The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-10-28

The wild duck Is not a gay and festiv,
bird and has no hankering after the com
panionship of man. He flies singly, il
couples and In bun ches and continues X
| fly after he is shot-Rt. He is q serious
bird and breeds seriousness In the person
who chase6 him, as we'll as occaslonlce
| other disasters too numerous to mention
| There is heap of finn in hunting ducks
largely on the ducks side If they have any
sense OF humor. The directions for shoot.
ing ducks are numerous and intricate
| While fellow is planning his campaign
according to the most approved tactics
and before he is ready for action. a blue
bill will have reached the northern
boundary OF Texas and may be fraterniz
| ing with the southern man and brother
| Some people uee retrisvers in hunting
| ducks. In the writer's large, varied and
| painful experience in duck hunting he
has never found occasion for the services
OF thi animal. Leave the dog at home;
! the luck is perfectly competent to do its
own retrieving and does it invariably
| with certainty and dispatch. Ducks nay
| die OF old age or occasionally from "a
| tough worm in their little insides." but
have become thoroughly acclimated to
| the atmosphere OF powder and shot and
are infection proof. A fellow with gun
can brighten duck, but there his proud
waves are stayed. The duck, like wealth,
takes unto himself wings and flies away
| leaving man, born OF woman, full Of
| trouble and .: DAINTY while gazing into
empty vastness and wondering what por-
ton OF space he plugged. One is told to
hold ahead Of 'em;" "to hold over 'em, y
but directions AS to how to hold on to EN-
are wonderfully vague and inexplicit 1t
Is the rule for which the soul burgers.
but 1t Is never even grudgingiy vouch-
safed.
A fellow Gao see lots of ducks in north
ern Mlnnesota. But the devil of it is
they can see him too, and they are chary
OF close acqualntanceship You can learn
how to make blinds, pull boats over rocky
bluffs, wade through quagmires and
shoot at spot in the blue ether where
the ducks we're, after they have arrived
at the next township. There isn't much
profit IN shooting at wind trail. Best
results are secured by blazing away un-|
intermittlngiy at q fixed point, trusting
to the arithmetic of chance that bird
might come there while the shot is hurt
ing by. That fixes the ratio OF success
to effort.
AhO "iitOf Chtuo uOuuo Will d IlU} uOt
OF The Garden of Eden variety, but frac-
tured masculine one. and a split lip. The
dsstructlveness of that gun was located
IN the end commonly supposed to be de-
void of danger, and still Henry Hamilton,
with strange perversity, objected to close
proximity with the end of the gun which
Tor two weeks gave ample demonstration
of its harmlessness.
H6nrv oQp hill HnoDc On tho yuipp
Heaven only knows how he does il. He
doesn't know himself. He must have
some hypnotic quality. George Hamll-
ton has some sort OF siren song which |
he sings on something which looks like
a school boys squirt gun, and he gets
ducks by this uucanny method. julie
Llndstedt spatters shot about indiscrlm-
lnately, tips over boats regardless, takes
headers into bog holes, barks his Sims
and runs afoul OF ducks whose curiosity
overcomes their discretion in the presence
OF this nondescript being, who while on
the hunt bears no resemblance to any,
thing in the heavens above, the earth be-
low, or the waters under the earth,-the
latter beng jules favorite place while
on the hunt. Will Richards is season
ed hunter, having four weeks of it. He
fills the place allotted to Daniel in the
lions den. "You will notice." said the
faklr while exhibiting Daniel in posi-
ton far less perilous than 10 fiat bottom
boat shooting at ducks, "that Daniel
doesn't care for the lIons," And he then
added, the situation forcing the conclu
sion, "the lions don't give damn for
Daniel either" That is the degree of
mutually between Will Richards and the
ducks.
THERE is no sense in game law for the
protection of duohs. These feathered bi
peds are fully able to take care of them
selves. If there could be some form of
protection for the innocent, gullible and
perfectly harmless fellow who chases
tie IN, getting nothing IN exchange but
the tiutter of wings, fractured rib from
which even piece of femlnInity cannot
be manufactured. abrasions, sores and
various other and numerous ills, there
would be some sense in it. A duck that
will not sit still in the waters long enough
to be shot at with safety to the shooter, lis
delusion and snare.