The days are gone when seemingly limitless numbers of canvasbacks, mallards, and Canada geese filled the skies above the Texas coast. Gone too are the days when, in a single morning, hunters often harvested ducks, shorebirds, and other waterfowl by the hundreds. The hundred-year period from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries brought momentous changes in attitudes and game laws: changes initially prompted by sportsmen who witnessed the disappearance of both the birds and their spectacular habitat. These changes forever affected the state’s storied hunting culture. Yet, as R. K. Sawyer discovered, the rich lore and reminiscences of the era’s hunters and guides who plied the marshy haunts from Beaumont to Brownsville, though fading, remain a colorful and essential part of the Texas outdoor heritage. Gleaned from interviews with sportsmen and guides of decades past as well as meticulous research in news archives, Sawyer’s vivid documentation of Texas’ deep-rooted waterfowl hunting tradition is accompanied by a superb collection of historical and modern photographs. He showcases the hunting clubs, the decoys, the duck and goose calls, the equipment, and the unique hunting practices of the period. By preserving this account of a way of life and a coastal environment that have both mostly vanished, A Hundred Years of Texas Waterfowl Hunting also pays tribute to the efforts of all those who fought to ensure that Texas’ waterfowl legacy would endure. This book will aid their efforts, along with those of coastal residents, birders, wildlife biologists, conservationists, and all who are interested in the state’s natural history and in championing the preservation of waterfowl and wetland resources for the benefit of future generations.

Waterfowling is one of the more challenging forms of hunting. Requiring an intimate knowledge of the quarry in specialized gear—from shotguns and ammo to decoys, calls, blinds, and boats—and taking place in a variety of terrains—from the fields of Manitoba to the flooded timber of Arkansas, it’s the type of sport that gets in your blood and stays there. In The Ultimate Guide to Waterfowl Hunting, all aspects of this sport are covered by three authors who have intimate knowledge of how to hunt ducks and geese successfully. Chapters within this book cover dozens of topics, with special attention devoted to: Identifying the many and various species of waterfowl Methods for decoying and calling in a variety of situations Advice on how to choose the best gear for the situation at hand Theories and practices of retriever training and handling Tips on hunting in different types of weather, from rain and snow to bluebird skies How to choose the correct guns and loading Plus tips on blind placement in water or on land With more than a hundred photographs expertly illuminating the realities of waterfowl hunting, The Ultimate Guide to Waterfowl Hunting is sure to help hunters of all skill levels bag their biggest catches yet.

This vintage volume contains a practical and informative book on shooting duck, and includes tips and hints on technique, instructions for attaining best results, information on equipment, historical and anecdotal information... and much more. Complete with authentic photographs and a wealth of information invaluable to the keen duck hunter, this volume constitutes a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in the sport. The chapters of this book include: “Shooting Wildfowl”, “The Wheat Fields of Alberta”, “Black Ducks Here and There”, “The Wariest Wildfowl”, “Down Barnstable Way”, “Mississippi Mud”, “Winter Along the Baltic”, “Beyond the Sierras”, “From Illinois to Arkansas”, “The Watch Gander”, “Down by the Rio Grande”, etcetera. This antiquarian volume is being republished now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition - complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on shooting wildfowl.

Instructions for identifying 40 species of ducks, geese and swans.

From its earliest days of human habitation, the Texas coast was home to seemingly endless clouds of ducks, geese, swans, and shorebirds. By the 1880s Texas huntsmen, or market hunters, as they came to be called, began providing meat and plumage for the restaurant tables and millinery salons of a rapidly growing nation. A network of suppliers, packers, distribution centers, and shipping hubs efficiently handled their immense harvest. At the peak of Texas market hunting in the late 1890s, Rockport merchants shipped an average of 600 ducks a day in a five-month shooting season, and in the last year of legal market hunting, an estimated 60,000 ducks and geese were shipped from Corpus Christi alone. Market men employed efficient methods to harvest nature’s bounty. They commonly hunted at night, often using bait to concentrate large numbers of waterfowl. The effectiveness of the hunt was improved when side-by-side double barrel shotguns and large-gauge swivel guns gave way to repeating firearms, with some capable of discharging as many as eleven shells in a single volley. Their methods were so efficient that, by the late 1800s, Texas sportsmen and others blamed the alarming decline of coastal waterfowl populations on the market hunter’s occupation. In 1903, after a long fight and many failures, the first migratory bird game law passed the Texas legislature. Though the fight would continue, it was the beginning of the end of the year-round slaughter. Most market hunters quit, and those who didn’t became outlaws. In this book, R. K. Sawyer chronicles the days of market hunting along the Texas coast and the showdown between the early game wardens and those who persisted in commercial waterfowl hunting. Containing an abundance of rare historical photographs and oral history, Texas Market Hunting: Stories of Waterfowl, Game Laws, and Outlaws provides a comprehensive and colorful account of this bygone period.

Explains the equipment, skills, and techniques needed for duck hunting. Vibrant photographs and clear text help readers understand and imagine this fascinating way to explore the outdoors.