190 



FIELD SHOOTING. 



cess greatly depends upon the way in which they 

 are set out; though set out in the most artful 

 and natural manner, they are not as effectual as 

 tame ducks of the mallard color, because these 

 last swim about, and the ducks flying above see 

 them in motion. I . have sometimes killed as 

 many as seventy or eighty ducks in a day's 

 shooting with decoys of dead ducks. My method 

 of setting them out was as follows: Having 

 killed the duck and got him on the bank, take 

 a stick, or, on the prairie where there are no 

 sticks, a reed, or the stalk of a strong weed, 

 which is there big and stiff. Sharpen one end to 

 a point, which insert under the skin of the duck's 

 breast and along up the neck, just beneath the 

 skin, into the head. Do this so that the head 

 holds a natural position to the body, and the 

 neck is not awry. Then wade out and plant the 

 other end of the stick in the mud over which 

 there is a foot of water or a little more. The 

 body of the duck must then rest on the water, 

 as that of a live duck does, and, after having 

 smoothed the feathers nicely, the shooter returns 

 to his lying-down place on the bank. It is best 

 to keep on setting these dead decoys until you 

 have seven or eight out ; and if you largely in- 



