411 
September, 1922 
! The travelling birds usually draw in 
first to the outer decoys and are grad- 
ually coaxed into range by whistling un- 
til they come in over the larger flock 
of decoys. When shooting from blinds, 
the decoys, of course, should be set up 
to leeward and with the largest portion 
of the flock to the left of the blind so 
that the majority of the shots will be in 
front and to the left of the shooter. 
This arrangement will avoid a large per- 
centage of hard, right-quartering shots 
which are usually the most difficult 
ones for men who shoot from the right 
shoulder. 
One of the conveniences of shorebird 
shooting that must be used to be appre- 
ciated is a pair of sand-boots, an ar- 
rangement that is composed of a pair 
of old trousers, the legs of which have 
been sewed to the tops of a pair of 
leather shoes. This eliminates the nui- 
sance of having sand constantly work- 
ing into the shoe tops to chaff and gall 
the feet. 
Wherever there are shorebirds or 
plover, there are usually plenty of mos- 
.quitoes, and a bottle of anti-bitem dope 
of some kind is a good thing to have 
along to make matters a bit more com- 
fortable. 
N OW for the gun. Shorebirds of all 
varieties are easily killed, and while 
not all of them are easy to hit, par- 
ticularly the jack snipe, if they are hunt- 
ed up wind on a raw day, still a down 
bird is usually good for the gunning coat 
if it can be found. Nearly all of the 
varieties have a great predilection for 
flocking together and a wide pattern con- 
taining plenty of small pellets will often 
bring down more than one bird to a 
shot. It will also give good results on a 
' good many shots if they are hurriedly 
taken from uncomfortable and awkward 
• shooting positions. Many of these would 
ordinarily be missed when using full- 
choke guns. An improved cylinder and 
modified choke in a 12-gauge double or 
a 50 to 60 per cent, pattern in a pump 
gun are the best selections for average 
conditions. The users of 16 and 20- 
gauge guns, and particularly the latter, 
need weapons that are bored a bit closer 
to supply the requisite pattern. 
The stocks of the shotguns used for 
shorebird shooting should fit well to en- 
able the hunter to place the pattern 
where desired when snap-shooting on 
unexpected shots. But other than this 
there is little need for being cranky 
about the make-up of the shooting iron 
because sand, wind, and the air of the 
salt marsh are all destructive to the 
finish of high-class weapons. Any of 
the plainest standard grades of shotguns 
are hard enough to keep free of rust 
when used under these conditions. As 
much of the best shorebird shooting is 
obtainable when weather conditions are 
at their worst it is a good plan to leave 
the fancy field gun in its case if a 
cheaper and plainer weapon is available. 
T he most popular loads for shore- 
bird shooting consist of moderate 
charges of powder and shot. Three 
Model 39 
Retails 
$26.50 
How will you buy your rifle? On tradition? 
Will you take whatever the dealer offers? — Or, 
will you carefully select the one best rifle for 
you — and insist on getting the rifle you want? 
Warliit 
.22 Repeating Rifles 
There are 50 years of tradition behind 
these Marlin rifles — ;50 years’ experience 
in making the best in sporting firearms. 
50 years of development consequently there is not 
an old-style gun in the entire Marlin line. Marlin in- 
vented side ejection in firearms — Marlin discarded all 
old-style top-ejecting guns 30 years ago. 
The fundamental requirements in a .22 repeater are: 
Accuracy — the Ballard rifling has made Marlin accu- 
racy famous; good sights, to get full benefit of accuracy 
Marlin .22’s are the only repeaters regularly fur- 
nished with the superior Ivory Bead sights; side ejec- 
tion, the modern construction all Marlin rifles and 
shotguns have side ejection; standard 24-inch 
barrels — we make no guns with stubby, sawed- 
off barrels. 
You need standard length buttstocks — no short 
length, cheap-looking buttstocks are used on any 
Marlin guns; the rifle must be a take-down, for 
convenience in carrying and cleaning these 
Marlin repeaters have the quickest take-down 
constructions, action parts remove instantly 
without using tools, the barrels can be cleaned 
from both ends. 
You will want to use .22 short cartridges up 
to 50 yards; .22 long-rifle up to 200 yards — 
all Marlin .22 repeaters use, interchangeably, 
22 short, long and long-rifle cartridges. 
Model No. 20 — a man’s size repeating 
with full 24-inch octagon barrel, full 
length buttstock. Ivory Bead Sight, 
25 shots. Slide action and visible 
hammer. Retails at $19.50. 
Model No. 38 The wonderful 
new slide action repeater; Ham- 
merless; Instantaneous Take- 
Down, Ivory Bead Sight, Full 
Pistol Grip Buttstock. Perfect 
build and balance. Retails, 
Round Barrel, $21.50; Octa- 
gon barrel, $23.50. 
Model No. 39 — The only 
.22 Caliber Lever Action 
Repeater made. The 
choice of expert and 
professional shooters. 
The best .22 Rifle in 
the world. Retails 
at $26.50. 
38 
Round Bbl. 
$21.50 
Octagon Bbl. 
$23.50 
Any dealer can supply 
you — g ive us your 
dealer’s name. Send 
now for new illustrated 
catalogue of all Marlin re- 
peating rifles and shot- 
guns — free. 
Address Dept. S-86. 
New Haven, Connecticut 
/n Writing tu Advertisers 'mention Forest and Stream. It will identify you. 
