On the Various Methods of Shooting Ducks 129 
This generally commences with the flighting of Mallard to the corn-fields in late August 
or early September, and is coincidental with the ripening of the corn-fields. It is a sport 
that requires some patience and much observation to locate the correct spot, for the corn- 
fields of the North are often very large, and the points where the duck come in varied. 
Duck may stream into a field at one point where you stood the night before, but close 
examination of the field itself for feathers and droppings, as well as walking through the 
field after dark to put up the duck, are good methods of obtaining knowledge of their 
alighting places. The shooting, too, at this season is by no means easy, for if the weather 
is fine, as it generally is, the duck come in high and very late, only giving the gunner a few 
minutes in which to secure his game. In September 1912 I had three days as the guest 
of Lord Dalrymple at Lochinch, in Wigtonshire, and though duck were numerous I could 
not select the right spot until the last evening, when they came in well but very high, and 
I took down eleven rocketers in about ten minutes. After a big pheasant shoot in Cheshire 
last November, one of the guns came to me and said: "Do you think we could shoot a 
duck; I am tired of pheasants," and on our host kindly giving us permission to go where we 
liked, I hurried to a small swamp about half a mile upwind from a large mere where I had 
seen many duck during the day. We got there just in time, so placing my friend in what 
I thought was the best place, and going to another close by, we had not long to wait 
before the duck began to flight. In a few minutes my companion killed eleven duck and I 
got three; and the next evening I killed twelve and my friend two. A very pleasant 
instance of improvised sport. Later in the season Wigeon, Teal, Shovellers, Gad wall, and 
other ducks may be killed at flight, but these are all more difficult to shoot than Mallard, 
whilst the places they frequent in numbers are not very numerous. As Wigeon leave the 
sea or estuaries to feed in more sheltered bays, they may sometimes be intercepted with 
great success, particularly if the weather is rough or snow threatening. The best evening I 
have had at Wigeon was one day on the coast near Fort George, when a sudden snowstorm 
came on upwind and rendered all the landscape dark behind me. The Wigeon mistaking 
this for the usual darkness commenced to flight in from the sea fully half an hour before 
their usual time, and appearing clearly against the bright sky, gave me an unusual 
evening's sport. 
December to IVIarch the best flight ing is usually to be had in the early morn- 
ing, for the reason that if duck do by any chance delay their return to the day resorts, they 
come late. Wherefore every error on their part is of advantage to the shooter, w^hilst the 
difficulties of picking up are simplified. Nearly all the best shoots at flight that I know 
of have been obtained in the morning. I have had as many as twenty duck myself, but no 
remarkable bags, because I have seldom shot on preserved inland waters. 
The best morning flight I know of was obtained at Mr. Meynell's estate in Lincoln- 
shire, on October 14, 19 12, when the whole country was more or less flooded owing to con- 
tinuous rains. The shooter was Lord William Percy, who is one of the best shots in these 
islands, and a man who thoroughly understands how to make use of his opportunities. He 
explained that he was standing on the edge of a dense reed bed, into which had the duck 
fallen they would have been extremely difficult to find, and so, with sportsmanlike observa- 
tion and accuracy, he killed all his duck as they came towards him, so that they might fall 
on an open pool of water and so be easily recovered. 
VOL. II. -r, 
