814 
Duck Shooting. 
Mound, Minn., May II. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: There is no sound that will so awaken 
the innermost feeling of the sportsman and cause 
him to rejoice more than the first honk of the 
wild goose, the quack of the mallard or the 
whistling of the wings of the first flock of wild 
ducks as they swish over his head. The chances 
are that he will that evening overhaul his gun 
and outfit and begin at once to get in readiness 
for the sport which he most delights in. And 
where is there an enthusiastic sportsman that 
does not derive a great deal of delight and 
pleasure on a cold winter’s evening in looking 
over, oiling up and placing in order his hunting 
or fishing utensils? For they will recall to his 
memory many pleasant recollections of past ex¬ 
periences. 
About the last of March, or when the rivers 
begin to clear of ice, when the small depres¬ 
sions in the land begin to fill with water and 
the southerly winds are right to. help them in 
their migration, then the great flight of water- 
fowl begins. Line after line, flock after flock, 
all bent in one direction, with one common pur¬ 
pose. Here in the State of Minnesota at this 
time you will find waterfowl of almost every 
edible'varietv and in their finest plumage. The 
mallard with'its two curly tail feathers and hand¬ 
some plumage, the universal favorite of all. It 
affords, too, a wider field for genuine sport m 
season because of their greater abundance every¬ 
where, and because they are more wary than 
most other ducks, except the black duck, which 
is so closely allied to the mallard (there being 
but a slight variation in its plumage) that it is 
hardly worth while to class them separately, but 
for the singular fact that throughout . the vast 
migratory tract of the west this bird is almost 
unknown. It seems to be confined to the coast. 
Through all my experience I have never, had the 
pleasure of drawing bead on one in this State, 
but have seen a half dozen that were killed here. 
The teal, woodduck, widgeon, bluebill, spoonbill, 
gadwall, redhead, canvasback, sawbill or hooded 
merganser, butterball, goldeneye or whistlewing, 
ruddy duck and pintail are all found here in 
abundance. The goosander, also called the shell- 
drake, wagtail, dishwasher and merganser (al¬ 
though not an edible duck), are very plentiful. 
They are larger than the mallard, and the drake 
is a very beautiful bird. The pintail derives its 
name from the two long black feathers which 
run to a point four or five inches be von d the 
regular tail feathers, and are rarely found on 
the bird in the fall. 
Our beautiful Minnetonka is often covered 
with waterfowl in the spring, but now only, at 
times when the ice melts early. Last spring 
there were quite a good many ducks and even 
swan and pelicans there. Old timers say that 
they have seen wild geese and ducks nest and 
rear their young in abundance on this lake, but 
the incessant hammering of the shooters, the en¬ 
croachment of civilization and steamboats, have 
driven these beautiful birds further north. I 
am quite sure any sportsman who is a fair shot 
and understands his business can secure a bag 
of ducks in season at Minnetonka that would be 
amply satisfactory to him, for he does not enjoy 
the haphazard banging into a flock of ducks. 
He derives more pleasure and satisfaction in 
dropping a single bird or a pair that comes along 
(one with each barrel) than he would by 
knocking eight or ten from a big flock or a 
pot shot on the water. There are a great many 
who go hunting who may be good shots who 
come home in the evening with an empty bag, or 
nerhans a few cripples they have managed to 
kill along the shore, or perhaps a “hieh flyer” 
or two accidentally killed, and then wonder whv 
their more successful companions had so much 
better luck, and whv they did not want them 
to go. There are manv good reasons why they 
may not want you. The first and most- imnor- 
tant is because yon nre too careless with your 
gun. You may not think so, but others do. Sec¬ 
ond, you do not think it necessarv to keen vour- 
self concealed as much as thev wish. Third, you 
shoot at birds before you ought to, and too many 
times at birds that are beyond range. Fourth, 
you have not (or at least do not exhibit) the 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
requisite amount of patience. Fifth, whenever 
you both shoot, and a bird falls, you claim it, or 
sav: ‘'Didn’t I make a good shot that time?” 
You may be a congenial companion in other 
sports, but you fail in this. Take two well-ex¬ 
perienced duck shots; let them both shoot at 
the same'bird with but a second or two apart; 
the second that shoots will readily know by the 
bird’s actions whether or not it was hit before 
he shot. The first shooter also, if smoke does 
not obscure vision. Many times have I involun¬ 
tarily pulled the trigger of my gun in such cases 
when I knew well that my companion had already 
hit the bird. 
In order to be a successful waterfowl hunter 
you must have a fair amount of patience; you 
must know and study the different habits of the 
different species, for the same tactics used in 
shooting bluebills would not succeed at. all with 
mallards. You must also be a good judge of 
distance, and take into consideration the velocity 
with which a bird is flying. I have seen good 
shots at the trap, at chickens and at quail shoot 
all day at ducks on a pass and only succeed, in 
hitting a few. In aiming at a duck from thirty 
to sixty yards away if you do not aim ahead 
and over proportionally to the distance and 
velocity the bird will seldom grace your bag. 
You have undoubtedly during your experience 
shot at a flock of bluebills or teal, say twenty 
yards high and fifty yards distant. You aimed 
at the leader. What was the result (if you 
dropped any) ? It was the last in line. 
