The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-03-11
SE0OTING CANVASBACKS
HEAVIEST OF ALL DUCKS, AND
most DELICATE IN FLAVOR.

HapIts--SWiftest Filters in Their
Tribe, Being Both Hard to Hit and
Hard to KIN.
Feerless among his kind, the swift
est HER, the hardest to find, heaviest
OF ducks, the canvasback is the nm
crowned king of all water fowl un.
rlVaied IN the minds of sportsmen by
any other duck, with the possible ex-
ception OF the mallard, says an expert
m the Los Angeles Times. Game as
wv greenhead may be- delicate as is
MS flesh when a fall Of good living has
Iarded his ribs with fat. he is lum-
perlng, ungainly fowl in comparison
with the regal red-headed aristocrat
OF the deep wild celery ponds, and is
never capable of testing the ability of
marksmen and the hard-shooting pow
err OF a duck gun as does his wedge
billed relative.
On the south coast the canvasback
isAenough Of rarity to make the cap
ture OF three or four brace of him in
days hunt the subject for many an
evening chat in the club house. The
handsome markings and proportions
OF the drake, or bull can" as he is ia
miliarly known by hunters, are
enough to make the bird a much-de-
sired member of the bag were his flesh
not proverbially fine in flavor. The
canvasback of this vicinity lacks the
typical and delicate wild celery taste,
Ut the large body and unfailing
sweetness of the meat fully maintain
al! canyasback traditions.
1t may seem incredible that there
was time in the east, as late as civil
war lays. when the ''cans" predomi-
mated in the middle Atlantic states,
but it is fact that gunners of that
time actually changed their blinds and
went after widgeon, bluebills, and
other ducks for change. There is a
Well-authenticated instance of a Vir-
\ glnia planter who just after the war,
Tad trouble with his emancipated col
ored laborers who inaugurated the
first strike" on record, because of an
exclusive diet of canvasback duck!
They refused to come back to work
until their demands for corn pone
and sow at least once a day had been
granted
There are several places in the
I United States, and even in California,
there from 20 to SO canvasbacks may
~oe bagged in days shooting. All the
gun clubs get few of them in a sea-
sen, but the Guadalupe club in Santa
Barbara county does more execution
among the "cans" than all others.
Bear Valley lake in some years yields
good bags, but the stronghold of the
edge bills on the coast is San Franci-
co bay and the various sloughs ada
cent to it.
Of all the duck tribe only two other
members, the teal and the mallard, are
as particular in their diet as is the
: canvasback. This feather gourmand
Twill fly hundred miles if need be to
find the peculiar aquatic vegetables
upon which he feeds. From five to 10
feet below the surface, upon sandy
mud bottom in lakes which are full the
year around, grows a small plant
called by scientists "vallisneria," and
by the hunters duck celery" or "can-
vasback weed 1t sprouts, natures
and terminates under water, and
makes its presence known by a glutin-
Gus scum on the surface of the water
When the canvasback finds bed Of it
he begins diving for the soft and
pulpy weed, bringing it to the surface
and gorging on it. Other ducks. the
widgeon in particular, have been ac-
cused of robbing the leans" of their
hard-earned food by grabbing the weed
from their bills as they come up half
blinded by the water, but it is doubt
full if they ever do anything more than
eat the leavings of the bigger birds.
The canvasbacks are the swiftest |
ducks in the air, the handiest in the |
water, and the most ungainly on land. |
Their flight usually lies in the short
est line between two points, and once
under way they often display disre-
gard for blinds that would turn other |
ducks. They will often stand for any
amount of shooting without forsaking |
a favorite resort, but when in places
with which they are not familiar. no
bird is more wary. Often they pay no
attention to decoys, and will not re-
spond to the most perfect imitation OF
their call, which is sort Of half grunt,
half quack. To knock them over as
they come whizzing in to light with
wings tense and set is knack not
picked up in day, presenting an en-
tirely different problem from that Civ
on nv birds OF slower motion. One
must lead well and shoot true to stop
them for their muscular, densely-
feathered bodies will protect their