Shooters, Like Anglers, Tell Tall Tales

Northern Advocate, 26 May 1949, Page 3

Shooters, Like Anglers, Tell Tall Tales

' Like their brothers who fish and tell stories about remarkable experiences with frantic and fierce fish, sportsmen who pursue their feathered game with gun and dog have some queer stories tq relate. The 1949 shooting season has already produced -some tall tales and there are many who would place more credence in these stories than those of anglers. At the crack of dawn a Whangarei shooter paddled his punt out into the swamp and set out his cork decoys. One of them had caused some trouble by breaking away the previous morning, and temporary repairs had been effected. With skill and expedition he put them out in the half light and commenced the row back to the shore. Half way there he saw that something had gone wrong. The troublesome decoy had apparently broken adrift and was floating away from its fellows. A few curses on the part of the shooter did no good, and he turned the punt about with the intention of tethering the straying decoy more securely. It got up and flew away, when he was not more than five yards from it. IN THE BAG Honours must also go to a pheasant shooter who had spent a thirsty and fruitless morning tramping over the hills. Around midday he got a shot at a fine bird and brought it down hi open ground. Now, he thought, it was time for a well-earned spell for refreshments. He chose a grassy knoll to sit upon and cast his bag down nearby while he munched his sandwiches and emptied his thermos. Half-way through the meal he heard a flutter and a rush as the pheasant, which had been playing possum, flew out of his unshut bag and away into the blue. PAINFUL LESSON A similar sad experience befell another enthusiast last week-end. He had a fine fat cock pheasant in his bag. While getting over a fence he dropped his bag and his beautiful bird suddenly came to life and found its freedom amid a flurry of wings and a' riumphant crow. The aptitude of these birds to play possum was explained in detail by an experienced Whangarei shooter this morning. He said that the right thing to do, when a sportsman gets a pheasant, is to smooth its feathers out, and tuck its head beneath its wing before putting it in the bag. It is also necessary to make sure that the flap of the bag is fastened down.

With their heads tucked beneath their wings, pheasants calmed down considerably, he claimed.