Evening star., 1916-01-22

Eight more days and the season fol
duck shooting will be over, at least so fal
as the early 1916 season is concerned. ant
sportsmen will then put away their shoot,
ing paraphernalia until the opening of the
season for shooting marsh birds, Septem-
Der /. Until the federal government dis
played keen interest in the sport it i:
stated. the shooting of woodcock was per
mitted during part OF the summer sea
sen. but under the federal laws such
shooting in this section is not permitted
until the early part of November
so that the gunners will have a long
rest,'' commented W. r Bowie enthusi-
sstic duck hunter. who thinks the law
governing the killing of ducks should be
changed.
There has been very little good duck
weather this season." he said. Early
in the season the weather was too warm,
and recently it was too cold. but there
has been practically none of the blustery
weather that starts the birds flying and
makes the sport attractive.
of course" he added, 'gunners do not
expect comfort when ducking.
Bowie thinks the season should ex-
tend over the month of February,
when, he says, some bluStery weather
is certain to be experienced. The
legislators, he said, would do we'll to
change the law so as to make the
opening OF the season a month later
and give the sportSmen the advantage
of the second month of the year in
which to enjoy the sport
Gunners have reported a scarcity of
ducks at most places, but, it is sta ted.
plenty of such game has been shipped
TO Washington dealers 1t is believed
that some reports of the scarcity of
game resulted from inability of gun
ners to make Killings. possibly
from the fact that the ducks did not
out of places where the high winds
made life burden.
Dr. John Freebooter of Severn, Md,
and DIR. Spranklin of Baltimore recent
ly participated in a duckins trip on
South river, one of the streams of
Maryland that is given protection and
where. 1t is stated. shooting is permit
ted but three days each week-Mon-
day. Wednesday and Friday.
1t is required that blinds, erected on
certain parts of the river, must be
under license from the county, and
such blinds are protected from gunners
not owning them. They must be built
within 800 yards of the shore.
Sergt. owen r. Moxley of the fire de-
partment hopes he will be able to get
one more trip to South river with his
physician friends. He was unable to.
he with them on the last trip, he stated,
but does expect to join them on trip
next week, If there are any ducks in
evidence.
On the occasion of the last trip in
which the two physicians participated
twenty seven Gucks, mostly mallards,
were killed. and the gunners say they
knocked down a few ducks they did
not get.
The gunners had an unpleasant ex-
perience,'' Sergt Moxley remarked
THE road between Seven and the river
was SO bad that the steering gear of
their automobile broke.
And he added, the sportsmen had
to walk several miles to Annapolis to
get help"
w. II. Cross says he believes in win
ter vacations. realizing the difficulty
of escaping hot weather during the
summer months. although he confesses
1t is not a matter of weather condi-
tions with him.
Cunning is my hobby" he remarked
"and it's in the winter time that there
Is game about here to be killed.
He does take a shot at reedbrds and
ortolan in September he remarked but
on such occasions he satisfies himself
shooting on the edges of the marsh as
a matter of protection against the
army of gunners that is there early
in the season.
Il haven't missed a Thanksgiving
cunning trip for umber of years" -he
said. land each year on such trips Z
see the same faces and hear the same
stories of success"
ON a trip to North Keys, Prince
Georges county, Nd. where he was a
guest of George Cross. the sportsman
participated in the bagginS of twenty
three rabbits, fourteen uuail seven
squirrels and one woodcock.
During the season that the SHOOTING
of game is not permitted Cross puts
in part of his spare time shooting clay
pigeons.
"Just to keep in practice" he re-
marked.
Members and friends of the Anglers
Club Wednesday afternoon motored to
the clubhouse on the Conduit road and
participated in an annual oyster roa st
and turkey dinner. 1t was rather cold
for an automobile trip. according to a
member of the oldest fishing club in
the vicinity of this city. but the warm
reception quickly Gispelled the cold
and made the affair a most enjoyable
one.
The erection Of a new clubhouse is
being considered by the members. and
that was the one important question
discussed at the annual outing. Some
of the older members did not forget to
tell fish stories, however, and il was
recalled that fish caught way ba ok
IN the seventies ha.1 grown 10 double
its size in the intervening years
Sort of rolling stone gathering
weight" remarked one of the diners.
Henry Bergling, president of the
club: Charles +. West, John A. Koons
and Bruce s. Branson were members
of the committee in ciarge OF the out
ing. which proved to ne one of the
most enjoyable OF affairs. Members
and guests numbered about forty.
A coating OF six inches Of ice on
the Potomac river this week had no
terrors for William Z. Dulin. who has
the reputation of being q fisherman
from the heart" He participated in an
effort to land two big small-mouth
bass. He saw the fish but was unable
TO induce them TO take a bait
He had bait of all kinds. said John
w. Hurley. When the eamesters re-
fused to take a mad tom Or smei,
Dulin dug through the frozen ground
for angleworms.
He got them by the sweat of his
brow" added Hurley. and tHe fish
even refused 10 take that bait
Hurley explained that the bass for
which Dulin labored so hard were re-
ceived from near Knoxville several
days ago They were caught some
time ago, kept alive and sent to Hur-
ley as a belated Christmas reminder
There were three fish in the lot, the
largest weighing six and one-hal1
pounds.
"T am going TO keep the llrgest oi
them alive" he said. but Dulin ;ool
the others. and / suppose there is moi
the slightest possibility that they will
be alive the Fourth of July"
ssCome nm" was the message Johl