The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-25
Finest Lot in Years Along the
Great South Bay.
RED HEADS COMMONER there
Thousands Of Birds. and There'll Be
Good Sport Next Month.
One Kind Of Hunting Right At the Cty's
Dosr. and Free to All Who Can Enjoy
n.Wsre DO Than share in Any Other
spsrttns on Long Island. and still
TAere's Room--Hunters Camping Out
NJ Nisbt Now IN Be Ready for Dawn,
and All Day the Guns Are Banging.

MoR1cHEs. l.. l., Oct 2i-One Of the
largest flights o! .-ild fowl ever seen IN the
Great South Bay. on the south side OF
Long Island. ia now being witnessed and
n giving sportsmen superb sport.
The focks include black. scooter. ruddy
and broadbill ducks, the last named being
the most numerous and successfully pur-
sued. At daybreak every morning the
shore OF the bay ia dotted with hunting
boats. Some hunters sleep on the ground
over night TO insure possession OF the best
points.
No sooner does the dawn break than
veritable fusillade begins and continues
until nearly noon. when lull in the nights
occurs. The shooting is resumed about
in the afternoon, and with slight inter.
mission lasts until darkness compels an
abandonment Of the grounds
The most successful and satisfactory
method OF shooting ducks in the Great
South Bay ia with decoys. About fifty OF
these are set in a crescent TO leeward oil the
blind to resemble as much as possible the
live birds while sitting in the water
The most important matter i'll wild fowl
shooting is the choosing Of the ground,
While one point may afford excellent shoot
ing to-day, tomorrow there may not be
single bird near. The force and direction
OF the wind, the condition OF the atmosphere
and the stage Of the tide, together with the
variety and wariness of the birds, all con-
stitute factors in determining where 10
shoot. SO intimate as well as broad must
4.
be the successful duck hunter knowledge,
that where one man unacquainted with
these conditions would not secure single
shot another would achieve excellent
results.
There is perhaps no pursuit where the
element of uncertainty is so large While
a hundred birds may one day reward the
sportsman's efforts, on another he may fail
even to get shot.
While there are now thousands OF ducks
in the bay the best sport will not be obtained
before the middle Of next month, when
the prevalence Of high winds VIII cause
the birds to fly and decoy readily. When
the birds are numerous and the weather
propitious the flight IS sometimes 30 large
that the gun becomes overheated through
rapid shooting and the barrels need 10 be
dipped in the bay to lower the temperature.
II is then tha. the sport proves most eXhlla-
rating. and the hunter, with his nerves on
tension and the blood flowing vigorously
through his veins. is utterly oblivious to
cold and wind alike,
In the last few years, owing partly to the
growth Of suitable food in the bay and the
stringent enforcement Of the game laws,
red head ducks have become numerous in
the Great South Bay. This variety com
mands s? a pair in the market, ana the birds
are consequently more eagerly pursued
than are the commoner kinds. The red
heads arc most numerous in the bay
lust before cold weather arrives. When
the bay freezes across, leaving a few oper
air holes in the ice, the ambitious sports
man has his opportunity. The ducks. with
no other grounds for feeding. fly eagerly
to the open patches and it IL not ever
necessary to SET decoys. Sometimes they
crowd each other 80 that well directed
yoley will kill upward Of a score at dis
charge But such practices are discouraged
by the real sportsrnen.
A, his season large numbers OF black
ducks seek the salt water marshes along
the beach TO feed at night. Unless the
weather is boisterous, when they fly at al
earlier hour, the flight begins about sun
down and is continued until after dark
While it does not continue for more thar
half an hour, while it does last the shooting
IL almost incessant and fifteen ducks ia 1
common bag On moonlight nights the
flight continues until after midnight.
But at night the ducks are hard to re
trieve, and shooting at night has atendency
to Brighten them undulv and drive hem IL
other feeding grounds.
While raost Of the upland shooting OF
Long Island is being conserved by clubs an'
wealthy individuals, the duck shooting il
a greater part Of the bay is still free TO thu
public. and the number Of vOtaries Of thin
sport is larger than that Of any other OF
the island