212 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 
~ 
ing roots. The ducks feed on in quiet contentment, 
until the hunter is close enough to fire both barrels ef- 
fectively. Again, take some overflowed prairie, where 
the back water from a neighboring stream is coursing 
over the ground, entirely submerging the grass in places, 
leaving ridges where pin-tails, mallards, and widgeon 
love to sit. When one can see them lighting, hear 
their quacking, and get a glimpse of the long necks of 
the watchful pin-tail, as it stands up showing its grace- 
ful proportions. All duck-hunters know the seeming 
impossibility of approaching such a place, and yet I 
can recall one bright afternoon when the timber, the 
river and the wild rice were deserted, when my com- 
panion and myself sculled into such a place, and lying 
in the bottom of our boat with grass sprinkled over bow 
and sides, we bagged fifty-eight in a few hours. Then 
again, coming down a stream, Jumping ducks in any 
but a scull-boat, look at the position of the hunter and 
the shape of his boat. If he is rowing or paddling he 
cannot keep down out of sight. Usually he is sitting, 
and although he may think he is hid, he is far from it, 
and he can only get such shots as will be presented 
when the ducks fly from the willows; besides, his boat 
looms up high on the water, and is plainly seen, even 
if the shooter is hid. And then in a majority of so 
ealled duck-boats, he dare not shoot, except straight 
ahead, for fear of the recoil upsetting the boat. In a 
seull, he can shoot in any position, sitting, kneeling, or 
even standing, and he need never fear an accident, for 
I can assure him it is impossible to upset one of these 
boats. There is no feeling of insecurity in one of them, 
when one would constantly be afraid of something hap- 
pening to cause an upset in the ordinary hunting-skiff. 
