672 
The Currituck Gun Club and the Narrows Isl- 
and Gun Club are both near there and control 
most of the best marshes; but there are many 
good points where shooting can be had, espe- 
cially on the property, of the Currituck Gun Club, 
which has kindly set aside a number of points 
for the local guides to take parties to, and with 
favorable wind and weather these points are as 
good as any. 
There appeared to be thousands of geese, duck 
and swans. My. Trenton friend insisted that we 
take a day off and shoot, as he had received a 
letter from home requesting him to return at 
once to look after some important business mat- 
ter that had come up since he left. So that night 
we arranged with Mr. Samuel Parker and Mr. 
W. Corbell to take us out. Mr. Parker is one 
of the merchants of that town and has a fine 
outfit, including a gasolene boat, live geese decoys 
and plenty of other stools; in short, everything 
up to date to get wildfowl. They were at our 
boat at daybreak next morning, but as it 1s not 
lawful to start before sunrise, we waited. It was 
a cloudy morning. They said that the sun rose 
at 7 o’clock—we waited until that time. They 
also informed us that if the wind held where it 
was and got to blowing hard, we would kill 
plenty of geese. That put us on edge and, from 
the number of geese that we scared up as we 
went over to the marsh, it looked as if we would 
get a boatload. I took my repeating shotgun and 
my friend took the captain’s 10-gauge, shooting 
black powder shells, as there was nothing else in 
10-gauge ammunition to be had in the town. 
Arriving at the marsh they divided the decoys 
and fixed us out on two points that had been 
fairly alive with geese and swan, which we scared 
up as we approached. It was about this time 
that the wind commenced to die out—so did our 
hopes, as we had been told that “no wind meant 
no geese.” 
We sat through the first hour without much 
excitement. At last I heard a loud honking over 
at my friend’s blind. It turned out to be our 
friend Corbell calling a flock of geese that was 
passing. I always thought I could call geese 
pretty well, but I never heard any calling that 
could beat him. He kept at it until one old fool 
goose left the flock, stiffened his wings out, sailed 
down and lit among the decoys. I almost held 
my breath waiting to hear them shoot; still no 
shot. I was getting nervous. What could be 
the matter? Why don’t they shoot? Had any- 
thing happened? were the thoughts that passed 
through my mind. 
When the old t10o-gauge and black powder 
boomed and no goose got up, we knew they had 
him. They told us afterward that they had pur- 
posely let the goose alight, but did not expect it 
to drop down and keep in line with the live de- 
coys, so they had to wait until he swam to one 
side and nearer in before they could shoot. 
A short time after that a little Hutchins’ goose 
came to my decoys, and I got it. During the day 
I killed one black duck, one drake mallard, one 
broadbill, four geese and two swan. 
One of the swans was a cripple, having had his 
wing tipped by one of the club members who was 
chasing it around the marshes, so we thought 
that we coud get rid of them both quicker if I 
shot it. My friend had about as good luck as I 
had; and with the whole lot in one pile they 
made quite a showing. 
We started to pull up at 5 P. M., as it was 
near sundown, and the law reads that one must 
not have decoys out after sundown. As usual, 
when it is time to take up, the birds commenced 
to come. It seemed as if this time they were all 
coming back at once. They came in small and 
large flocks, hundreds of them; but it was get- 
ting dark fast. We were busy taking up the de- 
coys’ and could not shoot, but it was a grand 
sight. 
Early next morning we started out from Poplar 
Branch. My friend remained on the dock to 
take the boat homeward later in the day. We 
said good-by to Messrs. Parker and Corbell with 
regret, as they were fine men. I would have 
liked to spend a week with them shooting geese. 
We arrived at Manteo at 2 P. M. We saw no 
game of any kind until we got to Roanake Island 
on the Manteo side, then we saw quite a number 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
of swan, geese and ducks. I don’t believe it 
would pay to gun them there, although I saw 
several bush blinds out on the flats. 
When we arrived at Manteo I was told there 
were two gentlemen at. the Pea Island Gun Club 
who had heard we were headed that way, and 
that they desired us to visit them. We stayed at 
Manteo that night. The next day we drove to 
Wanchese, a small fishing village on the island, 
where there were several stores. The people 
there are mostly fishermen, but as one man said, 
when I asked him what they all did for a living: 
“Some farm it, some gun it, I fish it; so does 
most of ’em.” 
We started for Pea Island, and about 1 o’clock 
we were at the fish house, which is one and one- 
half miles from shore, and as near Pea Island as 
we could get. There were from eighteen inches 
to two feet of water over the flats. The depth 
of the water there varies according to which way 
and how hard the wind blows. 
We found the club situated in a fine place for 
shooting geese, brant and ducks, and as these 
waters are so hard to get to, there is but little 
chance of the game being driven away by out- 
siders. 
We were informed that the club owned some 
3,000 acres. They have a fine club house, con- 
veniently situated near a small creek that makes 
an excellent harbor for their small boats. I be- 
lieve the property is one of the best located in 
that vicinity. It is very evident that there will 
be good shooting thereabouts as long as. there 
are any wildfowl to shoot in North Carolina. 
We stayed at the club house for supper, then 
went back to our boat and got our shooting outfit 
together ready for the next day. We expected 
our shoot then to be a great event. We had good 
reason to, as there were several large rafts of 
redheads, some geese and quite a number of brant 
in sight. So far, my friend from Atlantic City, 
N. J., had not shot any fowl, and as he had never 
been after them before he said he would go along 
and watch me do the trick. We took one of the 
small boats and sailed out to the stool boat, 
which had some 250 redhead decoys on board, 
then changing boats we put off to the place where 
we were going to “fix out.” It took sone time 
to put out that many decoys, but the men under- 
stood their business, and when they got through 
the bay looked as if no duck could resist coming 
in to it. 
