SHOOTING WILD DUCKS ARTIFICIALLY 



REARED 



DURING the last decade it has been discovered that wild 

 ducks can be so managed as to give assured sport. 

 Some people rate it a good deal higher than pheasant shooting, 

 and besides this the wild duck is very much more easily bred 

 than the pheasant, costs less than half, and if it does give as 

 good sport, or better, there is nothing more to be said. But 

 the artificially bred wild duck is very much more difficult to 

 manage in shooting than the pheasant. The latter is a shy, 

 nervous bird ; but the duck considers things, and therein lies 

 the trouble. If you treat him affectionately, you cannot frighten 

 him ; if you keep him wild, you are very likely to lose him 

 altogether. You may so arrange, if you will, that the wild 

 duck is not the least bit scared at the firing of guns. Probably 

 this is the proper management, because, after all, when this 

 has been brought about, your duck only the closer imitates 

 the game birds that we love so well. You will send every 

 pigeon clattering out of the trees if you fire a gun in covert ; 

 but the pheasants take hardly any notice, neither do partridges 

 or grouse care for the sound of a gun, although they care very 

 much for the sight of a man, and shy at the smoke but not 

 at the sound made by a line of guns. The wild duck, unless 

 taught better manners, is as scared as the pigeon by the sound 

 of firing. Hence it is difficult to drive birds backwards and 

 forwards over a line of guns, because even if they will take 

 that flight twice, they will mount up five or ten times as high 

 as a gun can reach. The more shooting there is the higher 

 they mount, and even if they want to come down to a favourite 



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