Show ODY pass the hens the only real duck factory on earth is the hen duck this is a slogan advanced by an 80 year old california sportsman who Is carrying on a one man campaign aimed at educating hunters to pass up hen ducks and to bring only drakes to bag the wildlife Wild ILfe management institute reports 11 II 11 mccumber of 2321 high bury avenue los angeles who recently placed his gun in the ra rack ck for the last time after more than GO CO years of wild fowling believes that both hunters and the ducks will benefit from the selective type of shooting which he suggests ests in these days of reduced bags the sportsman on a good flight day might fill his limit within the opening hour hy by following the advice of mr mccumber his shooting day could be lengthened proportionately biologically with most of the popular waterfowl species in which the sex of indi individual bidual birds may be di distinguished shed on on the wing the idea makes a kes sense 11 II albert hochbaum in his prize winning the canvasback on a prairie marsh an intensive study of breeding waterfowl in canada observes that during the later days of the season drakes on some marshes may outnumber hens by as many as twelve or more to one similar observe observations have been made by other competent biologists since ducks pair oft off in a fifty fifty sex ratio at mating time a large number of drakes contribute little to the next falls hunting crop although research workers believe that some extra drakes may bo be necessary to insure successful re nesting if first attempts by the hens are unsuccessful cess ful a disproportionate number of 0 drakes in some species seem to be unproductive productive im As a readily recognized surplus they may be harvested selectively without cutting appreciably into the breeding stock to paraphrase mr mccumbers philosophy it is possible by passing up the hens to save the ducks and hunt them too why camouflage works perk angwin new england outdoor writer contributes a bit ot of prose for possible use by his brother craftsmen as follows A number ot of fishermen have asked us why we favor camouflaged lines and leaders as against natural ones it seems that some experts tell em that the natural leaders show less from the angle a fish sees em where any fishing get such an idea Is a m mystery how often does a fish take a fly or lure from directly underneath where he sees the line or leader against the sky doggone seldom A fish hits from all angles from the sides and above as well as below on sunken flies and lures ile he always see a dry fly a against the sky background more ofte often n it is the case that the leader is in line with trees or brush the camouflage types break up against this background and the fish are less apt to shy oft off in a recent fishing contest in maine we had a good example of what happens using a cam 0 flage line for trolling we took salmon after salmon A companion in the same boat used the conventional blue line and a lelea clear r leader he got pretzels W we could d switch implements and the fish still hit the lure attached to the camouflage and ignored the other it was evident they were seeing the leader and the line since everything else in chiding the depth fished was equal by all means use camouflaged lines and leaders when you can get them A A A works sometimes it Is the natural inclination 0 of a fisherman to desert immediately any pool invaded by swimmers and to shy away from water frequented by is swimmers immers but sometimes as is the case in many exceptions fish can be e taken irom from pools where swimmers actually are cavorting we have in mind an incident where an angler came upon a pool where swimmers were active but the opposite doreline s ho reline looked so inviting that he resist tossing a plug under an overhand overhanging ging branch the plug had alighted when he was fast to a bass that later weighed in at slightly more than two pounds this an urging for anglers to fish swimming waters its just trotted out for or whatever it may contribute to the unpredictable habits of bass A A A popeyed pop eyed catfish A mr S bellmon north pearl st albany N NY Y was fishing for cattish catfish in the hudson river at the port fort of albany hudson river catfish resemble bullheads bulkheads bull heads but have a forked tall their eyes are usually small but what mr dellmon bellmon pulled in looked more like a frog than a catfish it had eyes as big as a nickel although possibly blind from this abnormality the fish seem to mind as it was in excellent condition |