The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-27

! xOVOs
whore from either end they seized hand
fuls Of tough reeds and thus held their craft.
its side parallel with the shore.
.Now you had bsst take o6 that belt
and lay about dozen and half OF tho
cartridges loose and handy on the seat
beside you. for We are going 10 shoot sitting
down and there will be no time to lose.
was the next command.
A little while and the strings In the old
mans hand were being jsrked. while OBJ.
jeotions to his action were being quacked
from tho dscoys. A sharp whistling OF
wings and some noisy splashing In the
water set the sportsman's nerves a-going,
and he would have looked out to sec what
was going on. had not "whtst" and look
from his companion restrained him. Sew
eral times this happened, the decoys giving
each flock Of newcomers noisy welcome
Then the old hunter gave . silent signal
scattered here and there among the counter
the rushes were quietly parted. both guns
were carefully sighted on chosen ducks'
and fred
The squawkins and r,stling that followed
were amazing, Probably three or four hun
dred ducks rose confusedly and received the
left barrels - they left the water. Some on
the outer edge got up slowly enough to give
another chance before they had well started
to escape. Many fed straightaway out to
the open water. and to safety. Some
youngsters few right over the heads OF the
men In the canoe, and met with disaster.
The main body wheeled ~ II rose IN tho
tanned to such . height - to escape the
trees on the side Of the bay, and passed
between the boat and the shore, receiving
half q dozen charges OF No. 9 a. they made
tho half circle. Then the old man smiled
approvingly upon his companion and re-
somethins like sport. eh'' he said.
among the reeds before II gets dark
Back toward the shore tho canoe was
pushed, and moro than q dozen fat blue
bills were picked up. The others. which
had fallen near the decoys. were left for the
present, and the canoe was pushed out
rather nearer to the still quacking live
deccys.
Again the hocks came in, until what the
hunter called another raft Of them col
lected, and again the guns took toll Of them.
Then the canoe was padded into the open
water, the game. forty-one teal. blue bills
and black ducks was collected, and the fun
was over for the night.
1T took me . good while to ind out as
much a. you have seen tonight the old
man BEGAN, a. the two cat about testing
the visitors flask and tobacco in the hut.
with two or three dozen wooden decoys
Lcould get six orseight ducks night easily
enough, but the big hocks never would
come In and give me any show at them,
until II struck mo that they liked to join
themselves to other big crowds:
Nov, never put out lees than hun
dred and fifty decoys In this place. which
is one Of the best feeding spots about here.
and / always have four or five live ones to
call the first flock. ! let them gather
instead Of shooting each brood az Il comes
along. The bigger the crowd I get to-
and the more confusion there 10 when all
these strangers to each other start to get
away. You go they don't even understand
the orders given by the different leaders,
70 get several shots while they are getting
under way. Then, instead Of banging away
all evening. get all the shooting done in a
few minutes, and don't frighten the whole
lakeful Of BIRDS
Next morning saw the two gunners wait
ing in the reeds for light enough to get
line on the ducks which we're already ex-
changing salutations with the anchored
birds. For half an hour there was good
shooting until the gun barrels became un-
comfortably hot. and twoscore early birds
gathering these In. the canoe was padded
around tho next point, to another little
bay nearly . mile further on. There a eau
tious peep across corner revealed to the
astonished visitor what looked like shoal
Of thousands Of ducks, feeding;
nailed stssionins ii: friend behind some
bushes with q few clear directions as to
what was expected Of him, he drew back
into the woods to make the circuit OF the
bay. After an anxious time Of waiting, his
gun spoke from the other side Of the water,
and tho sportsman got himself ready
A dense flock Of noisy ducks came whist
ling toward him against the wind, and he
fred both barrels point blank into them
as they approached three birds coming
down slap into the water. The column
wheeled and circled toward the other
gun, taking long enough In doing so to
give tho younger man opportunity to empty
they came around, this time at q higher
level which gave better range for the
No. 4 shot he was now using. The birds
almost rained down as he fired, many Of
them only winged, or otherwise slightly
damaged.
Taking to the canoe the sportsman gath
in his sPo and padded over or 70 h;r ms
to his credit More than an hour WIS
spent In chasing and securing wounced
ducks, the old man insisting that it would
be the worst Of bad luck 10 leave one suf-
ferer to linger and miserably die OF its in
juries. Then, after . look over the couple
Of hundred decoys set out here, the over
loaded dugout was taken back to the first
bay, putting up number Of belated green
headed mallards, who were taking. late
breakfast among the rushes, and were
let alone, simply because the hunters were
surfeited with killing, and were headed for
coffee and other refreshments.
what will you do with them alp the
visitor asked a. he picked out few brace
for the folks in town before starting home.
well, the best OF them III sell to the boat
up at the wharf at noon.' he answered.
1The others l expect to sell out on the lake
to chaps az come hunting for their health
and shoot at the wind ell day
DON'T DESPISE THE MUD HEN.
In Spite OF Common Notion, They Afford
~