Maryland Night Shooting on Ducks

STOCKTON, Worcester County, Md., Jan. 5. -- Editor Forest and Stream: This year the wildfowl have been unusually plentiful, and it has been a pleasure to watch the great drifting beds, and the almost countless flights as they pass from one feeding ground to another. Redheads, bluebills and geese have been killed in numbers not before reached for years, but the brant have behaved very badly. So far we have been unable to break up the great bunches of brant, and as a consequence the decoying has been very poor and but few have been killed. We have had plenty of rough weather, and the bays have been frozen over twice already. The ducks, however, stay with us, and their numbers continue to increase from the Northern birds coming in. In a few weeks the Southern flight will be moving, making the prospects good for plenty of game, and fine shooting will be had until late in March. For several weeks the weather has been too rough for night shooting, so the fowl have not been frightened and decoy well. If this fire shooting were stopped we would have plenty of fowl and good decoying. Night shooting is done very openly here, no one thinks of hiding his outfit or making a mystery of his going out. I am informed, on good authority, that a warden not a hundred miles from here not only shoots at night, but furnishes an outfit for another party to shoot on shares. If the State game warden would do better work on the coast, and give a little more attention to the wildfowl, and a little less to a few stores around the city, much good could be done.

O. D. FOULKS.