436 bUCK SHOOTING. 



grasps the gun, which is lying by his side, and at the 

 moment when they set their wings to aHght, or when 

 they are over the tail decoys, he rises to a sitting pos- 

 ture and shoots. The battery man's gun does not com- 

 mand a very wide range ; he can shoot to the right only 

 so far as he can twist his body, and, in his cramped 

 position, this, obviously, is not very far ; but if the birds 

 are immediately before him, and if they swing to his 

 left, his chance is good. Of course, he has little or no 

 opportunity to shoot at birds coming down the wind, 

 which will be over him before he sees them. If they are 

 disposed to decoy, they will swing and come back to the 

 stools ; but if, on the other hand, they are going on, he 

 will fail to have the shot which, if in a blind, he might 

 have had at birds coming from that direction. 



Although the novice in battery shooting is able to 

 cover with his gun little more than one-third the circle 

 of the horizon, a practiced battery shooter has a much 

 wider range for his gun. This he obtains by what is 

 called in Chesapeake Bay "throwing out." This means 

 that after a man has raised himself to a sitting position, 

 if the bird has got off too far on either hand to be eas- 

 ily reached by the gun, he throws his legs out of the box 

 and onto the platform, or deck, of the battery, so that 

 he faces the side of the battery, looking to the right or 

 to the left, and is thus able, without difficulty, to shoot 

 at birds on either hand. This can be done only by one 

 who is at home in the box ; but it greatly increases the 

 effectiveness of his shooting. 



After the gunner has taken his position in his box, 



