THE PASSING OF THE WILD FOWL. 



A. S. DOANE. 



I came to Currituck county, North 

 Carolina, 6 years ago, because I had been 

 told it was the best shooting ground for 

 wild fowl in North America. 



When I came I found that so far as law 

 was concerned it was one of the richest 

 counties in the whole world. The wild 

 fowl were in greater numbers than I had 

 ever dreamed of. When we entered Cur- 

 rituck sound, on the old steamer "Comet," 

 the rafts of swan looked like great snow- 

 drifts. The air was alive with geese and 

 ducks, and the steady shooting from the 

 batteries and bush blinds put one in mind 

 of the 4th of July in New York city. 



On investigation I found that all desira- 

 ble marshes were owned by clubs, which 

 maintained guards to protect them against 

 trespassers, and that no non-resident could 

 shoot afloat — i. e., in a battery or bush 

 blind. It took a year to become a legal 

 resident, and all I could do in the mean- 

 time was to look on. 



We have 2 close days in each week, i. e., 

 no shooting on Wednesdays or Saturdays. 

 We also have a law against fire lighting, 

 and all other ways of killing ducks, except 

 by shooting from the shoulder. 



When I questioned the oldest inhabi- 

 tants they told me there were not 10 per 

 cent, of the fowl that there were in former 

 years. I put these down as fairy tales. 

 Now I find it is true. In '94 there were 6 

 clubs here, at all of which the attendance 

 was regular and the shooting good. 



These were the Swan Island, the Light 

 House, the Monkey Island, the Narrows 

 Island, the Currituck Shooting and the 

 Palmer's Island clubs. There may have 

 been more, but I was not so well posted 

 then as now. Battery shooters were mak- 

 ing $500 to $1,000 a season, and bush blind 

 shooters in proportion. 



During the snipe season bags of 50 to 

 100 in a day were not uncommon. In the 

 beach bird season any man who could fire 

 a gun could kill all he wanted of these, 

 even if he should want a thousand. Now 

 it is different. 



We don't see quite so many swans. A 

 bunch of 50 to 100 does, my eyes good. I 

 saw more ducks the day I came into Cur- 

 rituck sound than I have seen this whole 

 season. 



Last spring if a man killed 20 snipe he 

 was doing well, and the biggest kill I 



heard of was 41 in a day. At the close of 

 the beach bird season if a man could aver- 

 age 30 birds in a day he was in great luck. 



At present the only clubs that have any 

 shooting worth mentioning are the Swan 

 Island and the Currituck. There is a little 

 shooting at the Narrows Island Club, but 

 no members come to either the Light 

 House or the Monkey Island Club. The 

 Palmer's Island Club has sold its prop- 

 erty and gone out of business. I have 

 heard that some of the other clubs will do 

 likewise as soon as they can find buyers. 



Battery shooters and bush blinders are 

 not making wages this year, save in ex- 

 ceptional cases. What is the cause of all 

 this change in 6 years? 



It is simply that wild fowl are worth 

 money. This is the same cause that ex- 

 terminated the buffalo, and nearly all our 

 fur-bearing animals. 



Just as long as we have a market for 

 game the game will go to that market; 

 and just as long as one duck worth 10 

 cents exists some one will be after him, 

 trying to pull in the coin. 



Outside of the club owners and their 

 guests we have between 400 and 500 mar- 

 ket shooters in Currituck sound. There is 

 nothing illegal nor disgraceful in being a 

 market shooter, and it is the hardest kind 

 of work. In fact, take them as a class, I 

 know of no harder working nor more ac- 

 commodating men than those who shoot 

 in this sound. 



In spite of the decrease in the number of 

 water fowl, a prominent buyer told me he 

 was buying about as many as usual. This 

 means, I presume, 40,000 birds, and there 

 are 3 or 4 buyers. Prices are low this year. 

 So you see that, although birds are scarce 

 and growing more so, the gunners work 

 enough harder to meet the demand. 



As to beach birds, last year was the first 

 time any money value was put on them. 

 As soon as it was discovered they could 

 be sold a small army of shooters lined up 

 on the beach. 



These birds are not wanted to eat, but 

 for their skins. I am informed that 60,000 

 skins, of all kinds of beach birds, left this 

 county last summer. Where, heretofore, 

 a man who wanted a day's sport, would go 

 over once in a while and kill 100 or 200 

 for himself and his neighbors, every boy 

 who can hold a gun now shoots from early 



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