topic which I am about to podcast is not likely to be known by contemporary waterfowlers

as an object with which most would be acquainted. Stalking geese or ducks with

a horse was one of our ancient ancestors’ favorite modes of taking waterfowl,

which had been around since the days horses were tamed and first used in

hunting. Almost

every community had its own novel peculiarities in the way their waterfowlers practiced

their craft, but none more ingenious nor quite so primitive in the way geese

and ducks were killed than bull hunting or steer hunting as it was also called.

Its origin emanated from the Mexicans and was prevalent in the San Joaquin Valley

of California, Oregon, and the marshes along the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana

and Texas. At first, it was done mainly by horse blinds, but as cattle raising

increased, the bull or steer or ox mainly replaced the horse. After

hearing that market hunting had grown to be such a great industry and that some

men were getting rich at it, many gold miners gave up mining and took up bull or

steer hunting. After the Gold Rush, cattle became so numerous that geese and

ducks grew accustomed to them. In all the counties bordering on the San

Francisco Bay, and in fact all along the coast, geese occupied the wide and

open plains by the hundreds of thousands, feeding in thousands and thousands of

acres of pastureland, alongside the cattle herds.