278 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
shoot from them ata time, yet some are double, but these 
are not as good as the others, as two persons are more 
readily seen than one, hence the ducks do not decoy to 
them as well as they might. Most of the men carry two 
or three guns, and their general method of using them is 
to give the birds the first one when they settle in the 
water, the second when they rise, and the third as they 
fly away. The charges which they use vary considerably, 
but some of the most experienced consider five drachms 
of powder and an ounce and a half of No. 4 chilled shot 
a good load for a ten-bore gun; and they give the prefer- 
ence to Ely’s wire cartridges for the killing of cripples, 
as it is considered effective up to a hundred yards. The 
sloops are generally anchored about a quarter of a mile 
from the sink-boxes, and as they always keep a man on 
the lookout, they are ready to respond to any signals 
from the shooting parties in a few minutes. The first 
three hours of the morning are considered equal to the 
remainder of the day, for making a big bag, as the birds 
are active and hungry then, and decoy readily to the nu- 
merous lures in the water. It is acommon thing for an 
ordinary shot to kill from fifty to a hundred birds in this 
short time, and perhaps double that number in twelve 
hours, and as these sell at prices varying from forty cents 
to two dollars a pair, it is evident that the wild-fowlers 
reap a rich financial harvest during the open season. 
A hundred dollars a day is not an unusual sum to earn, 
and forty and fifty dollars are quite common, if we judge 
by the fact that these men will not, as a rule, give their 
boat and their own services for less than twenty dollars a 
day to a sportsman, while some charge as high as a hun- 
dred dollars, the average being forty dollars. In making 
arrangements with professionals, it is best to have a 
written agreement drawn up, and everything throughly 
understood, else they may impose on a man, especially if 
he has delicacy of feelings, and dislikes huckstering. The 
