doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting old guns over wooden decoys

My cabin, in the area where I was born, produced a number of decoy carvers over the years, most notably Duncan Ducharme. He used to cut my hair when I was a very young lad. I think he charged 25 cents. There were numerous wealthy and well known people who hunted the Delta Marsh in by gone years, hunting over what are now considered prized wooden decoys. My dad guided many of those hunters and became friends with several over the years.

Brian, I think I recognize some of those trees!

Nice pics BTW!

Those photos were taken by my dad's friend that he guided that morning, a retired wildlife biologist who spent most of his life in the Yukon studying woodland caribou. He was on a quest to hunt every legal species of bird in North America using an antique Scottish damascus hammer gun. One of his desired hunts was to hunt canvasback on the Delta Marsh over a rig of hand carved decoys.

No pics but lately been using a heavy, tight choked Fox. I have others I've used. Greener, Baker , Ithaca. Sometimes an A-5 or grandpop's Savage auto. I like to exercise all of them.

I love shooting ducks over my carved decoys.

Gorgeous Labrador

ddog, nice work on the mallards. Did you do the carving and painting? Gil

Me too. Have lots of old wood decoys, some I made, some found walking shorelines as a kid, and some given to me by old hunters. Many have been hunted over at Oak Point north of Delta, up near the Narrows, and up in the Saint Lakes. And on many of the best diver lakes in North Dakota. Used to put out 44 divers including canvasbacks, redheads, scaup, and buffleheads. Lots of work bringing the lead-keeled, long-lined "carrylites" in, especially when iced up in strong winds with the lines and anchors full of sago pondweed. I've been donating the birds to Wildlife Society fundraisers. Oh and yes, shot over exclusively with doubles including muzzleloaders.

No. I had them made for me by Rick Brown in New Jersey. He once owned the old Wildfowler decoy factory.

For those of you that make or restore old wooden decoys, this grad student carving his would be interested in you prefer to rig them (shallow water), and where you find your lead keels - or the mold to cast them. And some other questions I can pester you about, but those two are good to start. Looks like I might get a hunt over wooden dekes after all.