Omaha daily bee., 1895-03-10

coming In with suddenness that frequently |
disconcerts the man in the blind. They love |
to bask In the genial sunshine after gorging
with the nutritious seeds Of the
shadows, and lying well punched up, often
afford the insatlate gunner a pot shot as is a
pot shot. In the fall OF 80 an Omaha sports
man bagged thirty-fve at a single shot UP
in one Of the numerous holes at Honeycreek
lake. This is rather a Munchausenlsh tale,
but still 1t goes The teal OF either variety
makes one Of the morceaux Of the game
MENU Incompatible, many think.
The widgeon, or bald pate (Anas Ameri-
canal, Is another one OF the family that pos
sesses many Of the characteristics OF the
mallard, only he favors open water and rarely
ventures within the uncertain depths OF wood
or tangly morass. They are not gregarious
TO any noticeable extent and are generally
found singly or in pairs, sometimes among
the mallards. ! have seen punches OF fifteen
or twenty. but not often, and hardly think
they make their migratory pilgrimages In
focks Of any magnitude. Nevertheless they
are great breeders and are found plentifully
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Like the
sprg, they frequent the open prairie in sea-
sons OF overflow, but are always wary and
on the alert They partake Of the redhead's
thieving nature and are a source OF incessant
bill. For the table he is not half bad. He
has a good appetite always and is seldom
met out Of first class condition. In some To-
calities they are considered as much or
delcacy as redhead or mallard, although on
account OF their transformations plumage their
market rating is always considerably below
these birds
The bluebll is another numerous member
OF the family. He has many names. Here
he Is known by the name above, on the flats
at ST. Clair as the broadbll and in the east as
the scaup or blackjack. They are fairly
omniverous, the feed of the canvasback, NAL
lard, teal, pintail or merganzer satisfying
them equally well. Snails and aquatic larvae,
grass bulbs, seeds, MOSES, wild celery or
corn or acorns, it little matters just SO there
is enough of It, In habit they are much like
the canvasback and are famous divers.
Tough as pine knots and hardy as
Arctic wolves. they love boisterous and
stormy weather. Swift flyers and much on
the move, they furnish exceedingly rare sport
when plentiful. They decoy charmingly and
for table usage are nearly up to the standard
of teal or malard.
There are scores Of other ducks visit our
Nebraskan waters, and geese and crane and
swan too, but the ones above briefly touched
upon are Of the best known and most COM
mon. At another time I may treat upon the
rarer class of birds, those which are to be
met with here, but with nothing like the fire.
quency of those already described.
Sam Richmond, the we'll known Clarks
sportsman and goose killer, writes me that
his camp on the Platte is now at the disposal
| of the hunters He reports the geese and
ducks coming in at a lively rate during the
| past few days and predicts splendid river
| shooting.
| S. B. Raynard, a popular and we'll known
| sportsman of Grand Island, has Just put one
of the best decoys on the market ever manu-
| factured. They are made Of waterproof paper
and are very light and easy to transport
| The heads of the birds are wooden and fit
in the neck, and, running through, form a
| support. The birds are reversible that Is, a
| Canada goose on one side and white goose
on the other, and either can be used at
pleasure. They are well painted and are un-
| doubtedly splendid decoy.
Sanford K Brown of Jackson, this state
and indisputably one of the greatest field
| shots in the country, was in the city yester.
day. He states that there were more qua
| frozen in the northern part Of this state this
winter than has been destroyed in this way
during the past five years. Whole covies
were found huddled together and frozen hare
as rocks. En- passant, while shooting last
fall, Mr.. Sanford killed an albino quail which
he had the Gilbert Bros. mount and o.
which he is very proud, as it is the only
white quail he has ever met with in hi!
long career as an ardent sportsman.
Material improvements will be made at th
shooting grounds of the Bems Park ant
Omaha Gun clubs this spring. These grounds
as is generally known among the lovers o
the trap, are conveniently and pleasant,
located on the Iowa side Of the river, som,
300 or 400 yards from the end of the bi,
bridge. These grounds are probably the bes
and most accessible, everything considered
that the gun chbs could secure but the.
have always had one drawback and that i
the meager accommodations for spectators
At the recent matches between ]. G. Rea
and ]. J.s Hardin and George Nicolai, an
the Omaha and Council Bluffs team shoot
there were fully 900 people assembled ther
to witness the sport Out of this 1000, how
ever, possibly score or two found seats o
, even an advantageous position from whic
to watch the battles of the hammerless, Will
the whole crowd, including the con
testants, were subjected to more G
less danger from the reckless scalper
, who always surround the boundar
line on the occasion of a live bird Shoot
Luckily, so far, there have been no acc
, dents from this source, and the club man
! agements have resolved that there shall
! none. The club house is to be material
enlarged with a plate glass front occupyin
! the eastern end and facing the range, AFFORD
ing members an opportunity to view the cor
! tests with ease and comfort on days of II
cielHenL weather. Inc SnOOtlnR ground
a themselves are to be ploughed rolled an
g packed, and a flooring put down half wa
1 to the traps in the live bird department, tn
n same as now exists on the target area, an
Y around the whole grounds a tight boar
fence Is to be erected just beyond tn
boundary lines. This will afford the MAJ
d agements a source of revenue, as a sma
n admission fee will be charged to all outsider
d on the occasion of special or regular shoot
s This move is not made, however, with an
h mercenary view, but simply to exclude IL
Y pestiferous scalper and Objectionable cha
i acters who are sometimes attracted thith
S by such events.
n Reports come In from Cody that there
h a man up there who is going to make Il
= chicken and grouse hard to find this Sc
# son, II he Is not sat down upon. He can
e. into Cody the other evening with six dozt
e grouse, and was hunting a market for ther
d Here is good subject for the Omaha 81
d clubs to make an example of. My 1
y formant writes that he thinks this la,
e breaker shipped his game to Omaha.
e attempt was made to learn his name, b
k 1t was unsuccessful, but it was learned tn
Is he would be back the latter part OF tn
y week with another batch Of birds, and II
is, a determined effort to bring him to tin
will be made
VI The new game bill, which passed Z
1f senate last week, was but slightly amend
re or changed, To section l. forbidding q