336 With Rod and Gun in New England 



trolled. Fortunate is the sportsman who receives an invitation to 

 shoot from a blind in these marshes, over live decoys, which are partially 

 domesticated wild ducks, or has an opportunity to "shoot" the creeks 

 flowing through them. Outside of these privately controlled marshes, a 

 line of blinds is usually set up on posts in the lake, from which quite good 

 shooting for " lake ducks " can be obtained late in the season. The 

 season for shooting opens September 1st, and the marsh shooting is good 

 from that time on. 



An average day's bag for one good marksman is twenty black ducks, 

 but there are one or two days each season when the sportsman can easily 

 make a record of one hundred birds if he so desire. 



Aside from the northern portion of Lake Champlain, the duck shoot- 

 ing does not yield much sport, although the birds run the gauntlet of 

 gunners in blinds for the entire length of the lake southward. 



The introduction of new game has been taken up by individuals, and 

 by the Vermont Fish and Game League. Quail have been introduced 

 several times, but they cannot withstand the rigor of our winters. 



The English pheasant has obtained a foothold, and is spreading 

 rapidly throughout Chittenden county and the region to the south of 

 it. Mongolian pheasants are being propagated in aviaries by the League, 

 but the work is of too recent origin for one to prophesy results. 



A few pinnated grouse, capercailzie, and black game, have also been 

 introduced, but it is too early to foretell the results from these introduc- 

 tions. 



All these newly introduced game-birds are protected by legislation 

 for a period of years. 



In the work of protection, propagation, and introduction of fish and 

 game, the Vermont Fish and Game League has had a conspicuous part 

 from its inception, seven years ago. Organized with a charter membership 

 of one hundred and ten, it has constantly grown in strength and influence, 

 until it now has over five hundred paying members, drawn from the leading 

 business and professional men throughout the State. Of this large mem- 

 bership, probably less than half ever hunt or fish, but their identity with 

 the organization is prompted by a belief in developing Vermont's attrac- 

 tions, and that there is no surer way to do it than by encouraging the 

 League in its work. 



With a constantly improving public sentiment, backed by so strong an 

 organization, the continued development of these interests is assured, and 

 sportsmen should find attractions as the years roll by, so that the sons — 

 yea, and the daughters of the present generation of sportsmen — will find in 

 Vermont the invigorating pleasures and attractions which contributed 

 towards making their forefathers strong physically, morally and mentally. 



