212 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



ing roots. The ducks feed on in quiet contentment, 

 until the hunter is close enough to fire both barrels ef- 

 fectively. Again, take some overflowed prairie, where 

 the back water from a neighboring stream is coursing 

 over the ground, entirely submerging the grass in places, 

 leaving ridges where pin-tails, mallards, and widgeon 

 love to sit. When one can see them lighting, hear 

 their quacking, and get a glimpse of the long necks of 

 the watchful pin-tail, as it stands up showing its grace- 

 ful proportions. All duck-hunters know the seeming 

 impossibility of approaching such a place, and yet I 

 can recall one bright afternoon when the timber, the 

 river and the wild rice were deserted, when my com- 

 panion and myself sculled into such a place, and lying 

 in the bottom of our boat with grass sprinkled over bow 

 and sides, we bagged fifty-eight in a few hours. Then 

 again, coming down a stream, jumping ducks in any 

 but a scull-boat, look at the position of the hunter and 

 the shape of his boat. If he is rowing or paddling he 

 cannot keep down out of sight. Usually he is sitting, 

 and although he may think he is hid, he is far from it, 

 and he can only get such shots as will be presented 

 when the ducks -fly from the willows ; besides, his boat 

 looms up high on the water, and is plainly seen, even 

 if the shooter is hid. And then in a majority of so 

 called duck-boats, he dare not shoot, except straight 

 ahead, for fear of the recoil upsetting the boat. In a 

 scull, he can shoot in any position, sitting, kneeling, or 

 even standing ; and he need never fear an accident, for 

 I can assure him it is impossible to upset one of these 

 boats. There is no feeling of insecurity in one of them, 

 when one would constantly be afraid of something hap- 

 pening to cause an upset in the ordinary hunting-skiff. 



