where thousands of potholes left by the 

 glaciers of the Ice Age provide nesting 

 area for waterfowl. Drought and flood 

 are natural problems that have long 

 plagued the Canadian wetlands area, 

 but development is now encroaching 

 on nesting habitat. 



To help maintain breeding grounds, 

 Ducks Unlimited takes out free, long- 

 term leases from farmers and others in 

 these Canadian wetland areas, Manley 

 says. Then the organization invests in 

 bulldozers and other heavy equipment 

 to build dykes, levees and flood gates 

 to control water level in these prairie 



potholes. 



Already, Ducks Unlimited controls 

 three million acres of Canadian 

 wetlands. Manley says the organiza- 

 tion's goal is to control 6V2 to 7 million 

 acres, the acreage Ducks Unlimited 

 feels would stabilize the continental 

 waterfowl populations for the future. 



Last year, Ducks Unlimited raised 

 $25.1 million nationwide to raise its 44- 

 year total to $134 million for waterfowl 

 conservation. Manley says the 

 organization is saving waterfowl 

 nesting habitat almost single- 

 handedly, since neither the Canadian 



government nor other conservation 

 groups have shown little interest in 

 helping waterfowl. 



Opponents of Ducks Unlimited say 

 the organization neglects waterfowl in 

 the United States. But Manley coun- 

 ters that taking care of the breeding 

 area is vital to maintaining the popula- 

 tion. 



The majority of Ducks Unlimited 

 members are hunters, Manley says. 

 "Many hunters feel that if they are 

 harvesting part of the population they 

 should be the ones to conserve it," he 

 says. 



Flocking to Currituck, hunters and waterfowl 



Say duck hunting in Currituck 

 County and stories of big duck kills, 

 fancy hunting clubs and wooden 

 decoys roll off natives' tongues like 

 rain off oil. Steeped in a waterfowl 

 tradition, the Currituckian's liveli- 

 hood has often depended on hunters' 

 guns. 



But its no wonder that waterfowl 

 reign king in Currituck. The county 

 harvests more waterfowl per square 

 mile than any county in the Atlantic 

 Flyway. Biologists estimate about 15 

 percent of the wintering waterfowl 

 population along the Atlantic Flyway 

 chooses Currituck Sound as their win- 

 ter home. 



But Currituck Sound hasn't always 

 been such a waterfowl haven. It wasn't 

 until after the 1820s when the New 

 Currituck Inlet closed and sound 

 waters freshened that flocks of water- 

 fowl began beating at Currituck's 

 door. The fresher sound water sup- 

 ported the aquatic plants like wild 

 celery and widgeon grass that draws 

 ducks and geese. And draw it did. 



Hunters, many of them Currituck- 

 ians, began cashing in on the abundant 

 waterfowl by the barrels, literally, dur- 

 ing the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

 Remembered as the "market days" in 

 Currituck County, large quantities of 

 ducks and geese were killed and ship- 

 ped in large wooden barrels to 

 northern restaurants. Hunters were 

 killing hundreds of birds a day. "It's 

 recorded that Russell and Van Buren 

 Griggs killed 789 ruddy ducks in one 

 day," says Neal Conoley, education 

 specialist with the Office of Marine Af- 



fairs who is looking into the waterfowl 

 history of the county. Conoley says 

 that for many county natives hunting 

 waterfowl became a business, and for 

 others a supplement to their incomes. 



To kill such large quantities of birds, 

 hunters used a variety of methods now 

 illegal. One such method involved 

 baiting the birds with corn. Conoley 

 says in one four-mile stretch along 

 Currituck Sound 180 bushels of corn 

 were spread a day to bring the birds 

 into the marsh for the kill. 



Another popular hunting method 

 before 1918 (the date the Migratory 

 Bird Treaty Act was passed outlawing 

 the more extravagant forms of 



Courtesy of N C. Archives and History 



hunting) involved night hunting with 

 a firelight rig or a sneak box, Conoley 

 says. Hunters would put a lantern in a 

 box on the bow of their boats, then 

 sneak up on a flock of ducks and lift 

 the box off the lantern. Blinded by the 

 light, the birds were literally sitting 

 ducks for hunters. 



Some hunters used battery or sink 

 boxes to bag large numbers of water- 

 fowl. The boxes floated at water level 

 with flaps to the sides. A one-man 

 operation, the hunter would lie in the 

 box waiting for the decoys to draw in 

 the ducks. Not able to discern the hun- 

 ter's trick, the ducks would fly in at 



Continued on next page 



Hunting restrictions make kills like these unlawful today 



