On the Various Methods of Shooting Ducks 127 
morning or evening, sailing to them by means of small boats, or hand-paddling to 
them with the single or double gunning-punt. They may also be stalked from the 
shore, lured within shot by decoys, or "moved" up or down the rivers they frequent. 
The Diving-Ducks may also be stalked both on the sea or lakes, or moved from enclosed 
waters, or up or down rivers, whilst certain species that frequent sheltered bays or 
estuaries can be approached and shot with the punt-gun. Occasionally they are also 
killed at flight. Most of the true sea-ducks are, however, unapproachable by these 
methods owing to the rough nature of their habitat. The best method of killing sea- 
ducks is by means of a light and easily-turned sailing-boat, but one that is also capable 
of standing up to the roughest seas. 
There are also various "dodges" for luring or getting within shot of ducks, such 
as the artificial rock, cow or horse for stalking, and the stationary "sink-boat," furnished 
with living decoys so much in use in North America, where methods of killing all 
kinds of wild fowl are studied more seriously than in Europe. I have employed all 
these methods in the pursuit of ducks, and locally each and all are successful, for if 
they cannot be approached, lured, or waited-for in one way, there is always some other 
device that requires skill and patience, and these may be employed with success if the 
hunter is gifted with sufficient pertinacity. It is enough to say that if the gunner is a 
fair shot, he can in time encompass any bird that flies, though there may be long 
periods of failure which perhaps only add zest to the sport, and teach him the art 
of the chase. 
The easiest as well as the commonest form of duck-shooting is that of walking-up 
ducks in bogs and marshes in the autumn, and even this sport is not as well understood 
as it should be, for many a sportsman who would take infinite trouble to stalk a duck 
in the winter is apt to throw aside precaution, and to regulate the brain-power of the 
wild duck or teal to the level of the partridge or pheasant amid the turnips. As a 
matter of fact, the gunner who walks a marsh with intelligence will kill twice the 
number of ducks that a man does who constantly stops, calls to his dog, or insists 
on being accompanied by a party of keepers and friends. It may be taken as a 
truism in marsh or bog-shooting, that the smaller the number of persons the larger 
the bag. Duck and teal that can fly are fully alive to what is going on around them 
once the first man is seen or heard, and if we could look ahead in all those little pools 
and rushes, we should notice that all live duck are standing with stiffened necks, or 
crouching ready to spring once the first shot has been fired, even on a very large area 
of marsh. At the time when the bog of Murthly was one of the finest wild-fowl 
resorts in Britain, I have often been out by myself a couple of days after there had 
been a party of five or six guns shooting, and killed far more than they did, simply 
by reason of the fact that although there were fewer duck, there was less disturbance. 
There are few marshes that can stand more than two guns walking in line. Each 
shooter should possess a first-class dog, that is well under control, and quick to bring 
in fallen game, or held by a keeper and " dropped " to find game as the shooter 
passes on. The great importance of not stopping to talk and reload can always be 
noticed by any shooter of good observation, for immediately a gunner ceases to advance, 
ducks begin to rise at all distances, simply because, already alarmed by the shot they 
