The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-07
From Cane Henry

out being out Of sight Of a wreck.
The only residents Of the beach III
the Winter months are the life-sayine
crews and in the Summer a colony 81
| fishermen take possession OF the shackS
which interrupt the mOnOtOny Of the
sand bills. These fishermen supply
New York markets with early bluehsh
During the Winter they found employ
nent formerly on the oyster beds Of
Back bay, but, since the inlet closed
the waters Of the bay have become
| slightly brackish and the oysters have
decreased in quality and value. Along
the canals and the bay wild celery and
duck grass grow in abundance, furnish
ing food for countless numbers Of ducks,
geese and swans.
The climate is usually mild, with
only few DAYS Of really cold weather.
Ice forms at night, but disappears in a
| few hours. This Winter Is an excep-
| ton. During the recent cold snap the
bav trOze from shore to shore. 1t was
possible to walk for miles on the Ice.
| poet, ,,,oro ,11ocoJ on r,,DparS and drag
eed to the air holes, where the wild
| fowl gathered The thermometer fell
as low as Is degrees. Batteries were
| formed by plling snow and ice about
the boats. When the decOys were az
ranged at the proper distance, and the
hunter LAID himself down in his boat,
he could easily imagine he was shoot
ing in Canada or Montana, and not on
the shore of Virginia.
In goose shooting on the beach side
of the bay, blinds are constructed and
live geese decoys are used. Smart and
suspicious as wild goose is, his educa-
ted brother used as a decOy is even
more willy. Some of the old gande- s
are as keen as a deerhOund or bird dog.
They seem to enjoy the Turing of their
brothers into trap, and honk them
down for the hunter with pleasure.
The geese are Kept IN coops. Some
times they are taken to the batteries in
coops or in bags with holes cut in them
through which their heads protude.
Each hunter uses from twenty-five to
thirty decOvs So carefully train I'd are
the live decoys that when the hunter
appears IN a goose yard" and selects
his birds they scamper into his coops
or bags and become silent, although a
moment before the cackling was so
great as to be almost deafenlng When
the covers are reached the attendant
drives stake in the sand where the
water is few inches deep, so the bird
may stand on bottom The decOy is
fastened to the stake by strap tied
about the leg In order to make his
piece of Sod foot square. cut in q
marsh, is sunk six inches beneath the
water and held down by driving the
stake through it. This gives the APP
pearance of resting and floating on the
surface
When shooting IN the ice this Winter
the boat was sunk level with the foe.
Decoys were secured by cutting holes
in the ice and fastening them by
stake to the bottom No artificial
decoys can equal the trained live geese.
The wonderful keenness of a wild
goose's hearing Is shown by the tact
that long before the trained hunter is
aware of the approach of flock the
decOys commence to send back respOn-
sive honks to the coming flock
Besides the live geese decoys the clubs
own focks of decoy ducks, which are
used to lure the canvas-backs. malads
and red-heads within gun-shot Several
of the clubs now have focks of wild
swans, which are used as decoys in
goose and swan shooting.
The members of the club shoot from
points governed altogether by the con
ditions of wind and weather. It re-
quires a keen eye and steady hand to
bring down canvas-back, as the v
shaped flock cuts by point with a
quick twir-r-r, travelling at rate Of ITO
or l15 miles an hour
| AS the shores of the bay are taneles
Of reedv marsh in the Autumn months.
ho Il L,