216 Sporting Sketches 



remark was, " Bet you got him ! " and when I held 

 up the duck, his whoop of delight might have been 

 heard a mile away. The bird wasn't injured a par- 

 ticle, but it was " scared stiff." I got it safely home 

 and kept it until the first of the winter. It soon 

 became as tame as a pet chicken. To my great 

 sorrow a mink killed it one night in its pen. 



The shooting of the wood-duck is a sport I 

 greatly fancy. There are three methods, which 

 may be termed "jumping," "poling," and "flight." 

 About the time of the first light frosts, the ducks 

 are much in the vine-hung trees that overhang slow 

 streams and ponds. The small wild grape is then 

 the attraction. When not in the trees, the ducks 

 have a habit of skulking under the brush of the 

 banks and quiet coves. They also like to stand 

 upon almost submerged snags. When alarmed in 

 such places, they may at once spring, or go trotting 

 like grouse to the brush. 



The man intent upon jumping wood-duck should 

 have a good canoe and a light, handy gun a good 

 quail gun is the very thing. I kneel and have the 

 gun resting in a crutch, so the heel-plate just comes 

 between my knees. So placed, one can get it with 

 the least waste of time, and it is wiser to waste no 

 time when a wood-duck springs. The paddle should 

 be made fast by a yard of stout cord ; it may then be 

 dropped and recovered at will. The quickest way 

 to get rid of it is to drop it clear. So equipped, one 

 may steal up mile after mile of stream, keeping a sharp 

 eye upon trees and low cover ahead, and hands ever 

 ready to drop the paddle and seize the gun whenever 

 the tremulous " Oe-eek-oe-eek ! " tells the glad tidings. 



