A good day’s bag of ducks The home of the wild-fowler Putting out the decoys 
A MANUAL OF WILD FOWL SHOOTING 
PART THREE OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES DESCRIBING THE TRAITS, CHARACTER- 
ISTICS AND METHODS OF HUNTING OUR WATER-FOWL- SEA DUCK SHOOTING 
T he wild ducks are divided into two 
general groups or families : the sea- 
ducks and the river-ducks. The 
mergansers are given in the check 
list of the American Ornithological Union 
as a separate family of swimmers, 
i The sea-ducks are the salt water, deep 
'water ducks or divers, the river-ducks 
are the fresh water, shoal water ducks 
or dabblers. The terms sea-ducks and 
river-ducks are, however, rather mis- 
leading, since the sea-ducks are not so 
exclusively maritime as the name would 
imply and the river-ducks are often found 
on the salt water about the coasts. The 
canvas-back, classified as a sea-duck, is 
found throughout America from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific, and they are no 
doubt as abundant on the inland ponds, 
lakes and rivers as they are on the bays 
along the coasts. The red-head, another 
sea-duck, is found on salt water, yet some 
of the finest red-head shooting is to be 
had about the Great Lakes. 
On the other hand, the black duck, 
classified as a river-duck, is plentiful on 
the brackish bays along the coast. The 
mallard, pin-tail and the widgeon, all 
river-ducks, are shot on the salt bays as 
well as inland. 
A dependable characteristic looked for 
to identify the sea-ducks from the river- 
ducks is the difference in the hind toe of 
the birds of the two groups. The hind 
toe of the river-duck is without a lobe 
or flap, the hind toe of the sea-ducks has 
the lobe. The toes and webs of the sea- 
ducks are much larger than those of the 
river-ducks, and the legs are placed 
further back on the body, thereby in- 
creasing their facility in diving and 
swimming. 
The sea-ducks frequent deep water and 
dive for their food. The river-ducks do 
not dive but frequent shallow water 
where they take food near or on the sur- 
face. They also reach food on the bottom 
in shallow water by “tipping up,” tail in 
air, neck and head immersed. 
wings of the sea-ducks are smallei; 
By FREDERICK A. WILLITS 
than those of the river-ducks and set 
further back and their feathers are 
thicker and heavier. 
The ducks classified as sea-ducks are: 
canvas-back, red-head, greater scaup, 
lesser scaup, ring-neck duck, buffle-head, 
golden-eye, long-tail duck, ruddy duck, 
harlequin duck, Labrador duck, masked 
duck, the different species of eiders and 
the scoters or coots. 
There are five principal methods of 
shooting the sea-ducks ; shooting over 
decoys from shore; shooting over decoys 
from a battery; point or flight shooting; 
sculling for ducks; shooting from a line 
of boats on the open water and the tolling 
of the fowl v/ith small dogs. 
Much that has been said in the pre- 
vious articles on goose and brant shoot- 
ing applies equally well to the hunting 
of sea-ducks. 
In shooting over decoys, both from 
shore blinds and from batteries, the start 
is made very early in the morning, often 
long before dawn. The best shooting is 
generally to be had during the first 
hours of daylight and again near sun- 
down, as the ducks are then flying about 
in search of feeding grounds. The de- 
coys should be placed on the water and 
the sportsman concealed in his blind with 
the coming of the first pale streaks of 
dawn. 
The shore blinds are located on points 
of marsh or meadow running out into the 
bay or lake, or on the small marshy is- 
lands. 
There are various ways of making 
these blinds. Where permanent blinds 
are used they are built of straw or 
rushes to form an inclosure in which the 
hunters will hide. It is well to build 
these blinds several days before shoot- 
ing from them so the dutks may become 
accustomed to them and any change in 
the appearance of the point. Where there 
are no tall reeds or grass on a point, 
a box large enough to hold one or more 
hunters is sunk in the mud, the shooters 
f.lius finding ample concealment within. 
The Bamegat Bay sneak-box is fam- 
iliar to those who have shot on that 
water and elsewhere. This gunning boat 
is one of the most practical ever designed 
for the duck hunter’s use. It serves the 
double purpose of carrying the sportsman 
and decoys to the shooting grounds and 
being the blind from which he shoots. 
The load of decoys is carried on the 
covered deck at the rear. When the 
shooting place is reached, the decoys are 
put out in the water and the boat pulled 
up among the rushes. Save for a cock- 
pit, the boat is entirely covered over with 
a deck on which cut rushes and grass are 
spread so that the craft will resemble 
the surrounding marsh. The hunter takes 
his position in the boat beneath the deck. 
Lying on his back with his head just 
above the rim of the cockpit, he scans 
the water and sky for the ducks. 
I T is all important to know where to 
locate the blind and how to arrange 
the decoys. This knowledge, gained 
from many seasons spent on the water 
with the wild-fowl, can hardly be ac- 
quired in any other manner. Advice in 
only a very general way can be given, 
since it is dependent on a given locality, 
the habits of the fowl there and the exist- 
ing weather conditions. 
It is very important to know what the 
ducks are doing, or rather, since the 
decision as to the location of the blind 
is made in the evening, what the birds 
will be doing the next day. Under ob- 
servation ducks will be seen “using” cer- 
tain points or “trading,” as the baymen 
say, over certain islands. The birds will 
be seen frequenting certain parts of the 
bay, lake or marsh, and passing by other 
places which look equally good. 
The wind must be considered and a 
decision reached as to where it will be 
during the coming day. Good shooting 
may be had from a point during a west 
wind while the same point may be worth- 
less in a south wind. The observing 
fiunter will soon come to know just what 
