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.