584 DUCK SHOOTING. 



re-establish themselves, and to fill the gap in their ranks 

 that had been made in earlier years. Witnesses who 

 visited southern ducking-grounds in 1865 tell of the 

 countless number of fowl then found there, and of their 

 tameness. They say, too, that then there were no gun- 

 ners, and that the only birds killed were a few shot by 

 the residents for their own consumption. 



At this time the West was practically unknown, and, 

 of course, unsettled. Beyond the Missouri River there 

 were no white inhabitants. Over the vast extent of 

 territory between the Mississippi and the Rocky Moun- 

 tains the fowl bred undisturbed, and in their migra- 

 tions passed to and fro over a territory where they 

 were not molested. If there was an occasional army 

 post in that wild region, its presence there had no 

 effect on the ducks and geese, for the shotgun was un- 

 known, and the man who desired sport or food took 

 his rifle and hunted four-footed game. 



But gradually a change came. Settlements increased 

 along the lines of travel ; railroads were built into new 

 territory; ranchers began to take up land in regions 

 away from the railway, and each newcomer made the 

 country less possible for the wild creatures that had 

 hitherto inhabited it or passed through it. Concur- 

 rently with all this, came the greatly increased interest 

 in shooting, by which the number of the gunners was 

 many times multiplied. As their numbers increased, 

 they soon shot out the old places to which the fowl had 

 always resorted, and were forced to search out new 

 localities of game plenty. Let us see with what result. 



