I wish this would happen again...
Speaking of decoys...
The East Carolina Wildfowl Guild will hosts it's annual decoy festival February 5-7 in "little" Washington...It's my annual "cap" on the North Carolina Waterfowl season. I really enjoy the tradition and heritage wrapped up in Atlantic Flyway waterfowling. It's all about the decoys, and this fest does it right. I like to see the old "working" decoys...the ones that someone's grandfather inherited from his grandfather. Roughly carved from wood, usually cypress, or some other relatively buoyant wood. The best ones are the ones that were adrift for years after breaking loose from some old-timey market gunner's spread...even better if they were discovered years later in the mud around somewhere like the Susquehanna Flats, Barnegat Bay, or Currituck Sound.
Yeah, some people can carve beautiful mantelpieces, and there will be plenty down there, but they are virtually useless...never collect anything, whose primary function was/is to collect dust. I think the festival is $10 for a 3 day pass and there is a ton of art to see, as well as a calling competition that I could probably enter...and win laughs. Yet, I still fancy myself a fair to middlin' caller, but that was earned from my Mississippi relationships...it's all about decoys on this coast, and the ECWG is the place to see some of the oldest and best...and if yo decide to visit...please pick me up one of the old Mason decoys...or something in cork. The only thing better than this festival is...CAMP CANVASBACK, our one-of-a-kind youth waterfowl camp...yeah other states have them, but ours is like college - you really need to attend all 4 tracts to be a seasoned, albeit, young waterfowler.
Enjoy the day...
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