Many devices have been used to scare waterfowl from grain fields. Tracer bullets, mortar bombs, 
revolving lights, and burning oil drums are among those that have been successfully employed to scare 
waterfowl. Edward Davis, Refuge Manager, Calhoun County National Wildlife Refuge, successfully kept 
mallards from congregating in the adjacent Stump Lake public shooting ground after the close of the 
1949 and 1950 hunting seasons. He accomplished this by using gun fire to flush the birds repeatedly. 
Hunter Conduct. -- The individual hunter can reduce waterfowl losses from lead poisoning by ex- 
ercising greater control over his shooting. 
It is a common practice among hunters to underestimate the distances at which ducks and geese 
are flying. Large ducks and geese, particularly, seem to be closer than they really are. Recognition of 
color patterns, the eyes, the feet, or other features are used by some hunters as a guide for telling when 
birds are within range. This rule of thumb is effective only on bright days, and due allowance must be 
made for dark or misty days. Many hunters find it helpful to take note of the distance from the blind 
to the decoy spread or to some landmark, such as a muskrat house or snag, as a means of judging range. 
Perhaps the best method for estimating range involves calibrating the width of the shotgun muzzle 
on 2 20-inch square of paper at distances of 30 to 60 yards. The length of most ducks in flight is approxi- 
mately 20 inches, and the width of the flesh-and-bone area of the wing spread is approximately the same. 
The relationship between the width of any type of gun muzzle and a flying duck can be worked out in a few 
minutes against a 20-inch square of paper. For example, if the muzzle of a 12-gauge double-barreled 
shotgun completely covers a mallard or other large duck, that duck is too far away to shoot. 
Out-of-range shooting creates two undesirable conditions: (1) a needless deposition of large num- 
bers of expended pellets in shot-over areas and (2) an unnecessarily large number of unretrieved 
cripples. Because the proportion of unretrieved cripples is roughly one-third of the number of ducks 
bagged, and about 8 per cent of Illinois mallards have swallowed shot pellets, it is at once apparent that 
an improvement in hunters’ judgment, self-discipline, and choice of duck loads may, by reducing lead- 
poisoning and crippling losses, increase the number of ducks bagged or available for shooting. 
Preliminary results of a co-operative investigation by Olin Industries, Inc., and the Dlinois Natural 
History Survey show that, at ranges up to 50 yards, there are only small differences in the effectiveness 
of standard loads of shot sizes nos. 4 and 6. Although beyond 50 yards the killing power of both sizes 
drops, no. 4’s are noticeably more effective than the smaller shot size. Shells of this shot size contain 
40 per cent fewer pellets than do no. 6’s, and their use by hunters would reduce the number of expended 
shot pellets available to feeding waterfowl. 
S95 = 
