1900 N.Y. Laws 26, An Act for the Protection of the Forests, Fish and Game of the State, Constituting Chapter Thirty-One of the General Laws, ch. 20, ch. 31, pt. 1, art. 2, § 21.

Manner of killing. – Web-footed wild fowl shall not be taken except with a gun fired at arms length without rest. They shall not be fired at from a boat propelled otherwise than by hand or from any boughhouse or floating device used to conceal the hunter if more than fifty feet from shore, or a natural growth of grass or flags. Fowl taken in violation of law shall not be brought ashore, sold or possessed.