The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-24

shake a stick at, Colonel, this year." was the greeting received as my tender approached the dock at the world-famous ducking grounds or Hayre dc Grace. Md, I'm powerful glad to see yer and can promise you the best of spot It looks good to me to see all you folks coming round and prospecting. cause know we've got the stuff to show you on the pointing to . mass of decoys receiving their annual coat of paint and var nish.
 Our guide was to be old Captain Call houn. than whom none knows the duckfng flats better and who has many tales to tell of the years he acted as duck police"
 As this was only "prospectin tour to see how the winters hunting was to be and how the gear. decoys and blinds were, we had plenty of time for sociable chat full of reminis- cences of past shots always dearer to the heart of. the sportsman than all the tales of books or camera.
 Certain sure, Colonel, this yer has been a dry year and no mistake about it. It do seem as though we aint had nary a thunderstorm or a proper rain- fall all summer or fall and It's curl ous how the rockfish, crabs and birds has been so thick this autumn. You'd scarcely believe me, sir, but this was the third time only in nigh onto half a century that crabs has come up this far in the bay Why. sir. there warn't enough fresh water coming down the old Susquehanna to rust barn door nall. Reminds me of the last drought we had when you come down here with that young fellow from Mana ynnk what thought he knowed all there was about shooting. hunting. fishing and sich like. Why, Colonel. I done killed all my brand new decoys and then wanted to know why they held their heads so high when they was dead. The boys round here is always wanting me to tell them as to how he Scrept on deck that second morning he was aboard the launch to
 shoot mess of ducks for breakfast"
 T don't think remember that story." put in. "Dor you mean when he sat in that leaky old blind until he
 was frozen so tight we had to cpt him loose?"
 NO, siree, coioneli This here was the time the drum or late crabs was a. picking the barnacles off the bottom
  teur up. SO that heN asked Jake what
 the noise was ali about, and Jake. be- ing pestered with the young fool told him 1t was the ducks picking up last nights supper crumbs often the deck.
 I'll be dingbusted if he didn't believe 1t and start to stalk them birds"
 Did he get them?"
 "Get them? Sho. Colonel. you're laughing at me! You see. every time
 he went on deck the noise stopped, cause you can't hear them crabs on- less. you're down in the cabin. and each time he came back careful-like,
 more an more dumfounded. He couldn't locate them duck nowhere. It
 was still pretty dark, and with all his shooting togs on he didn't make any
 too little noise. though I guess he thought he was doing a mighty clever piece of stalking. By and bye Jake got tired of his trapsing around, that way and asked that sportsman what he thought he was up to. Those ducks get away every, time afore can get on deck says he, soft sand low, 'on
 deck, yer dern fool says Jake;- Them
 things Is on the bottom Of the boat. and rolls over and goes back to sleep.
 And by links. when come on deck an
 hour or two later, that poor idjit. was fylHR I1dL On HIS BcAly Oii NhO StShh deck, with his shotgun hanging over the side, a crab net alongside of him and the-tender- all. handy if any of
 them submarine ducks should darst to
 show a bill above water level"
 'T think owe you drink after that, Cap" said F-thoughtfully. And while you're washing that last one down, won't you tell our friends here"
 motioning to the rest of my party.
 now Judge watson got stuck in the blind you had fixed for him?"
 Sure and certain. Colonel" readily
 assented our mentor, now started on
 his long suit, sbut you folks better hop into the power skfff wonder while
 we go out and look at the wild celery and oats on the flats, so as you can fudge fer yourselves whether or not there's to be ducks this winter May
 be we'll see some on the way; it ain't
 too early even now.
 We complied with alacrity. for that was the very purpose of our visit. Af- ter we cleared the mouth of the Sus- uuehanna, with It's beautiful steep wooded shores and its doll-house-like lighthouse on the southwestern point We headed for the eastern shore of the bay. Half way between us and the splendid brown, green and yellow spIotched mountains standing guard tagainst the northeast gales of winter,
 lay the newly formed flats and islets growing riot with stunted willows and acres of wild oats. the haunt of the
 black k-birds, reedbirds and later the blackhead ducks. To the south and east again of these stretched for miles the reedy flats known as the celery patch, interspersed with water lanes, through which the tucker poles his way to his favorite stand or blind. At intervals along the shore lay overturned sink boxes awaiting the first of November to be pushed over board and weighted down with ballast until their owners weight will just bring them flush with the waterline Where good feeding grounds come close to higher ground barrels are sunk in the shore part way so, that a
 man may stand up in them protected from the wintry blasts and from the view of low flying birds by screens of fresh cut reeds. Creeks and guts in-
 numerable run far inshore up which the summer and mallard species can
 be found in their. haunts at break of day by softly scuIling down upon them
 from windward In the omnipresent | flat bottom boats of F{avre de Grace
 These are fitted with a. "bung hole" in
 the stern board, so a long 1.-the car can be yielded by the hunter while lying ! almost prone on the bottom boards.
 Your duck is quick to notice anything | that appears human or suspicious. but an apparently empty boat Or big
 bunch of grass slowly floating to-
 ward them seldom causes them to
 take wing until within very easy gun shot distance.