New-York tribune., 1899-07-23
TANK SHOOTING ~ INDIA.
CAPITAL SPORT AT THE ARTIFICIAL LAKE-A
no

From The Field.
Tank shooting, owing TO the numerous artih-
cial lakes or tanks" as they are called. with
which nearly the whole Of India Is covered SCI
dom fails to afford capital sport WIN duck 0,
sniDe in the cold season. Countless tnousdlns VI
various species of duck begin TO arrive IN lndla
about the beginning Of October, and commence
leaving about the end Of February. and during
their stay are to be found in every suitable 'to
their kind piece of water from mile wa
river To what would in England be called a poho
The method followed in this sort ot shootlhs -
generally the same. and the following description
of a fair days sport may be taken a. represents
tive:
Hearing that duck had come in large nuinp"rs
during the last few days. two or US SET OH one
December morning for a large tank ABOUT yen
miles off on getting near the water we desct'co
as fair number of fowl one would WISH 10
see. on looking through the glasses We "a"
that by far the largest number were sd9"
next came the little white eyed pocndtu ~
crested pochard are easily dstingulshaDle Dy
their size and the brilliant cOoring OF the macs
by far the most striking looking Indian luck \
few tufted duck swimming Cstentauousy
on the further sile, and last but not least. A
flock Of pntal were in the middle ot the Ianh'
ever alert and ready 10 leave the water al the
first shot. II was decided that my companion
was to get into a native dugout at the further
end Of the tank and try 10 drive the duck To-"
ard a long tongue of reeds. in which was 70
hide. WadinG out waist deep 10 my pla'e WIS WIS
not the pleasantest proceeding; tne water was
very cold the weeds thick, and once l
stepped on the edge Of a very deep hole. and was
only hauled out by my orderly as | was struS-
Cling not to fall in.
| eventually arrived at the furthest point Of
the reeds. and. reeIing cautiously through saw
the duck for the most part heading toward me.
As the boat got nearer TO them an occasiondi
flight would rise. fy a short distance ana settle
down again near me. At last thought had "a
good chance as should get, ana let drive
right and left into flock Of pintail. These Dlrds
always hy in compact hocks and thus afori
good chances: but on the other hand. their
plumage is extremely thick and causes immunity
from many a shot. However. | accounted for
three-two dead and winged At the nrst
shot the whole of the fowl rose en masse the
hundreds Of wings making mighty roar
Then the fun began. large hOCks. small Hooks
and single birds flying around the tank in all
directions: a curlew high overhead uttered us
familiar cry cOnjuring up visions OF shore shoot
ing on a misty day in England and seeming
strangely out Of place in this sunny land Ny
companion had run his boat into the rushes on
my first shot. and. both OF US being concealed
from view, had many shot al the rapidly
travelling fowl overhead Around the tank |
had posted men TO mark down the birds that fell
in the rushes. and these were soon heard splash
ing bout at the work Of picking up. The pintall
left the tank after the first shot or two. but the
red crested pOChard remained. and continued 10
afford long shots as they circled in shape for
nation overhead After the last duck had lett
the exciting work Of recovering the cripples com
menced.
Caldwell were easily picked up. but the po-
chards boing such expert divers gave much
trouble. rs appearing for an instant only (and
nothing but their heads being visible), they
would dive again before one could always get
the gun up and the shot would pass harmlessly
over the place where they had disappeared. The
whereabouts of a bird would sometimes be
known by seeing kite SWOOp down. but unless
quickly recovered the latter would render the
bird worthless. Having got rid Of the larger
game we devoted ourselves to the Snpe. which
at the upper and shallOwer end OF the tank were
to be found in plenty. Walking about thirty
PAGES apart with a man or two between. we ac-
counted for good bag. as. the sun being by this
time pretty hot, the snipe rose lazily In very
different manner from what they would have
done two or three hours earlier in the day. Hav-
ing walked twice over the snipe ground We made
for our tiiin basket. the contents of which laid
out under the welcome shade of a large banyan
tree were soon done ample justice TO. Our bag
was twenty-three duck and fifteen and ha.f
couple Snipe.