I’m posting this as much as a reminder for myself as for anyone else who might be in the area and interested in attending. I remember last year that Patrick had expressed an interest, so Patrick, mark your calendar now!
I had myself convinced that the show was next weekend… sigh. I’m just foolish enough to show up on the wrong weekend!
We’ll be bringing the pup along and I may just decide to enter him in the puppy retriever contest for fun. I’ve been saving up my pennies for a while now to be able to buy a new decoy or two.
Hope to see you there! I may even have a prize to offer the first person who can correctly ID the ducks and the NJ landmark featured on this year’s official show poster.
Click on the pic for a schedule of the weekend’s events.
For some reason, the poster and your post reminded me of James Michener’s fantastic “Chesapeake.” It includes amazingly detailed stories about waterfowl hunting in the old days. It’s ironic that bird lovers of today can romanticize practices that obliterated populations of so many bird species, but we do.
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I remember taking my wife on a canoe ride.As we traveled through a river inlet,she picked a decoy up out of the water and held it about head high. Probably not a good idea to hold one up during hunting season.
I look forward to hearing about Luka’s adventure :o) Your, too!
Mojoman: That one’s in my *to be read* pile – I love Michener.
Mostly I try to ignore what the show is really about. I enjoy the folk art and the food – and all the Labs!
Really, it’s a rich history of our area and not to be denied. I just don’t have the stomach for it, myself.
A great birder friend of mine started out learning ducks and rails by hunting on the salt marsh with his dad – at some point he couldn’t do it anymore – but has fond memories of that time in his childhood.
At one of these shows I got myself into a pretty heated argument with a guy from the DNR about hunting woodcock – I avoid that table now!
Larry: I added some links to last year’s posts about the show.
I was happy to note that there’s a contest for ID’ing waterfowl at this year’s show – I think some hunters could probably use the practice!
Mary: We’ll see!
Hunting woodcock!? NOOOO!!!!! I tell ya, there’s nothing these people won’t shoot!
Oh, I hope Luka does you proud! I’m sure that no matter what, he’ll have a blast with all those other doggies around.
You should enter the ID contest and blow everyone else away!
And I’m definitely still jonesin’ for some bunny fixes!
Laura, I like that print..I can’t identify the ducks, but the little house looks to me like the East Point Lighthouse in Heislerville.
There is a artist/duck carver who works and lives right next door to my office. His name is Joe Hall – I don’t know if he’ll be exhibiting his decoys at the show. It looks like a nice event..sans the duck hunting gun-toting dudes, however.
I’d enjoy seeing the decoys too. Have you ever been to see the shorebird decoys as the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. When I was there in the late 1990s, there was a house with many by well-known carvers in showcases on the second floor. I used to make shorebird carvings when I was doing a lot of woodcarving about ten years ago. Hope you take Luka and that he does well in the retrieving!
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