314 
this way, and this is the manner in which 
the bulk of mallard-shooting is done. 
It requires skill to set the decoys out 
properly, so that the flying mallards will be 
deceived by the naturalness of the appear- 
ance of the wooden counterfeits; for no 
ordinary tossing out of decoys will make a 
flock look like the real thing. A few birds 
set out right will beat a big flock disposed of 
clumsily. A couple of ‘“‘leaders,” strung 
out ahead of the main bunch of decoys, 
even when out of fair gunshot of the 
“blind,” will aid in drawing the birds in 
until they catch sight of the main body of 
decoys. An artistic irregularity, a cluster- 
ing which only an experienced duck-shooter 
is able to impart to the decoys, is of the 
utmost possible importance in luring the 
mallards in. 
Of course, there are days in the timber 
when a man runs into a spot where the 
ducks have been feeding on acorns, and 
drives them out and sets up his decoys, 
when the dispossessed mallards will come 
back and drop in pairs, little and big 
bunches, and you can’t drive them out 
with artillery. And there are other days 
when a hunter will chop a hole in some 
RECREATION 
ice-covered pond late in the fall, put in a 
pair of live decoys, or a small bunch of 
wooden decoys, and shoot so fast that his 
gun-barrels will get too hot to hold. But 
these are exceptional days, and as a rule 
the man who makes a good bag of mallards 
in country which is pretty well hunted 
earns his birds. 
The mallard, often so shy and retiring 
a fowl, is of the most sociable and even 
foolish companionability when once his 
confidence has been gained. When he 
does make up his mind that the “signs are 
right” he will set his wings and come in 
almost on top of the blind. Once he is 
fairly within range he is a good-sized mark, 
and not anything like so tenacious of life 
as the bluebill, redhead, goldeneye, canvas- 
back, etc., the deep-water ducks, which 
can carry off almost as much shot as a 
small boy at times. But a crippled mallard 
is one of the slyest birds in existence. How 
he can hide! He will disappear as he 
strikes the shallow water, and if there is 
any cover at all, nothing but a first-class 
retriever has any business looking for him. 
It will pay better to wait for another 
shot rather than to flounder round a marsh 

A DUCK-HUNTERS’ CAMP ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER 
