Living on Ocracoke in the winter is boring to most kids. Most people say that there is nothing to do, personally winter is my favorite season on Ocracoke. For me winter on Ocracoke means Waterfowl hunting.
Waterfowl hunting has been around since the early 1800’s. Waterfowl hunting is the sport or the practice of hunting ducks, geese, swans or any other types of waterfowl. Waterfowl hunting is one of the most popular types of hunting in North America. Waterfowl hunting is growing every year. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service's “Migratory birds, such as geese and ducks attracted 2.6 million hunters in 2011” ("2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife ..."). In order to hunt, ducks hunters have to purchase a duck stamp. …show more content…
On Ocracoke there are two primary methods. The first and most popular method is “sink box hunting” or now known as “Curtain Blind Hunting”. A sink was a hollow box that floated in the water used in the past. Today it’s a curtain blind witch is fixed into the ground and can be lifted and lowered according to the depth of the water. This method is popular on Ocracoke, but is illegal in many other places. The other method we use is called a “stake blind”. This is a blind that sits 3-4 feet off the water on top of wooden pylons. The top of the blind is made of sheets of plywood nailed together in the shape of a rectangle to match the frame of the pylons. These blinds can vary in size but most stake blinds range from as small as 4 feet by 6 feet feet to as big as 5 feet by 16 feet. After its build bushes are placed on the outside for camouflage. These blinds are more comfortable and warmer when it’s blowing and …show more content…
“As decoy production continued into the mid-20th century, it wasn’t long until wooden or cork blocks would begin to be challenged by the likes of decoys made from other more modern materials like paper mache and then plastics. After World War II and sparked by the loss of all their wooden decoy-making equipment, Victor Animal Trap Company began making decoys out of a paper mache material before moving onto a harder, more durable plastic. Following suit, other companies began making similar decoys, with many abandoning their wood decoy production, thus transforming the commercial decoy industry into a more high-tech operation. Now decoys were being made thin-shelled and were not only cheaper to make but also lighter to carry. While some hunters still preferred wooden decoys and a few commercial operations tried to keep the trade alive, by the 1970s most all true commercial wooden decoy operations were long out of business. All that remained were individual carvers who produced decoys on what could be considered a commercial level, but in much smaller quantities. The evolution to plastic, cheap decoys was in full
Waterfowl hunting has been around since the early 1800’s. Waterfowl hunting is the sport or the practice of hunting ducks, geese, swans or any other types of waterfowl. Waterfowl hunting is one of the most popular types of hunting in North America. Waterfowl hunting is growing every year. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service's “Migratory birds, such as geese and ducks attracted 2.6 million hunters in 2011” ("2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife ..."). In order to hunt, ducks hunters have to purchase a duck stamp. …show more content…
On Ocracoke there are two primary methods. The first and most popular method is “sink box hunting” or now known as “Curtain Blind Hunting”. A sink was a hollow box that floated in the water used in the past. Today it’s a curtain blind witch is fixed into the ground and can be lifted and lowered according to the depth of the water. This method is popular on Ocracoke, but is illegal in many other places. The other method we use is called a “stake blind”. This is a blind that sits 3-4 feet off the water on top of wooden pylons. The top of the blind is made of sheets of plywood nailed together in the shape of a rectangle to match the frame of the pylons. These blinds can vary in size but most stake blinds range from as small as 4 feet by 6 feet feet to as big as 5 feet by 16 feet. After its build bushes are placed on the outside for camouflage. These blinds are more comfortable and warmer when it’s blowing and …show more content…
“As decoy production continued into the mid-20th century, it wasn’t long until wooden or cork blocks would begin to be challenged by the likes of decoys made from other more modern materials like paper mache and then plastics. After World War II and sparked by the loss of all their wooden decoy-making equipment, Victor Animal Trap Company began making decoys out of a paper mache material before moving onto a harder, more durable plastic. Following suit, other companies began making similar decoys, with many abandoning their wood decoy production, thus transforming the commercial decoy industry into a more high-tech operation. Now decoys were being made thin-shelled and were not only cheaper to make but also lighter to carry. While some hunters still preferred wooden decoys and a few commercial operations tried to keep the trade alive, by the 1970s most all true commercial wooden decoy operations were long out of business. All that remained were individual carvers who produced decoys on what could be considered a commercial level, but in much smaller quantities. The evolution to plastic, cheap decoys was in full