1828, the area became more of a hun- 

 ter's paradise when Currituck Inlet 

 closed. The fresher sound waters 

 allowed wild celery and other water- 

 fowl foods to grow in the marshy areas, 

 attracting hundreds of thousands of 

 birds. It also attracted hunters, like 

 Midgett's father, who could sell their 

 spoils in Northern markets. 



During the heyday, there were no 

 hunting seasons, says Midgett. 

 "When the ducks began to migrate 

 from Canada to North Carolina, that's 

 when the season started." 



The geese and ducks were shipped in 

 barrels out of Stumpy Point by train 

 to New York and Baltimore. "I heard 

 my daddy say that the most he ever 

 shipped was 16 sugar barrels of geese," 

 says Midgett. In each barrel, 16 geese 

 were stacked around a stovepipe filled 

 with ice shavings and salt. Each goose 

 was worth about $1. 



Jerry Wright of Currituck heard the 

 tales, too, because his grandfather and 

 uncles were also market hunters. He 

 remembers hearing one story in which 

 two gentlemen shot 700 redhead ducks 

 in one afternoon. 



Accounts like this spurred wealthy 

 hunters from the North to visit North 

 Carolina's coast. To accommodate 

 them, the natives built stately hunting 

 lodges and started large clubs. Dews 

 Island Hunting Club in Currituck, 

 which opened its doors in 1852, cur- 

 rently is operated by Wright's father. 

 Like other lodges, the club enter- 

 tained, fed and helped guide the 

 Yankee sportsmen. 



In the 1920s and 1930s, increased 

 concern about depletion of waterfowl 

 led to the enactment of several laws, 

 rules and regulations for hunting. The 

 government set seasons and bag limits 

 for waterfowl and other game, and 

 took measures to enforce them. 



When the market closed, most 

 market hunters became guides 

 for visiting hunters. Serving as guides 

 is a tradition the Midgetts and 

 Wrights continue. 



Today, waterfowl such as Canada 

 geese, snow geese, blue geese, tundra 

 swans, wood ducks, mallards, pigeons, 

 pintails and canvasbacks are plen- 

 tiful on the coast, says Dennis Luszcz, 

 waterfowl project leader with WRC. 



However, "Duck populations are 

 lower, in general, compared to what 

 was here in the 1900s, because of a loss 

 of habitats — here and in Canada where 

 a lot of the birds are nesting." To help 

 preserve natural areas for waterfowl, 

 WRC manages about 3,000 acres of 

 impoundments. 



The history of big game hunting on 

 the coast is a running list of fluctua- 

 tions in populations. 



Deer populations almost were 

 depleted in the 1920s and 1930s, 

 when only about 5,000 to 10,000 

 roamed the state, says Mike Corcoran, 

 vice president of the N.C. Wildlife 

 Federation. But with new laws and in- 

 creased management, the deer popula- 

 tions rebounded. Now 300,000 to 400,- 

 000 stalk the forest, making them the 

 state's largest harvest. The number of 

 deer grew so rapidly, that the commis- 

 sion extended the season and allowed 

 hunting for doe. 



Bears, on the other hand, "are a 

 funny story," says Corcoran. "They 

 need a lot of room to breed." Bears 

 need three different types of 

 territories — foraging, denning and es- 

 cape. With increased construction, 

 roads, land clearing and development, 

 the bear population has been broken 

 almost in half in North Carolina. They 

 either live in the mountains or along 

 the coast. Fortunately, the bear pop- 

 ulation is up from its minimum of 

 30 years ago. 



Similar patterns have been seen with 

 small game in North Carolina. 

 Small game are byproducts of farm- 

 ing. But in recent years, changes in 

 agricultural practices such as mowing 

 of ditch banks, land clearing and use of 

 herbicides and pesticides have caused a 

 decline in such species as the gray 

 squirrel, quail and rabbit. 



As long as there are economic 

 pressures to build, it will be necessary 

 to preserve satisfactory wildlife 

 habitats, says Dossett. Because hidden 

 in the backwoods of North Carolina's 

 coast are hunting traditions to con- 

 tinue . . . and pictures to add to the 

 scrapbook. 



Photo from N.C. Division of Archives and History 



Before restrictions, hunters bagged large quantities of waterfowl 



— Sarah Friday 



