BLINDS AND OTHER DEVICES. jgi 



tinguished from the adjacent landscape. The shooter's dress should 

 then be as nearly white as possible. Blinds should never be built 

 higher than the shoulders of the person erect, and the interstices 

 should always be so covered as to conceal his form and movements. 



" Duke " tells in Forest and Stream how they make blinds on 

 the Potomac : 



" Select a place from a hundred to three hundred yards from 

 shore, at a place where the water is from three to ten feet deep and 

 at good feeding-grounds, if possible. Drive four posts four to six 

 feet apart, forming a square. At a distance of about a foot above 

 the highest tides, connect these posts with inch stuff, and upon this 

 lay a flooring ; about three feet above this flooring fasten strips both 

 on the outside and inside of these posts, and between these open- 

 ings put in cedar or pine brush, so as to conceal completely all the 

 woodwork ; then at the end of the blind nearest to the shore make 

 a seat, so that when the shooter is seated his eyes will be just above 

 the cedar. It is best to leave the rear end of the blind open, so that 

 it will be easy to get in and out. Next put out your decoys. Let us 

 suppose the wind blowing from your right; in this case all the 

 ducks will come up on your left or to the leeward, as all ducks, 

 when they alight, come up against the wind. To your right, and at a 

 distance of about thirty-five yards, and on a line parallel to the front 

 of your blind, and at a distance of thirty-five yards from it, place a 

 leader (decoy), and from this point string your decoys on this parallel 

 line, and each side of it toward your blind so as to form a V; when 

 directly opposite your blind, taper off your decoys, so that the space 

 occupied by them will nearly resemble a diamond. It is best to 

 have a good show directly opposite your blind, and it is best to leave 

 several spaces, so that the ducks will select these points to alight in. 

 Never allow the ducks to alight, but shoot them when they are 

 hovering to alight. Should it happen to be a dead calm, select two 

 or three decoys ; to a loop in the breast of each run a string to one 

 end, attach a piece of lead, iron, or stone, weighing say two pounds, 

 then carry your strings to your blind, and as soon as you see a bunch 

 of ducks pull these strings violently, and by doing this the decoys 

 will act as if feeding voraciously ; and not only this, but they will 

 create waves that will give motion to all the other decoys. Build 

 the blinds as soon as the ducks come in the fall, so they 



