75 



better it looks to see a man kill his pair prettily 

 when flying over or by his decoys, than to wait 

 until all headway is stopped, and then shoot as 

 though at a sitting mark ! If a small flock comes, 

 watch to get two or three crossing, and as soon 

 as you do, shoot ; be ready at the same time to 

 use the second barrel. When a large flock comes 

 in, if you are satisfied they will alight, let them 

 do so, and wait until you get several in range, 

 if possible, before firing ; but never give a single 

 duck the chance to get away, after his once 

 coming within thirty-five yards, without doing the 

 best you can to prevent him. 



How well I remember my old partner, Joe 

 Carroll, the best duck-hunter by all odds I ever 

 met ! "What a slim chance a duck had for its 

 life after once approaching him within gunshot ! 

 We were shooting together from an ice blind at 

 the edge of an air-hole one day (one of our big 

 days too), and the ducks were coming almost 

 continually. We had decoys and dead ones stuck 

 in front of us, and almost every flock that came 

 along darted to them. The blind, however, was 

 made of new ice, and, being to a considerable 

 degree transparent, they could see us, though rather 

 indistinctly, through it — plainly enough, however, 



