Duck-shooting 13 



only be brought down with the heaviest charges. 

 Stormy, windy weather alters the flight, and at 

 this time they come low, within range. 



In North Dakota pass shooting can even now 

 be enjoyed as in perhaps no other country, yet 

 here the devastation of the past few years is 

 noticeable, and the wild fowl are no longer seen 

 in the hordes of the past. It was near Sanborn, 

 North Dakota, a few years ago, that the writer 

 enjoyed a week's shooting of this character. 

 There were four of us in the party, and our head- 

 quarters was a farm some forty miles from the 

 railroad. The hunting was done by driving over 

 the prairie to the various lakes in the vicinity, 

 where it was a simple matter, in a few hours' 

 morning shooting, to reach the Dakota limit of 

 twenty-five birds to a man. The first day's 

 experience I shall always remember. The prairies 

 of North Dakota now are largely wheat-fields, the 

 stubbles of which, toward the end of summer, 

 are the feeding-ground of thousands of prairie- 

 chickens, so it was natural that the large road- 

 wagon contained, besides ourselves, two bird dogs. 

 We had spent the greater part of the day driving, 

 stopping once in a while to hunt for chickens, 

 with very fair success. Toward the end of the 

 afternoon a good-sized slough, a short distance 

 from the road, attracted our attention ; the horses 

 were turned toward the top of a knoll, and we 



