RIVER SHOOTING. 34I 



weeds, grass or branches of trees are fastened to it, so 

 that when seen from the level of the water the boat 

 looks merel}^ like a mass of drift stuff coming down the 

 stream. The gunner, when he reaches the point where 

 he intends to begin to shoot, ships his oars, and passing 

 a sculling oar through the hole in the stern of the boat, 

 lies on his back and slowly sculls the vessel with the 

 current. His eyes are just above the mass of the trash 

 on the deck, and he is able to scan the surface of the 

 stream before him. If he sees ducks he directs the boat 

 toward them and slowly approaches to within shot. If 

 he is careful, the birds are not likely to take the alarm 

 until he has come as near to them as he wishes to. 

 When he rises, the birds take wing, and he fires. 



Floating for ducks is likely to be practiced at any 

 time in spring or fall, but it is quite obvious that it is 

 likely to be more successful in the early winter, after the 

 quiet ponds and slow-flowing sloughs are frozen, than 

 when all the water is open. If, for example, the 

 weather in the Northern States should have been cold 

 for a few days, late in November, so as to close much 

 of the feeding ground, and there is a swift-flowing 

 stream that has not yet been frozen, good shooting is 

 usually to be found there. It will be had, however, 

 only at the expense of considerable suffering from cold, 

 but it is sure to be good. An account of such a day's 

 shoot, written by Mr. E. Hough for Forest and Stream, 

 is worth quoting : 



It was very cold ; our boat was calked by the fingers 



