Railbird Shooting.....

[MarketHunter]

I've been awhile posting these pictures. This was two falls ago, my friend Don Kaas managed to wrangle me an invite on this venture and it was a day to remember. We were shooting on the Maurice River in New Jersey with the Camp Family as our pushers. September is coming quick and that's railbird time......

1. First thing was a trip to "The Girls Place" an all female owned and operated bait shot to purchase our non-resident one day Jersey license.

2. Then it was off to the farm market to await the arrival of our gang of pushers.

3. All the boats in the water.

4. And off we go!

5. Pushing through the long grass, this is where the birds are at high tide.

6. My pusher who I'm happy to say only fell in the water once and it wasn't really my fault....

7. By bag for the afternoon.

8. And finally one of your faithful reporter just to prove I was really there.

This was only a technical Parker trip for me as I was shooting Dad's old Stevens. There were Parkers in the field though!

[OH Osthaus]

looks like a bluebird day Destry, and a lot of fun

and love the boats just saw one just like them for sales on craigslist in NJ listed as a duck boat but I did not recognize the style

[charlie cleveland]

what a hunt... only destrey could find an all girl bait and license shop...youre looking mighty trim big boy... charlie

[MarketHunter]

The best days are when there's a hurricane tide pushing in off the ocean. The higher the water the more birds you see. Roger Giles and I got lucky and caught one when we were shooting clapper rails down in Virginia. It was a once in a lifetime experience, I doubt I ever get that lucky again.

DLH

Few More Pics:

1. You start out just as the tide starts to make, you can see how hard my pusher is working to make the boat go forward. This is why hardly anybody does this work anymore, it's more work than most modern folks want for the money they can get.

2. Tide starting to make, my first few birds and the butt of Dad's old gun.

3. I got lucky and caught a pigeon shoot on the way home. You can just see the bird starting to come out of the center trap, I believe I killed that one.

[Steve Hodges]

Destry, please excuse my ignorance, but do you eat the birds? Or is it just for the shooting?

[Mills]

Sure looks like fun.

[MarketHunter]

You eat them for sure.

The sora type (what we were shooting here), is very small so it takes several to make a meal. They're very tasty, Brother Kaas and I cooked up a batch the evening after the shoot.

The clappers are hit and miss, sometimes they're fantastic and sometimes they're very fishy. First time I ever ate them they were literally some of the best wild game I've ever had. Another time (same recipe) they were as fishy as merganser. Just depends on what they've been feeding on I'd imagine.


Destry

P.S. I'm assuming you meant the rails. We don't eat the pigeons after the pigeon shoots.....

[Ed Blake]

Clapper rails and then pigeons. Sounds like a great time. What were you using on the pigeons? I'll second you on the clapper rails. I've shot them on the Va. Eastern Shore and my host's mother fixed them with dumplings. Pretty good.

[MarketHunter]

I was shooting my big #3 frame DHE at the pigeons.

Add dumplings to any equation and you've got a fair meal. That's what I had for supper last night actually, substitute chicken for rail bird.


DLH

[6pt-Sika]

Now that looks like my kind of bird hunting !

I can sit while someone poles me around !

If it were me I think I'd have a small cooler in the front of the boat with a couple drinks and a sandwich or two

Supposed to be pretty decent Rail shooting down on the eastern shore of Virginia also !

I think the place is called "Wachapreague" I am sure the spellings not correct .