The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30

lively to the shoulder, the barrels mus, point
inst inctively just the proper distance ahead
, OF the hurting of Act and the trigger must
10" pressed without jerk or shrinking OF
shoulder. To state IL with more cxactnesS.
the lnallard will cover the thirty yards In
much lees than two seconds.
The man aCcu-t omCd TO his sort Of shoot
! ing Of course never stops TO take aim: he
! does not even think of taking aim; he has not
| time really TO think Of anything tie does
not know that the gun has gone 10 his shoul-
der He does not see the barrels He sees
only the duck
Then he does know that the gun has gof.
! on and, more often than not, he knows
moment later that more than an ounce of
No. shot has gon" on an exploring tour
! through the Vastly ai-les Of notllingness.
II l. all mechanical much like writing
| a word with n pen when the mind does not
| detorminedly form the letters of the word;
| and just H. some men can never learn TO
| write well some men can never learn To shoot.
| Indeed it h0- been said that there il a subtle
| relation between the two; that any man who
has In him the making of good shot can
| b como "A good p,nm4n and vice versa.
II often happens that when pass has
been established bv the uallards. which
are generally pioneers. other species viii
adopt IL and then the sportsman from his
| natural blind will get variety of shooting
| sufficient 10 satisfy the most eNaCtnE. He
may in this manner in the course of The
! hours shoot Of al evening obtain one or two
specimens OF every kind of duck now in the
South, including several OF species new to
him
The North IL not exclusively the breeding
place Of edible ducks. Sore of the kinds
STAY In Arkansas all the wear round. The
duck known there as the squealer Is an
instance
Az well IA it NAV he identified without
scientific eyar nation. II Is n sort Of southern
wood duck though II differs from the North
ern wood-dlok in many important particulars
IL does, however nest IN trees, either up
| night and green or haf-fallcn and dead.
There l. duck too. much resembling the
teal and doul Il. - Of the teal family which
belongs TO neither ,he Hue WING q nor the
green winged variety. It's known some
times rs the brown teal and son, times as
the cinnamon teal
That queer and delicious flyer. called by
the folk Of Chesapeake BAY the SOUTH
Southerly." from q PECULIARLY Of its cry,
doc s not often g.t into the Mississippi Valley
high up from the sea, but visits the great
river near it, mouth some naturalists
say that they have d,ntified it with the
English al, wife
At any rate. when other ducks have found
the pass and are using II temporarily the
man behind the gun while Fept busy guess
ing rs to what l. coming next. The com
paratively slow gresnhead may rush by and
| lie missed followed minute later 10y some
] .
| chances out Of ten he will not get shot at
! this fellow, leCausc the rate Of speed has
| lesn suddenly hoisted from fifty miles an
hour to something approaching eighty.
The suliealer when II comes will give even
! more trout L. because 1t iscssent Tally forest
duck and IL used To steering its way between
| trunks end branches and il will cross the
opening n even greater speed than the teal,
| being wholly unhampered by caution, This
, ducka, top speed will fit through the woods
with Ar much certainty n atat, rudderlng
itself with tail and shooting many feet 20
| right or left 10y raising or depressing wing
after the manner Of, and in almost as angu-
lar fashion a.. dragonfv.
The gadwells, the pintails, the wdgeons.
the hluo-lillS will all Ne on the pass and there
is ''ninty that before dark shows the gun
flashes coming red from the muzzles the
shooters temper will Ia AZ hot as the barrels.
tn" malnrd il wise and will not stick TO
pass, however convenient II may be.
Tor more than two evenings Possibly
il calculates that the first hammerng is
an accident the second shows II that it,
bipedal enemy has found il out, and ii
will get another pass or else for awhile
travel wholly above the trees, facing the
wind and possible danger from hawks
The other ducks. learning from II, will
also frequent another portion of the woods
| and thus pass on which incessant shooting
| may have been obtained on Monday Will
| furnish no shooting al all on Wednesday.
The action OF the birds j. fastened by
| the Southern habit of shooting IA long
| as the Ugh, holds and often longer Men
will stay in a blind and fire when the ducks
going by are practically invisible mere
black BALI, seen for only par OF a second.
| and shot al ON the chance that the thud
Of falling body striking bayou or bank
NAV Ia heard
There is nothing which will scare ducks
away from any point 80 quickly a. shooting
after dark. and this IL the reason for tn.
statute which obtains in many States for
bidding shooting after sunset Firing
before daylight will have the same effect .
great and permanent fright being pro-
| duced bv the vi.iblc flashes from the guns
Populous with ducks a. are many of the
smaller southern lakes at this season
inc1utious shooting will result in driving
| every duck from them in a week and those
| viii be taken by successors coming down
| from the North. but only when before
! daylight and after sunset shooting has
been discontinued for While.
| Wild fowl shooting in the woods of the
! lower Mississippi Valley will he at it, best
| late in December, both in number and
| quality Of birds. because then the mast
| viii have fallen freshly. The mallards
| leave tho lakes in early morning and feed
| Ia the shallow wood ponds in search Of
/ acorns, and in this search they are Joined
| bv their smaller cousins who find beech
nuts and such thing, in profusion.
II il a belief down there that duck
| kill In December is b. tier than one killed
AZ any other time, because il is mast fed,
| Just as il il the belief TINT mast fed pork
| il superior to the finest product Of Wet
| phalil. Indeed, "A planter, his table garn-
! ishrd with acorny mallardS or beoctv
| teal viii turr up his nose NJ a canyashack
| though the c Try scent of il rise to high
| heaven, and there may ba many North
| erners who have shot gIunod IL in the far
| South in past seasons who will strike palms
| with the planter and say that he is a man
| wise in his generation, even If he does drop
| his "rs