I had probably been there one hour without 
firing a shot when I saw three geese coming 
straight for me over the marsh. I remembered I 
had loaded my gun with shells loaded with No. 
4 shot, as I was expecting ducks, not geese; but 
I had no time then to change loads, although 
I had some shells loaded with BB shot with me. 
On watching the geese closely, I noticed that they 
were inclined to shy off at the redhead decoys, 
and it looked for a moment as if they would go 
around to one side of me; but they turned in 
again, keeping a little high. When within forty 
yards of me, I rose and fired, shooting four loads 
and bringing down the three geese. 
I waved my hat for the boys to come over and 
pick the geese up, as they were drifting away 
very fast. The three geese were soon out of 
sight and I commenced to feel both angry and 
discouraged. Then I noticed the boat come 
about. I shot again in the air and waved my hat. 
This time they saw me. When they got close 
enough to speak to me imagine my feelings when 
they asked me what I wanted. I was so angry 
I could hardly tell them about the fine shooting 
I had done. 
I had made a shot that many a man would be 
proud of, and no one saw me; that’s what hurt. 
But when I did loosen up they found out what I 
wanted, and the way they got busy made me for 
the moment forget their inattention. They only 
got two of the geese. The other must have 
swum or drifted off to one side. They got them 
fully one mile away out from shore. 
While they were looking for the third goose 
a flock of five geese came by about sixty or sev- 
enty yards away, with one big goose a little 
nearer than the rest. I kept shooting at it. I 
had shot five loads before it came down. The 
boys were on the alert now, so they saw this one 
fall and had no trouble getting it. After that two 
[APRIL 28, 1906. 
came my way and got mixed up with a bunch of 
broadbills that was making for the stool, I mis- 
took the broadbills for redheads, and as the geese 
were at least 100 yards away, I shot at the ducks 
and knocked out two. Had I known they were 
broadbills, I would have waited and taken a 
chance of the geese coming nearer. 
It was about this time that I realized I was 
getting more shots at geese than at ducks, and 
I decided I would use shells loaded with BB 
shot. I had hardly made the change when along 
came a lone goose. It had no intention to stop, 
nor had any of the others; but it seemed as if I 
was in the line of flight. Well, I got that one. 
A little later a brant lit in among the decoys. I 
did not see it until it rose to fly, then I shot it. 
I never knew where it came from. 
About 3 o’clock I made my best shot of the 
day. This time, not only the boys in the boat 
saw it, but those at the club house as well, and I 
felt mighty proud of it. It’s funny how vain a 
man gets about his shooting. 
Way over the marshes I saw two geese coming 
my way, apparently very low; but as they got 
nearer to me they seemed to get higher and 
higher. Still they were coming right over where 
I was. They were so high when they got over 
me that I hesitated about shooting at them. I 
remembered then that I had BB shot in my 
shells, and fired just as they passed over, scoring 
as fine a double as ever was made, killing both. 
Neither one ever moved after it struck the water. 
We stayed out about one hour after that, but 
nothing seemed to come my way, so I signaled. to 
the boys to take up the decoys. It was a strange 
day’s shoot. I was fixed out with a fine redhead 
outfit, and not one came to the stool all day; but 
I killed six geese, one brant and two broadbills, 
and was well pleased with the day’s sport. 
ONESIMUS. 
[TO BE CONCLUDED. ] 

Sport in Manitoba. 
CARMEN, Man., March 16.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: We had very fine shooting here with 
the waveys, or snow geese, in April, 1905, on. the 
wheat stubble, though it took us a little time to 
get on to the line of their morning and evening 
flght and to find the places where they fed. One 
day I saw nearly a quarter section of land fairly 
white with waveys, but we could not crawl on 
them, for there was no cover. The most suc- 
cessful shooters were those who had: a tame cow 
or ox trained to approach the geese. The shooter 
keeps on the opposite side of the animal and in 
that way can get within from sixty to seventy 
yards of the flock. One farmer near here last 
spring got eleven with two barrels; another 
single barrel gun got eight birds at ome shot. 
Last spring the Canada geese came in here in 
March and fed on places where the straw stacks 
had been burned off in the fall, but as I had been 
ill, and snow and ice were not yet gone, I did 
not venture out after them. The Canada geese, 
like the waveys, are frequently shot here by the 
farmers using a quiet cow or ox. They do not 
fear the animal as they do,a man trying to crawl 
on them with a gun. 
Our chicken and grouse shooting here is good 
sport in September and October, and with a good 
setter or pointer you can get an excellent bag 
within five or six miles of town. 
We had fairly good snipe and golden plover 
shooting here last fall, but I know of a place 
about 200 miles west of here, where snipe are 
very plentiful and where two men could fire at 
least 500 shots a day, if their shoulders could 
stand it. I found this place one day when I was 
looking for mallards and pintails, and as the 
ducks were somewhat shy and difficult to ap- 
proach, I turned my attention to snipe. They 
kept getting up in front of me in large bunches, 
such as I have never seen the like of in all my 
hunting experience. 
The frost came on us here earlier than usual 
last autmn. On Oct. 26, our National Thanks- 
giving Day, it froze up solid. I was out after 
prairie chickens with my dog that day, and com- 
ing home in the evening I noticed large flocks 
of ducks going directly south as straight as it 
was possible for them to go with a quartering 
southwesterly wind. ‘WHT 
