Shooting a duck close and on the water is the hardest thing to do in waterfowl hunting. As I am sure you are aware of ducks have keen eyesight and look for any movement from a hunter as well as irregularities with the decoys. Only if you have everything perfect will ducks lock u and dump in close. Furthermore, close shots are good shots as it reduces cripples and allows for clean kills. So kudos from a hunter getting them close as he can correctly identify that which he is shooting and harvest a bird ethically. Long shots 35 plus yards normally increases the chances of merely winging a bird and not being able to put it in the bag. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]