ICE HOLE SHOOTING. 45 1 



marks the course of a wing-tipped drake as it tries 

 hard to. follow the flock and falls one or two hundred 

 yards from the shooter. Away he goes over ridges, 

 brushpiles and frozen sloughs, and soon returns, the 

 drake in his strong jaws, its good wing beating against 

 his nose, and delivers it to his master. 



When a man finds a place like this, he has found a 

 mine which is inexhaustible for that day. If he intends' 

 staying in the neighborhood, he should hunt some other 

 place similar to this, hunt them on alternate days, and 

 his shooting will be good each day. It is advisable to 

 scatter corn in the hole and around the edges on the ice, 

 but plenty in the hole if the water is shallow. The birds 

 will soon discover this, and come often ; and, if the hun- 

 ter is a good shot, will tarry long. As-fast as killed, set 

 up the dead ducks for decoys ; keep on until you have a 

 good-sized flock. No fear of having too many — the 

 more the better. 



In building a blind, advantage must be taken of lo- 

 cality. If in timber, secrete yourself well, with a good 

 open place to shoot through. Better have an indifferent 

 blind with a good place to shoot through than one 

 where you find you cannot shoot without interference 

 of limbs. Should you find the shooting must be had 

 in an exposed pond or river, where a shore blind cannot 

 be made, your ingenuity will be taxed to hide yourself, 

 and you must depend as much on quietness and patience 

 as on a blind. Should the ice be strong enough to bear 

 you, build a wall ten or twelve inches high of ice or 

 snow to conceal you. A little hay, a rubber blanket 



