John,
Sorry that I got so far off track. I did not mean to hijack the thread. I knew that Eightbore and I had been over some of the same ground but at different times. Me as a boy or young man and Eightbore as a adult. It just amazed me that men who I knew and took for granted so long ago would be people of so much interest today to me and others. I wish that I could go back and learn more from them and others just as many here have people in their past worth much greater attention than they gave them at the time.
Eightbore
Last I checked I was still alive and all my teeth are the ones I grew. My duck hunting started about age seven or eight. First gun was a Winchester Model 12 in 28 gauge with a cutts. Came with a case of Winchester one ounce of #5's. I killed a lot of ducks and a fair number of quail with that gun. Back then baiting was not frowned upon. The max fine was $52.50 and that was given only in major cases or repeated offenses. Only wanton waste or greed was a real sin among hunters.
The storm of '60 or '62 wiped out one of my fathers best duck blinds. Now it is part of Assateage Island. The island in the Chesapake Bay where I shot my first canvasback no longer exist except on a map as a underwater hazard. Many of the men who duck hunted from after the war, WWII, are long gone. Only my father reamians from a club of over a dozen men. And I am afraid that he is not long for this world.
So to all who read this next, time an old fart talks, listen, you may just learn something that will interest you later.
