WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 245 



any other portion of the world, owing to the great abundance 

 of this kind of Game, the freedom with which they can pursue 

 it, and the enthusiasm with which they will take it up. This 

 sport at present is almost entirely confined to the hands of those 

 who follow the occupation of killing Wild Fowl not from mo- 

 tives of pleasure or healthful recreation, but as a means of 

 subsistence for themselves and families ; and the tables of our 

 Epicures are generally supplied from this source. 



Some few of the New York Sportsmen occasionally sally 

 forth during the Ducking season to spend a few days in shoot- 

 ing upon the neighboring shores, but the sport is not considered 

 sufficiently enticing to carry them very often on such expedi- 

 tions. We also have a few amateurs in Philadelphia who are 

 fond of visiting the Wild Fowl regions, but none that are very 

 enthusiastic on the subject, like Colonel Hawker and many other 

 Englishmen, who have devoted so much time and talent to the 

 perfecting of this branch of sport. 



Duck shooting, to be sure, is no child's play ; but on the con- 

 trary is often attended with many mishaps, great hardships, and 

 constant exposure to the elements, and withal frequently results 

 in Fisherman's luck, so often quoted. No true lover of sport, 

 however, should be intimidated, or, in fact, object to these petty 

 inconveniences, as it is these very circumstances that afford 

 the chief enjoyment and give a keener relish to this pursuit, 

 which will in time inure him both in body and mind for the 

 accomplishment of greater and more lasting benefits than the 

 mere destruction of Game. We cannot expect to arrive at per- 

 fection in any employment without a becoming share of labor and 

 perseverance ; and in the pursuit of Ducks the Shooter will find 

 a wide field open for the exercise of both these virtues, as well 

 as many other qualifications alike necessary for the attainment 

 of nobler deeds. It is indeed necessary, for a Sportsman to 

 enjoy this kind of amusement, to become accustomed to all 

 kinds of hardships — to care neither for the peltings of the rain, 

 the driving of the snow, whistling of the wind, or the freezing 

 of the water ; all such accompaniments to his pursuits must be 

 despised, and not regarded as barriers to his enjoyments ; but, 

 as before said, their presence must be viewed as imparting a 

 keener zest to the pleasure of the sport. With feelings akin 



