Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-14

| blue heron stalk graveiy along. fishing
| detely and carefully like feathered long
legged izaak Waltons Bittern and grebe
shyest of birds. a loon, may swim into the
| hunters ken There is plenty to occupy his
| mind and eye while he sits waiting for
| ducks to swing in--so much indeed, that
| many times man does not see bunch of
birds settle among his decoys till they are
swimming around in front of his eyes: and
at such times ii has happened often that
| the scared hunter has fred wildly into the
| bunch. only to riddle his wooden decoys,
while the five ducks tapped off Indignantly.
| When the scud is driving and the tall
grasses are beaten fiat by a cold wind, and
the distant line OF the sea is ridged with
| tunultuous waters. comes the glory of
shooting over decoys. Then the good ducks
having fought valiantly against both wind
| and weather, greet the sight OF the an
chored decoys with great Joy. and swoop in
| from the open to rest with them a moment
| and quack bit about the affairs of the
| world.
| Swiftly they come in. speck far away in
| one glance of the eye and a duck before
| the eyelid wink. Keen and shy, they
| swoop In beautiful curve over the decoys
and off again. to wheel far away and come
back Now in that time they present many
| fine shots. and the pride of the true gun
| ne. is to select the most difficult and win.
| Storm on the Salt Marshes.
During the day wind and sea get up until
| crested waves roll even into the blind.
| Like vast hand pressing on the sea-mead-
ows and smoothing them down. the wind
| brushes down thousand acres of grass
| Far away, vessels labor in the ocean. with
white smother rising In showers to the fore
| mast tops as the bows meet the challenging
seas.
Ever out of that open come the ducks
| travelling faster than the gale itself and
| giving just a momentary glance of white
| red or notified breasts before they are
Whiried away again in the gray rush of the.
| weather That is the best of decoy shoot
| ing, and when the hunter comes In. wet
| chilled and sttfened after fighting the
waves on the long road from his blind to
| shore, he has tale to tell about each shot
| They sail on ducks. too, in some parts of
the country, although most states prohibit
| this form of hunting, because 1t is too
| deadly. For some reason the shy, suspi-
| clous birds are not at all afraid of sail
| boat If 1t approaches them with a steady
wind SO that the canvas does not flap and
| they will sit still in the water till the craft
is almost on top of them. Indeed, the writer
mas seen sailboat actually come down on
duck so that the bird had to dive to
avoid 1t. Good guns at such times can kill
| birds till 1t is butchery
| Occasionally, particularly on MINDLESS
| fine days. the ducks suddenly develop an
exasperating habit of settling in the very
| middle of an open body of water, where 1t
is practically impossible to approach them
| with any ordinary means. Sometimes there
will be flock after flock thus rafting" till
| two or three thousand birds can be seen by
| the indignant sportsmen on shore.
| AT such times skillful boatmen or canoe
| men often cover their craft completely with
| grass or boughs, and lying down under the
| covering, paddle or drift very slowly until
| they get within gunshot
| Half the time they have their labor for
| their trouble. because the ducks are extra
| shy and apprehensive,. and usually fly just
| before the boat gets within range Even
| when the gunner does get up to the birds,
he rarely gets more than two shots. Then
| 1.-THE whole lot of a thousand or more birds
| gets up and vanishes
Sink Box Shooting.
| The most simple and inartistic kind OF
| duck hunting is the shooting from batteries
or sink boxes. This. like drifting down on
birds in bough-covered boat, is prohibited
| by many of the states.
| The battery is nothing but a great square
box several feet deep and solid and wide
| enough to hold two gunners. 1t is towed
| to waters where duck congregate. and there
| made fast to stakes being tied down SO
| that it is almost submerged there being
| left only just enough freeboard to prevent
| the water from running into it. This makes
| 1t almost invisible to the duck and the gun
ners lie down in it after the decoys have
been well planted all around the sink box.
| When duck arrive and stool the gunners
| sit up and fire. Sometimes a saiitoat sails
around the sink box at distance of half
mile or so to drive the duck toward the
| gunners.
| IN certain parts or the country, such as
| Great South bay and some of the salt
water sounds of the south this form of
| hunting is very successful, for the birds
| stool without fear, and they usually settle
| so close to the gunners that hits are as
| sured with any sort of good shooting, while
| the less sportsmanlike hunters, who do not
| disdain to shoot sitting duck, often bag
| from two to five with one shot as ..le duck
| swim into range.
| Some years ago a still more deadly and
| entirely unsportsma mike mode of shooting
| l--ese grand game birds was to let fly at a
| sitting flock with huge gun Ike a small
| cannon that was mounted on a swivel The
| hunters who did this hunted for market
| and as the gun was heavily loaded one
| shot often killed the greater part of a
| flock.
| This, well as night shooting by torch
| light or other artllclaI light has heen
| stopped practically everywhere like tie
| practice of setting nets In which the duck
| entangled themselves when owing for food.
| The great need now is to stop spring
| shooting so that the birds may fly to their
| northern breeding grounds unmolested and
| rear the next years broods.
| II they can thus have safe conduct''
| throughout the United States and II the
other restrictive laws are enforced CAREFUL
| ly, duck shooting should continue TO be
| good even for our grandchildren, and per-
| maps forever, or at least so long as the
| northern breeding grounds are left un-
| spoiled.