446 DUCK SHOOTING. 



In the use of live decoys it is found of great advan- 

 tage in accustoming them to their duties, to have a few 

 w^ell-trained, older birds, whose example is quickly fol- 

 lowed by the younger members of the flock. 



It is very necessary to take pains at the outset in the 

 arrangement of the little board or gangway which leads 

 up from the water to the coop in the blind. The incline 

 must be easy, so that at the first attempt on the part of 

 the decoys to enter they will find no difficulty in com- 

 fortably ascending. If too steep an incline, they are 

 likely to slip and flutter clumsily in the effort to regain 

 footing, and ever after will hesitate to make the at- 

 tempt, swimming and dodging about the blind until 

 finally driven in. 



This, of course, is very annoying and seriously inter- 

 feres with the results of a day's sport. With proper 

 attention to these details, however, there appears to be 

 little trouble afterward, and certainly to one who finds 

 something of interest in the accessories of duck shoot- 

 ing, and whose entire enjoyment of a shooting trip is 

 not confined to the mere killing of game, the working 

 with live decoys is extremely interesting. 



In selecting a decoy to tether out as a caller, a female 

 should always be taken, as she has the well-known lo- 

 quacity of her sex in general, and proves, as with 

 human beings, a greater attraction than the male. The 

 drakes are rarely tethered, being reserved for tossing 

 into the aii*. 



In calm weather, when the fowl are not moving 

 about, the door of the coop may be raised, and the whole 



