a very early, but bountiful, 
dinner, prepared by Mrs. Scott and her 
daughters, we loaded our limited camp- 
ing outfit in Mr. Scott’s bolster wagon, 
to which he had hitched a strong pair 
of Canadian ponies, and with Uncle Billy 
and Andy on the back seat, and Mr. 
Scott and I on the front one, we were 
off. It was a beautiful November day, 
with a brisk wind blowing from the 
southwest, while in the northwest banks 
of clouds were forming, which Mr. Scott 
said portended colder weather. 
As we made our way at a brisk trot 
across the prairie, we were at once made 
aware of the difference between our 
present conveyance and the comfortable 
jager wagon we had become accustomed 
to. This springlcss wagon jolted, knocked 
and shook us around so that we were 
indeed glad when we reached the end of 
our seventeen-mile journey. 
The miles passed steadily behind us 
without event until we neared the Sand 
Hill country. Here we saw from time 
to time quite large herds of cattle graz- 
ing, around which boys and girls mount- 
ed on horses rode guard, and on the 
occasional wheat fields we saw great 
flocks of geese feeding. From time to 
time we passed large cornfields where 
the hordes of geese had broken down 
the stalks as if cattle had been feednig 
on them. They had torn the husks from 
the ears in shreds, then picked off the 
grain, leaving the bare cobs. Sometimes 
there wmuld be half an acre in this con- 
dition in one spot. 
We had been traveling through a very 
thinly settled country and settlers’ cabins 
were few and far between. Presently 
we came to the foot of the Sand Hills, 
and here forded the shallow Little 
Arkansas, which at this spot was a 
stream about one hundred feet wide. 
As we rode up the gentle incline to the 
crest of the hills we looked back over 
tile vast plain behind us. Far as the eye 
could see stretched the prairie country, 
without a single tree to break the monot- 
ony of the great expanse, apparently as 
.level as a floor, with the widely scattered 
Loaded to the guards 
buildings of the settlers looking like ant 
hills in the distance. There could be 
no doubt that this great prairie had in 
some remote age been the bottom of a 
vast inland sea, of which the Sand Hills 
had been the shore line. The Sand Hill 
Country was here some six miles wide 
and made a striking contrast to the 
prairie. 
As our horses wallowed through the 
yielding sand of the winding roadway 
through the hills we were reminded of 
Squan Beach on the New Jersey coast. 
There were still a few small roving 
bands of deer and antelope in the hills, 
and on two occasions we saw where they 
had crossed our roadway. They had 
leaped across the road in one great 
“jump,” leaving their footprints deep in 
the sand. On several occasions on the 
sides of the dunes we saw round open- 
ings which Mr. Scott informed us were 
the homes of coyotes and badgers. In 
one broad swale between lofty hills we 
passed beside a prairie-dog town, which 
covered an acre or more. There were 
hundreds of little mounds beside their 
burrows, but we saw none of the inhabi- 
tants and Mr. Scott told us they were 
already hibernating for the long winter. 
On our long ride we flushed numbers of 
prairie chickens from the roadside ; they 
seemed to be particularly plentiful on 
both borders of the Sand Hills. 
L ate in the afternoon we emerged 
from the hills on their western side 
and looked down on the Arkansas River 
bottom. Here during the spring freshets 
the river overflows its eastern bank for 
over a mile, and in summer it is a vast 
meadow, grown to coarse grass. On 
our arrival the grass had been mowed 
by the ranchers and built into great 
stacks at intervals on the overflowed 
lands. Here at the foot of the Sand 
Hills and bordering the river bottom we 
saw the finest field of corn that we had 
seen in the State of Kansas. It had not 
yet been husked and the great stalks 
were like saplings; the ears were as 
high from the ground as a medium-sized 
man could reach and the soil must have 
been very fertile indeed. 
As we drove along beside the field we 
noticed a heavy growth of some plant 
that covered the ground knee-deep all 
through the field. This growth had been 
killed by frost and looked somewhat like 
the crab grass of the east. We had 
some argument about it, and stopping 
the team to investigate it, we found it ' 
was an enormous crop of sand burrs. 
The ripe burrs had dropped from the 
plants until they covered the ground j 
fully an inch deep, and there was enough t 
of them on that big cornfield to seed 
the whole State of Kansas. Uncle Billy 
remarked it would be a fine place to go 
barefooted. Presently we reached the 
river bank and here, beside a huge hay 
stack, whose top had been blown off and 
lay beside it, we decided to make camp. 
Scattering ranches could be seen in the 
distance, the nearest one being some two 
miles away. 
It was nearly sundown and we began 
at once to prepare our evening meal. 
Gathering an armful of dry driftwood 
we soon had a cheerful fire burning, 
while Mr. Scott unhitched his horses and j 
tethered them to the hind wheels of the I 
w'agon. Andy soon had the coffee-pot ' 
boiling and Mr. Scott produced and un- 
packed the grub. 
Before we were through our supper | 
the evening flight of geese began, com- ■ 
ing into the river to roost, and from that i 
time until dark we witnessed such a sight 
as seldom falls to a hunter’s lot. The 
number of them was positively astound- 
ing and beyond belief. They flew up and 
down the river by thousands, and the 
air was filled with them so that it seemed 
to us as if all the geese. in the universe 
were on the Arkansas River that night. 
The clamor of their honking was deaf- 
ening and we had to literally shout to 
make ourselves heard. The wind was 
blowing across the river toward us and 
the geese were on our shore. We could 
have concealed ourselves anyw'here along 
the river bank and shot until our guns 
were hot; but I have made it a point 
during my whole life to never shoot 
or fish on the Sabbath, and I would not 
break the rule, although sorely tempted. 
About two miles down the river from 
us, however, a party of four guns were 
shooting a steady bombardment for an 
hour or more, and if they were good 
