THE CONSTRUCTION OF A DECOY - THE TUNNEL NET. |
| The ditch under the netting with the water in it ends 6 ft. short of where the fixed pipe terminates, and is sloped up dry with sods into the mouth of the tunnel net. Then comes the tunnel net (14 feet to 15 feet in length). It takes on and off easily, so that when it has captive ducks in it, it can be at once detached and each bird fished out and killed separately and safely. The head hoop of the tunnel net, it will be seen, slides into upright posts, with deep cut slots, placed at the end of the fixed pipe. Its hoops, all of a size (2 feet in diameter), are made of 1/2-in. iron. The tunnel net is pegged out straight when in use. |
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| The netting of a Decoy-pipe is usually in three pieces, viz.: the Screen, the Elbow, and the Tail Net. The netting when being tarred, can have some linseed oil added to it to keep it soft and pliable. It will require tarring every three years. It is a convenient plan to run a low board three or four inches above ground on both sides of the pipe from hoop to hoop, and secured to the latter, from the last screen to the end of the pipe. To this board the net can be readily and securely hitched, if angle hooks be driven into it at short intervals. It can then too be easily removed for repairs, or to put store during the summer, as should be done, and will not so soon decay at its edges. |