The most successful way to secure a good bag 
of ducks is over decoys, for in these times the 
ducks have become too well educated to fly low 
over a much used pass. It requires a great deal 
of experience, practice, good judgment, and a 
thorough knowledge of the habits of ducks to 
successfully place out a good flock of decoys. . I 
have seen them placed in such a manner that in¬ 
stead of drawing they actually drove the ducks 
away, and they are as often placed to bad as 
to good advantage. In putting out your decoys 
you should place them in such a manner that 
when they swing to leeward they will ride on the 
water free from each other. Observe that ducks 
always draw, in lighting, head to the wind. Place 
your decoys in such a position that they will 
draw in front of you, being careful that the 
birds will not draw in line with the sun, and 
if possible have the wind on your right shoulder, 
then the birds will draw from the left. Have 
space enough between your blind and the decoys 
to secure the pitch of the ducks in front and 
not behind you. A great deal depends upon the 
lines of flight where you should place your de¬ 
coys. You must also study the changes the wind 
produces on their feeding grounds. It is well 
to have your blind covered with whatever is com¬ 
mon there. Avoid everything prominent. Flave 
a suit of clothes as near the color of your blind 
as possible. A black cap or hat is fatal. Con¬ 
ceal yourself well. If you stand up the ducks 
are as liable to see you first as you are them, 
especially if they are mallards. When you see 
a flock watch the line in which they draw. Be 
careful and do not move a muscle while they 
circle around. When they come up the second 
time, and set their wings for a drop, select your 
bird. Be patient and you are almost sure of 
him. After you have fired your first barrel the 
birds climb for dear life. You then select the 
nearest, which 5 s almost always a better shot, 
for he is going from you, the result a pair of 
mallards (with two experienced hunters who 
thoroughly understand each other; the result is 
doubled, for without a word being spoken they 
know well by their positions which bird each 
should shoot at). Let the ducks lie; they will 
soon drift ashore. There are more coming. 
Mark! There comes an old drake; his wings 
are set; he is making a bee line for the decoys. 
Let him swing first, then drop him. But as he 
draws nearer and has a closer scrutiny of your 
decoys he does not like their looks. He makes 
a tour of inspection. Here he comes again, right 
over your blind. He springs. You are dis¬ 
covered. Drop him if vou can, for he will not 
come back ap-ain. Mark! There comes a flock 
of widgeon; they see nothing but the decoys. Lie 
low! There comes three mallards; watch how 
they draw. They often cross each other. Now 
[May 25, 1907. 
is your name. Result: all three are yours. 
An hour passes. You are careless or dream¬ 
ing. You saw nothing, but all at once heard a 
splash. You peek out. Two teal among your 
decoys. You stand up; the birds rise. Result, 
two teal. This is decoy shooting on the prairie 
sloughs such as is practiced by those who un¬ 
derstand it. E. D. B. 
The Land of the Sioux. 
Charles City, Iowa, May 11.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: On a trip taken by the writer a 
few months ago into the early land of the Sioux 
many interesting facts were gathered, only a few 
of which are here touched upon. 
In part the old trail of Francis Parkman, in 
his famous overland journey in 1846, was fol¬ 
lowed. The topography of the country naturally 
is much the same as in those early days, and 
many of the landmarks remain unchanged save 
for the ravages of time; while in other regions, 
especially in Wyoming, one recognizes slighr 
changes from what it was described to- be more 
than half a century ago or in the days of Park- 
man and the Oregon and California trail. Here 
and there very rarely one sees a character famil¬ 
iar with those wild scenes and strange times; 
they have almost wholly passed away and all 
belong to the historic past. 
But there are many reminders of the eventful 
and dark deeds of those early days. Old Fort 
Kearney, which occupies so prominent a place in 
the Indian history of the west, still reminds one 
of the stirring times now past and gone. 
When one visits the places made memorable by 
the deeds of the early years he cannot realize 
the lapse of time which has intervened since 
then. The sight of Indian graves and occupancy 
are at times still visible, and the sluggish Platte 
still flows on through its broad valley, but the 
early scenes along “the white man’s trail” have 
changed, and to-day one sees the ranches and 
cattle ranges of those who bear the white man’s 
burden. 
Old Fort Laramie, around which cling so 
many events of historic interest of this old Sioux 
country, still recalls the past, although falling 
into decay. Volumes of great ethnological in¬ 
terest could be written concerning this old fron¬ 
tier fort and the early Indians of this region. 
Thus far Parkman has given us the best. In 
many places on the crest of the swells of the 
plains are still seen the old stone circles, repre¬ 
senting the ancient village sites of the Sioux. 
Stone implements can also be picked up, and 
occasionally the bleaching skulls of the buffalo 
are seen, and other things are brought to view 
which carry us back to the old days to the time 
when famous Chief Old Smoke wielded so 
powerful an influence over the Dakotas. 
In traversing the famous Laramie plains much 
is to be seen to recall the stirring events of the 
days of the overland trail. Here in places is 
still to be seen the deep rutted trail of the hardy 
overland emigrants, also traces of the old trails 
and passes of the early Sioux, and sometimes 
their ancient village sites. Occasionally one picks 
up ancient stone implements. Beside the trail, 
over on the distant swell, and in the nearby 
draw are seen the skulls of the buffalo growing 
white in the scorching sun. 
Here was a famous hunting ground both for 
the white man and the red. This was the border 
land of the Dakotas, where often they met in 
deadly combat with the Shoshones, whose reser¬ 
vation is among the mountains to the northwest. 
No one who is at all interested in the Indian 
race and the conditions which once existed, can 
visit these regions without experiencing peculiar 
feelings of sadness. 
Of the many famous characters of the early 
Sioux (one is living still) none perhaps anpeals 
to the writer more prominently than Old Smoke 
and Red Cloud : and among those of later times 
are Sitting Bull (the writer was near him when 
he was shot) and Little Wolf. 
Clement L. Webster. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dea'er to 
supply you regularly. 
