HERE YOU ARE 



raft with a coffin-shaped hole in the 

 center. A wooden gunwale, as the sailor 

 would say, is put around the edges of 

 the hole just high enough to keep the 

 ripple on the water from flowing into 

 the "box." As soon as it is light enough 

 to see, the hunter and decoys are rowed 

 to the sink boat. The wooden birds are 

 set in the water, making a block reach- 

 ing from fifty to sixty feet about the 

 boat. Then the gunner gets into the 

 box and the boatman pulls away. Some- 

 times he stays in the box throughout 

 the day managing to exist on a cold 

 bite, and an occasional pull at the flask. 

 For this kind of sport plenty of cart- 

 ridges are needed, and the old hand at 

 the pastime generally has two breech- 

 loaders with him so that he can put in 

 at least four shots before the birds fly- 

 ing over are out of range. 



This kind of shooting on the Flats is 



no child's play, but as many as a score 

 of birds have been brought down by an 

 expert marksman in a day, and when 

 you get one or two canvas backs you 

 can call them equal to a dozen redheads. 

 Some of the millionaire duckers have 

 had yachts built especially for the sport 

 and do their shooting directly from the 

 decks, but as a rule make more noise 

 than they do "kills." 



Long past the time when the snow 

 begins to fly, the marshes echo to the 

 reports of the fowling-pieces. Possibly 

 winter duck shooting is carried on to a 

 greater extent here than elsewhere in 

 America, but the man who is willing to 

 face the cutting northeast wind with its 

 snow and sleet, is frequently rewarded 

 with a bag which is well worth preserv- 

 ing and mounting. It has been noticed 

 that the ducks fly in larger flocks as the 

 season advances than durinsr Novem- 



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