Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-10-13

There are numberless places to which
a man may 60 and hire a boat, and with III
n mas and "siuk-bOX "a man VINO
knows the WAYS aud haunts OF the birds,
who is able TO call them. and Il the sports
man has the necessary faculty ~ holding
his gun straight and Is favored with decent
weather he may have fairly good sport.
There are many men, however, who prefer
to post themselves upon the details and
make their bag by their own efforts. Inc
best plan for these Is TO 90 one season WITH
n professional hunter. note his methods,
and try "singie-handed another season.
The bag NAV not be as great, but the en-
ioyment will be 100 per cent greater.
There ere few details that can be given
in print practice is the only teacher.
few hints worth remembering are that
strict silence is necessary, that ducks
feed az night and rest By day, and have
an undoubted preference for lee shore:
Never fire at ducks caught sitting If
their breasts are toward you, Tor
unless hit in the head they will proha-
bly escape without serious injury; put
them up and catch them Under the
wings. if birds are on the wing, as when
hunter lays in tho "sink-bo1 for them;
remember the slightest movement VIII
turn them from their course. Avoid all
Use Of perfumes or clothes that smell OF
perfumes this may sound ridiculous, but
IL is sound sense and never 60 out with
out having a good feld-glass or telescope
with Won: IL will save you many long
tramps on land and firing rows on the
water.
It will he found necessary when birds
are flying in a crOsswise direction TO shoot
at least three feet ahead Of them, for the
wild duck on the wing travels sixty miles
an hour and has been known to reach $50
miles an hour. wide Thomas AleXander's
Birds Of United States.)
The most popular way to shoot ducks is
from battery" or "sink-bOx." This -
the exact size of coffin (when intended
for one person. and nearly the same shape
il intended for two men. it Is simply made
double the width. This box is water-tight
aud is set into the middle of pine-board
in size. The top of the box IL nearly
level with the top of the platform.
and is secured there by knees
and braces underneath. Around the
outer edge of the platform are Sc
cured wings made like a mosquito
bar door. but covered with stout blue drill
ing. These frames are fastened 70 the
platform with hinges, so that thoy Hop up
and down with the waves and send tho
rollers slipping under the platform instead
of over II, and so into the box where lays
the sportsman. The whole battery Is paint
ed a dingy blue gray, and so il rendered
nearly invisible TO the ducks. Around this
are deposited from ninety to one hundred
and fifty decoys representing various breeds
of brant. broadbills. mallards, and wood
duck. Most of these are rudely whitfield
out Of pine and although very different
from the trim ones in the stores, they are
very satisfactory. The decoys are ballested
with lead and anchored by suspendlng o
rock attached to six or eight feet of cord
from the under side. If the sportsman can
"call" duck he is left in the battery by
himself, aud if not he has man who can
"call them, and then the other men IN
small sail-boats beat upand down the waters
endeavoring to drive the ducks in the direc-
ton Of the box and its occupants. The capt.
tai invested in these equipments on Chesa-
peake bay alone amounts to nearly $780,
600. and it is estimated that 5000 ducks,
principally canvas-back and red-head,
were killed there last season. The prices
for hiring such outfit with men vary. ac-
cording to locality, from 80 per day TO $40,
about s. being happy medium. The gun
TO be used shonld be a 10 bore, well chOked,
and No. 4 or shot--nothing smaller.
The methods employed III hunting ducks
vary very much in different parts of our
own great country, and still more abroad.