RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 207 



here the shooter remains concealed until the birds 

 come to his decoys. Such blinds are prohibited in 

 some States, since they tend to drive the ducks from 

 the feeding grounds. 



Many laws have been passed within the past few 

 years regulating this and other field sports and defin- 

 ing the methods of capture ; these are amended from 

 time to time, and the sportsman who goes to shoot in 

 another State should ascertain the rules and regula- 

 tions, since game laws in many States now mean 

 something. 



River ducks are often shot, where they are abundant, 

 by sportsmen who walk quietly along the banks of 

 streams or sloughs and shoot the ducks as they arise 

 from the water. In this way I began my duck-shoot- 

 ing on the small rivers in Ohio, and I have since shot 

 many dabbling ducks of all varieties from an Indian 

 pony moving along the banks. I have also used the 

 pony instead of the boat to jump the ducks in shallow 

 lakes, and am inclined to think this rambling about on 

 horseback and shooting from the saddle the best of 

 all duck-shooting. 



