IN THE MAPS II. 129 



est degree. Away down in front of us, watcli that big 

 flock of mallards ; they circle and sail, undecided where 

 to alight. It does seem that whew ! That was a close 

 call. He didn't miss my head two feet, and he was 

 going fully a hundred and fifty miles an hour. If he 

 had struck me, you would have had a green-winged 

 teal, and I would have been laid up for repairs. It has- 

 always seemed strange to me that more hunters don't 

 get hit with low flying ducks, when the light is dim. 

 I once knew of a friend being knocked senseless by a 

 falling duck, and one time in Western Iowa I had a 

 narrow escape myself. But the worse scare I ever had 

 was when shooting geese in Dakota. A twelve pound- 

 er just missed my head. Hello ! Just look at them 

 down there ; by Willow Island. Some hunter has 

 routed them out. Keep quiet, there they come. Don't 

 shoot ! Don't shoot ! See how they turn to my call. 

 Watch sharp ! Hold two feet ahead of that drake, and 

 let him have it. Good shot ! But then you ought to 

 have killed the duck. I got my pair. The trouble was 

 you shot too quick and got behind her. One of mine 

 is crippled; shoot him again. What? Missed him on 

 the water ? Try him again. Well, I declare if you 

 haven't missed again. Try it once more, and hold at the 

 line of his body where it touches the water. There, 

 that's more like it ; you have filled him full. It is not 

 surprising that you missed him twice, for you shot over 

 him. I could see where your shot struck the water. 

 Oh, I don't doubt but that you held on the duck ; 

 that's just where you were in error. Instead of holding 

 on you should have held under. The tendency with a 

 shot-gun at a stationary mark is always to over-shoot. 



One instinctively pulls with a slight jerk, and the 



9 



