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The latest incarnation. I was lucky enough to shoot straight on my ID hunt a coupla' months back, and just got a call from my taxidermy man. Three more flavors of birds (wigeon, GWT and, after many years of lusting and shameless coveting, a bull sprig) will be added shortly.

It's funny that when one (speaking for myself) really gets down to it, the treasures one possesses really has no necessary relationship to money. Family, good memories, precious little mementos that often won't mean a GD thing to anyone else, that's the stuff with power; the good stuff, and what I covet.

Hokay, barkeep. Callin' it a night.





Total technical failure, but as I'm 2 sheets, thought it was a nice addition. OK, g'night.

Have you ever read Gordon McQuarries' "Stories of the Old Duck Hunters"? Some fine reading about duck hunters from back in the 30s-50s..

"I pity the duck hunter who goes for ducks alone. I pity the duck hunter who has not filled his being with the dawn magic. I pity the one who cares not, or knows not, what he has killed. Maybe that two pound bluebill had his last meal on a Manitoba marsh. Maybe that brilliant golden-eye with the patent-leather bill was on the edge of the arctic a few days ago.

Where, twenty-four hours ago, was that flock of geese which sends its haunting cry earthward? Where was that same flock this morning when you laced your boots and drained your coffee cup? Somewhere over Lake Superior? Looking down on top of an autum blow through which, perhaps, the blunt nose of a freighter plunged like a trifling pencil on mountainous seas?

These are thoughts that come to the mind of the waterfowler Certainly few, if any, of the outdoor sports can rival this game. Entirely aside from the immediate lure of the sport, which has to do with decoys, blinds and weapons, there is an extra urge that comes from the quest for birds of passage, flying from their northern homes to the smiling marshes of the southland.

City-worn folks with furrowed brows have heard this music, as has the rustic country lad, crouched on the edge of a marsh with his fathers shotgun. There is a great deceit in duck hunting by which men count their sport in terms of "limit bags" and "good shooting." Be not fooled. the same men would greet the rising sun in season though they knew their chances of killing even a single duck were very, very poor indeed."

Gordon McQuarrie..

An original copy is in the bottom right case, on the left. I don't think you can see it in any of the crummy pics, but it's there.

Funny you should mention it.

Cheers.

Have all three in the Trilogy...

Kind of a ritual for me is I have a couple of dozen surviving decoys that my grandfather handcarved along with some store bought canvas covered corks. They are displayed in my house and once a year I take them out to a small lake he used to hunt and let them ride the waves for a day...They still work just fine...

Very fitting and grand salute to your grandfather, though where I most often hunt (coastal) I'd probably be terrified one (or any number) would break loose in a tide and float off. But even scarier would be the spectre of one of my buddies hammering one of those special blocks with an errant shot. Great guys, the lot of them, but good thing a coouple aren't judged on their shooting ability alone, that's for sure.


P.S. Curious: what species decoys? Love to see a pic or three, if you have any.

Bluebills mostly, with a few others mixed in...I'll toss up a pic...

The paint, the eyes, the shot holes, all are original...

Leighton, fantastic stuff, well displayed. It is wonderful to see people enjoy what they have. Best, John

Sgt, those are uber cool in and of themselves, but that they were borne of your grandpa's hands, who lovingly transformed them from a block of wood into what they are now? Off the charts cool. Thanks for sharing. I only own a couple of old decoys, and the one I'm thinking about looks very similar to yours. It's a buffie, and it too has a breast full of holes. If I werwe to guess I'd say they look like lead # sixes.

John, thank you, sir. I've found over the years that I'd rather have a few nice things that I truly love than a room full of mass-produced, mediocre crap. Now I've got to bring that mentality to bear on my gun safe. Too much crap I never use, even worse isn't even nice to look at...

Lead sixes would be a good guess...I have probably a couple of dozen scattered around here. Most of the canvas/cork bodies have some shot damage..I always blame my Dad who hunted over them as a kid..