Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-15
(All Photos Copyr!s GIFTED by +. y. BausSctt

tAn Photos Copyrighted by r. ~ Baussctrl
familiar with the skif II appears an as
.cranky'' thing. but so soon
as one catches on i will be found tina
it is remarkably seaworthy. The whole
secret is To allow the body to ride vii
the craft: in other words. it is si:nila
to learning to ride bicycle.
|. is still dark at 80 but YOU roll ~
of bed when your landlord" rars on
Your door and calls ''breakfas-"' You
hustle into YOUR clothes then to the din
ing kitchen and have well cooked cou'!-
try breakfast. of which you eat about fcur
times much ii YOU We're at your c'ty
breakfast table. Soon you are on tn.
way to the shooting grounds, your SKI T
cutting the water like a torpedo boa =
and the dawn is just beginning 10 breuA.
When you reach the shooting blind tie
work of putting out the decoyS begins. L.
the water is deep il is best to place them
from the bCdt-SOme SportSmen stand on
The bank and toss them out This liz ba
practice. as you are liable to snap tie
cord and lose your decoy weight, beside;
il is very injurious 10 the wooden ducks.
very often dislocating their necks. IL The
water is shallow the decoys can be gath
cred up by the armful and placed by
wadng out into the water. They sho3ld
be we'll scattered about thirty-hve yards
from the shooting blind. and the more
you have the better. a bunch of ducks
is not liable to decoy II they outnumD+r
the decoyS.
The Patience Test.
After all these details have been attend
ed to and the sk:ff pulled well up into
the reeds. then commences the test OF
the hunters patience. Whether his blind
be artificial or natural. it is more or less
incomplete. and he must remain still.
That is the whole secret of successful
duck hunting. AS long as the hunter re-
mains absolutely still, though almost in
full view. the ducks will disregard hun
once they have their eyes set on the de-
coys But the slightest movement. even
the shifting of the trgger-fnger. is some
times sufficient 10 send the game In tam
talizinS fight. This is more particularly
SO in open weather when the birds are
far more shy. There need not be the
same care in very rough weather, when
there is a sudden whir of wings, a splash,
and the ducks are among the decoys be-
fore You have had time TO realize what IS
happening.
Wild ducks fly about ninety miles an
hour If in a boat, on a lagoon, or slug
gsh stream. or in a blind. in a swivel
chair in the cockpit Of a small catboat,
the first thing is to make certain the al
titude of the game: secondly, you must
understand the winds effect upon the size
of shot you are using. how much velocity
your charge of powder will give it, and
LOW lllSH lle SilOt W III 81 Will q tNi'o''
amount of effort. Thirdly, you must make
a careful calculation as to the exact spot
in the sky where the duck and shot viii
meet. After all this has been deter
mined by mental calculation. close your
eyes and PUNK away, and by that time
you will discover that your duck has
gotten beyond the range of a siX-pounder.
Peter PoSey, one of the old-time duckers
Of the Chesapeake. says that he always
shoots ten feet ahead of his duck If il is
flying across his fire. but 1t is best to
shoot at a duck going. rather than com
ing as the shot is apt to take hold under
the feathers better. He says most of the
city fellows who come down his way
duck:ng shoot at the ducks both a-comin'
an a-goin'.