BLUEBILLS AND DECOYS 



" Travellers," or ducks that are on their 

 way south or north, do not decoy so readily 

 as the birds which have settled down to feed 

 in some cove or lake and have been undis- 

 turbed for some time. Ringbills, ruddies, 

 butterballs, red-heads, widgeons, pintail, and 

 mallards are apt to come in at times during 

 the day with the bluebills, but bluebills and 

 ringbills will be the most numerous. The 

 red-heads are getting scarcer, and mallards 

 mostly stick to the timber with the pintail, 

 but good bluebill and ringbill shooting is had 

 every spring and fall in the lakes, rivers, and 

 marshes of many of the states. 



There is, naturally, much attendant hard- 

 ship in duck shooting. The throwing out 

 and picking up of decoys in cold or stormy 

 weather is hard work, the rowing of a heavily 

 laden boat in rough water is sometimes dan- 

 gerous, and, generally speaking, shooting over 

 decoys is sport that tests the patience and 

 physique of the hunter severely. It ruins a 

 complexion, and unless you use gloves, your 

 hands are a sight after a couple of days. 

 The chill winds sweep down when you sit in 

 a boat for a few hours and preempt the 



