Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-09-08
SEASIDE SPORT.
GRAND SHOOTING ABOUT cHlNco-
TEAGUE ISLAND, ON OUR COAST.
A Gnnper,s paradIse-what 20 Wear, what
60 Take Along, md All About
It-Ducks and Geese.


/ Baltimore Sun: Chincoteague Island
and its enviruns, along the Maryland and
Virginia coast are the sportsmen's para
disc nj this season. The crack OF their
Guns is now reverherating over the
marshes, and thousands Of willet.
yellow.shanks, gray backs, and other
sea.birds are winglng their last
/ flight. Many BaltimoTeans are Just
/ beginning their annual vacations
in order TO enjoy this coast-shoot-
ing. All through the summer they have
stuck assiduOusly TO their business,
bnoyed up during the hot, swelierin8
days by the prospect of getting sea
sons outing on the marshes and Cf STAY
ing birds by hundreds. The weather
has already begun to temper down and
the air along the coast IS delightfully."-
cool.
Daily many sportsmen may be seen at
the administrations and the steamboat
wharves with gripsack in one hand and
gun slowed away in a cover IN the other.
A sPoRTsMAS's OUTFIT.
Each sportsman should be provided
with a No. II breech-loading gun and
not less than 400 cartridges. loaded with
three drachms of powder and an ounce
and one eighth of No. 8 shot. His wear
ing apparel for shooting should consist
of canvas cunning coat pair Of old
| trousers, high gum boots, heavy
woollen shirt, and q felt hat or cap.
There is 10 need for a full-dress
suit, for the sportsman at Chinco-
league Island will have no balls or
parties TO attend. His supplies should
consist Of q dozen or more quinine
pills and a demijobn OF whiskey as
| brcastwOrks against the attacks OF ma
laria. which at this season Of decaying
vegetation is apt to be plentiful on the
marshes. A shooting trip Of two weeks
| should not cost EaltlmOrean over 500,
including cartridges, railroad or steam
| boat fare, hotel bills, gnides, and incl
dentals. This sum may he reduced II
the sportsman is sufficiently industrious
to reload his shells and if he will divide
the expenses of a guide with com
paniOn.
HEADQUARTERS FOR GUSNEBS.
Chincoteague Island, on the coast Of
the Eastern Shore of Virginia, IS the
most popular resort for sportsmen. He
will not have to pursue a hunt for
guides. Like hackmen in the city, they
are always willing to give their services,
boats, and decoys for a consideration,
which consideration IL usually 81 per
day
The guide engaged the night before
will he on hand at ; o'clock in the morn
| ing, and start Is made for the points
where the birds are usually the most
abundant at this season. The hotel
keeper will provide you with a lunch
The guide will attend to all tho details
Of the trim. Wollop's island, Cookie
creek marshes, Simeneson's marshes,
Ragged Point, and Assatoague island are
the most popular resorts for the birds.
Wollop's island is about four miles
south of Chincoteague Island. Across
the narrow bay which separates 1T from
| the mainland is Cookie creek, making
up through the marshes from the main
| land. The COcEle creek marshes are on
one side and the Simcneson marshes
are on the other side of the creek.
Ragged Point is five miles above Chin
colleague Island and Assateague Island
little over mile back OF
Chincoteague Island. At all Of these
points are marshes dotted with
fresh water ponds from two to
four feet deep. Here the sea birds feed,
if not driven off by the tide or wind,
from o'clock until ii in tho morning
and from . in the afternoon until .. Tho
guide and sportsman will reach the feed
fairgrounds as the birds begin to fly,
and then the fun begins.
now THE BIRDS ARE SHOT.
The decoys, usually ranging from
twenty-five to fifty, are fixed in the mud
by the prods to which they are attached.
The sportsman then concea!s himself In
n blind constructed on shore by the
guide with bushes and sca-grass. VIII
lot, yellow-shanks, cOlicobacks. and
graybacks are the principal birds at
tracted by the decoys.
The wiilet fly in flocks, and as soon as
they sight the decoys they swing around.
In doing this they bunch themselves.
This is the most favorable opportunity
for shooting them. Many gunners are
deceived by the distance and shoot too
soon, before the birds are fairly punched.
The yellow. shanks, of which there IS n
small and large variety, usually fly IN
hocks, though they frequently enter the
marshes in pairs. They fly higher than
the willet, and as soon as they sight the
dccoys they begin to lower. just as
they arc about to pitch is the time to
shoot at them. If the sportsman is pro-
vided with two guns he may get three or
! four shots and rs many birds before the
flock gets away.
The flocks vary in size anywhere from
six to fifty. The graybacks flock and
fly together like the yellow-shanks and
are shot much in the same manner.
They are much tanner than yellow
shanks and are more delicious. All OF
these birds may be shot along the coast
at low tide when they feed IN the swash.
The wet weather of the past two months
has rendered the fresh-water ponds such
desirable feeding-grounds that the coast
has been abandoned. The curlew are
such wild birds that the trouble IN sba-
dowing them is not paid for by the sport
derived in killing them.
WHAT A SHOT BRINGS DOWN.
The willet is about the size of a pigeon,
the yellow-shank is about as large as a
robin. and the grayback is smaller than
either. The guide will pick up the
birds and carry them to the blind. The
Young birds are now fully grown, and
while many sportsmen prefer TO kill the
sea birds in spring August and Septem-
Der are becoming the most popular sea
son. A good marksman at this season
should bag seventy-fye birds if they are
at all plentiful. At night after a hard
DAVIS shooting the sportsman feels like
seeking his bed. If disposed, however,
to while away an hour or two around the
card table he can find partners.
DUCKS AND GEESE NEXT.
The season of sea birds will last
through September. Then will come
the ducks They are shot in the bays
and inlets in the same manner as in the
upper Chesapeake. They are generally