The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-15

the man who shoots The man who can
paddle his mate on ducks steadily and
continually, giving him a fair shot each
time, may well assert that he is a pad
der Of parts; for his muscles and skill
must be perfectly attuned. and one must
be as constant and reliable as the other.
He must push the canoe so slowly
that It hardly has way enough steer,
and yet his wrist must be so deft that
he can twist the boat here and there
instantly, and all without making a
sound
A splash Of the paddle blade, touch
OF the implement against the side Of
the canoe, a scrape of it along the bot
tom, win be enough in the stiffness OF
the wilderness TO frighten sll the ducks
in the place and send them away in
long black lines Of flight to drop again
IN less uneanny place many miles
away
A Silent Hunting.
Shod in soft moccasins that there may
be no seraping of feet along the bottom
at a critical moment; clad in garments
colored to initiate the dead grasses of
the water side; the gunner in the bow.
braced ready Cor Il steady sh II, with
his shells between his feet and his gun
held in position; the paddler sitting
straight and alert in the stern: so the
snap-shooters steal along with never
ripple TO whisper at the bow Of the
graceful boat and never a drop of wa
ter permitted to tinzle from the broad
blade that urges it on.
Where the black shadows Of the tall
trees make midnight reflections on the
CLASSY water, the canoe glides. turning
as silently and as readily as a water
snake twists in its furtiVe hunting,
pointing into every hidden cove creep
ing close to every hiding place OF reeds
and bushes, passing near every log
where duck may have been preening
themselves to leave their tell-tale
feathers behind them.
So softly does it go that the bead
eyed mink running along a log at the
waters edge, most alert of the wild
creatures though ne be, does not know
its approach till It has passed him and
gets into his line of sight. So gently
does it float that a young family Of
grebes swift as they are to dive, sWfnns
plactdly and unafraid till the bow
pOkes its sleek nose among them. The
very water-snake itself. making his sin
lister head uDreared above the surface,
swinns Unsuspecting till the canoe ac-
splashes his way into the crevices of
the shore in headlong panic
Wonderful Canoemen.
There is no boat in the world except
the Indian canoe (and that includes all
modern forms of it, for the finest specl-
men of mahogany and cedar with
brass trimmings is only a deVelOpm eut
of the Indians wilderness craft) that
can do this; and there is no canoeman
except the American.
Nowhere else in the world can men
move boats so silently that the sly
creatures Of the woods do not dream of
their presence In the Adirondacks
and the Maine woods and in the Can
adam wilderness, the guides love to
paddle a tourist or camper so close to
shy moose or deer that a paddle would
almost reach their heaVing sides. More
than one angler has been padded so
close to deer by the woodsnen that he
was able to touch the creature with his
rod.
In padding on duck it happens again
and again that the canoe almost runs
on top Of even so shy a bird as the
crane; and twice in his experience the
writer has been padded by Canadian
canOemen against the very legs OF
ter fishing with their backs to the ap-
preaching boat
Padded by men who can do this, the
gunner in the bow is on his mettle in
deed. for the canoe viii put him fairly
on his game and he has no excuse if
he misses a single shot. Softly it
pushes through the wild rice, going so
tenderIy and lightly into the wilder
ness OF matted stems that the sixteen
foot boat laden with its two men makes
less rustlng than the breeze itself.
Now. somewhere, anywhere. in the
dense jungle ahead are duck, feeding
themselves fat and full on the great
est tid-bit that a duck can ever get.
In a moment they may get Up with a
Whlrr OF pinions like an automobile
1t may be dead ahead or far to
either side or even behind Two ducks
may get up simultaneously but a hun
dred feet apart, each going at railroad
speed; it IS the bounden duty OF the
gunner TO bring one down and then
swing his gun around and somehow
reach the second one. Or two birds
may cross. and If the gunner does not
catch the psychological moment neces-
sary to get them both with the one
shot he viii hear things from his mate
when they are back at camp. The man
with the gun has a stern critic behind
him and he knows that the critic has
earned the right
In Narrow Places
Once through the rice the slough
narrows and presently the canoe,