Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-28

broadly divided into marsh and
E upland shooting. Strict marsh
IA&@I shooting is confined to rice
birds, also called reed birds;
blackbirds and sora. or Virginia rail. All
these come in flights of thousands TO feed
in brackish marshes-nOtably those which
cover the Potomac 1ats-and spread about
the estuaries of tidewater streams from
the Potomac to the Florida coast.
\ There are two ways of getting at tho
birds. One is to put on hip-boots and wade
the marsh edges, shooting as the flock
rise overhead. This is tiresome and withaI
unsafe to a man who does not know every
foot of the ground. The marsh mud has
a tremendous holding power and also a
knack of developing holes deep enough
to swallow up the unwary. Besides the
best shooting is always further in-mid-
marsh, in fact, especially If the marsh is
broad, with shallow edges.
The better way is to shoot from a marsh
boat, a shallow but seaworthy affair. very
sharp at both ends, but of fairly broad
beam in the middle. 1t is propelled by a
long pole tipped with an iron V prong
which is to save the pole from going too
deep in mud. Local boatmen own and pole
the boats, charging for their use 50 a tide.
This is not eXorbitant in consideration of
the work involved in polling and the extra
vigilance required to mark game and re-
trleVe 1t before crabs and crawfsh steal il
Inc boats go in on a rising tide and
stay only until it turns, for at low tide
the craft would rest on the muddy bot
tom. AS the prov parts reeds. PUSHES
and wild oats, the birds feeding there in
hocks rise after the manner of feathered
clouds. Workmanship is hardly required
to bring them Town in dozens. All one
needs to do is to shoot quickly in their
direction before they get out of range.
they fly like lightning, especially the rice
birds.
Rail, which is a little larger than rice
blrds, are sometimes shot upland and far
from the coast line. They are, indeed, not
unknown IN the great middle region west of
the Appalachians, where no doubt thew have
Jagged from flights between gulf marshes
and those of the great lakes. In their
season the marsh birds are delicate eating
tender and tempting morsels, almost
smothered in their own fat.
AISnipe and woodcock, which almost haunt
Shese tidal marshes, are found pretty well
everywhere there is rich. damn. low
ground. In the main they are migratory.
though a moiety breed near their feeding
haunts in the river valleys of the middle
The breeding is early and by mid
July the broods are as strong on the wing
as the parent birds.
Old river bottom meadows Astounding in
sloughs and thickets are the best ground
Tor either snipe or woodcock. Both birds
reed late, from shutdown well forward
throughout the hours Of strong sunshine
they keep so close that the best dogs often
TALL to nose them out. Once I'D thew hv
so strong that there is a great chance of
especially as both have a most
cratic line of flight. 1t is no feat at all
.or a lively woodcock to make himself a
corkscrew, twisting his wav
,hrough the air. Still, with patience.
workmanship and a bit of luck one NAV
make a fair bag, but rarely a big one.
Summer shooting is practiced in MANY
'laces' but the best sport comes in au-
umn' when migrating birds halt for rest
md retreshment. Then a good gun well
should account for several brace
.ach time out. At other times one brace
# even a single bird to half a dozen misses
S no discredit to sportsman skill.
For every snipe or woodcock the south
and shows there are at least a hundred