The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-11-10
DEADLY HUNTING OF DUCKS.
RISKS OF MARKET GUNNERs on
THE WISCONSIN LAKES.
Mia, II Means TO he Caught In . Sink Box
by a storm nj VINO Are Encased Tn
lee -~Instinctive skm Reached by Men
Who KIN Ducks but Don't Fat Them.

There ~ III aAe 'ofh N'-
...o,ing ducks on the Wisconsin lakes,
.nd ,nder some circumstances there Ia not
'n,,ch work that Ia more dangerous. The
Iii n II m from stormy water. frail
La. cranky boats and the excellent
chance afforded 10 catch pneumonia.
The old Wisconsin duck hunter Ia almost
always a strong man. but he Is strong
hsc,use nature made him so. Otherwise
Va would be dead. The rigor Of the sport
IA proyed by the fact that. with the excep-
,;ons Of the persons who kill ducks TO sell
them. il is a rare thing TO find a man OF
more than 20 willing to endure the discom-
torts Of shooting from a blind In the early
western winter merely for the fun Of II.
Tho steady QUICKER has one test which he
.,rlies 10 tho weather. IT il IL cold enough
"a freeze the water as il splashes from the
.,vss and falls on the decoys, cold enough
% freeze Il so rapidly that in a little while
,h. heads Of the wooden birds become
.,lid chunks Of ice, making them top-heavy
ARD turning them belly, up, a reasonable
amount Of sport may be expected in blind
cheating. If the decoys ride out un hour
without turning from the weight Of upper
,ce. the only thing to do is to sit still. smoke
when a fellow feels like il and pray for an &C.
cssional shot.
Professional hunters are not long-ived.
They have money all through the summer
and they lead lives OF excess. In the winter
rbey are subjected TO such exposure and
,erforn such unhealthful work that decay
beeins long before il should. They die
usually about 80. when they die natural
deaths. Many Of them are drowned, and
accidents arising from handling guns with
oenumbed fingers are many.
Thev do their own cooking and they
live on the plainest Of food, generally bacon,
bread and coffee, with an occasional can OF
tomatoes and a semi-occaslonal hunk OF
beef. They slaughter habitually the finest
food in the world, but il Is not for their
teeth.
A market hunter would a. soon think
Of eating a ~two-dollar bill IA OF eating a
pair Of canvasbacks. Indeed. the canvas
backs are 50 much money to him.
Sometimes, when there Is a camp OF gen.
,lemen sportsmen within reach, they are
visite ed by market hunters. who come e
10 find out how much OF their game is being
slain by the strangers and when the
strangers are going to get out and leave
the birds to their legitimate owners.
Al such times il is az once a funny and a
pathetic thing TO see the market hunters
stand about III at ease and look, with a
kind Of fascinated horror. at men calmly
devouring redheads. mallards, jacksnipe
and teal. II Ia exactly the feeling which
comes over a knot Of sensible people when a
vain-Qlorious spendthrift lights a ten-cent
cigar with a fve-dollar Treasury note.
Being hidden to the feast. however, they
fall 10 with a speed and endurance dis
counting the hest efforts Of any man reared
in the city. II is probably the only game
they have tasted in the most
certainly all that they will taste-and they
rise to the occasion.
They handle ducks 80 constantly that
they smell ducky and there are feathers
IN their pockets and inside OF their rubber
boots. but the taste Of duck broiled on live
wood Goals il almost as foreign TO them
as 10 a horse. SO far a. knowledge ex-
tends. the only market shooters In the
world who will put canvasbscks into their
own stonachs when the birds are worth
u 4 pair in New York city are the folks
who live down ON Banegst Bav. They
are a long legged. knobby -elbowed. hard
featured independent set Of fishers and
hunters. and generally thew do not care
whether school keeps or not,
In ali Wisconsin lakes 81 the smaller
class the waters are comparatively shallow
Along the banks wild rice grows ia season
and fruits and falls down before the ice
comes. Rushes. however. and flags locally
calI~i sword-grass-s,and up nearly all
a. the sinNr and make excellent cover.
There is a clause la the Wisconsin Game
H.. ..l.... g..l.l. H. ..arfi.N. ~ an aFfl-
haal bind away from the shore. IL IL
aiso Illegal % shoe, ducks before -nnriSs
~ after sunset. but this L. by the WI The
f.-tncuOn ~oonosning the erection 81
NuhaAl blinds has had the .nect partly
o. do away With the Old tank blinds ~
suk boaes. vhich we're plan-d far out IN
tho las.. from which -noFmous esecu-
tuu vac done. Mans nIsn are foros-t'
ousr,l.ntls. io deIshd upsh tho PUSHES
g. Du,o"alinsut
llrfe b. nothing Ia tho lAs 10 prevent the
hang - a bsal 10 the tsnfls 1his 10 done
a. tnvthg ~ a. fsF a. a. IL can H. made 10
. 40 thsn t.lding dosn a.. rush.s Ov.f
81 lhsss hnhiH are uauos do bot sliov
nfIr Irau ga lnchn - irssizsfd ana are
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