Recent content by Nick Taxiarchis

I lived in Washburn for 4 years. The waterfowling is pretty good up there. Goose hunting can be insane. They are literally everywhere. I stood in the Aroostook River one evening picking up my decoys and had at least 300 geese lift off from the field above and land all around me, close enough...

I owned one several years ago so I could be mis-remembering. It had 32" barrels and was very "swingy". Great for follow through but once you get them moving it's like trying to stop an 18-wheeler. Definitely a gun for the blind. For 3" chambers there should be a stamping on the barrel...

I've read that fruit woods (apple, pear, cherry) were used, but I've never come across one. Woods like oak and ash tend to be straight grained and split pretty easily when fully dry so would be poor choices to handle recoil. I would imagine with the westward expansion more and more guns were...

Japanese artillery shell cut off to make a bowl or ashtray. Pretty cool.

I've used a spray bottle of anti freeze. Works pretty well on frost. Won't hold up to snow.

I know that boat. Just down the road from me. I was told it's one of the boats made by Bear Creek Canoe back in the 90's. I don't know enough about them to judge myself.

The first thing you have to determine is what constitutes a decoy. To me a decoy is a carving that is used with the intent of drawing birds in to be killed. So to me any carved duck that doesn't get put in the water and shot over isn't a decoy. Therefore there is no such thing as a...

CZ is a nationalized arms manufacturer in the Czech Republic. They've produced some pretty nice guns over the years. I've never shot a ringneck but have handled them and they are IMO one of the better looking and handling "cheap" doubles. The Ringnecks I have seen seemed a little light for 3"...

Crowell did carve for some time before he started branding the bottoms of his birds. These are known as "pre-brand" in collecting circles. (go figure). As Mr. Lawrence said, definitely do some research before you buy. The decoy world is even more of a "buyer beware" environment than the...

My theory is that decoys are like women. You spend more time looking at them than anything else so they might as well be pleasing to the eye. I've had the same luck with a rig of plastic decoys painted flat brown as I have had with nice hand-carved ones. It's more placement and location...

The Sweet 16 started being produced in 1936 as the lighter weight version of the Standard weight 16 ga. A-5. The "Sweet Sixteen" engraved on the action didn't appear until around 1953. However, the pre-1953 16 ga lightweight guns had a gold plated trigger and an engraved receiver. The...

It depends on the oar. I have a Witham style oar that has a very long and broad blade that works best FSU. In fact it only really works FSU. I've also used Witney style curved oars which are used FSD. You can't use them any other way due to the curve in the shaft. Personally I think the...

Shaw and Tenny in Orono Maine makes a couple. Kinda spendy and I don't know if they keep them in stock or not. http://www.shawandtenney.com/specialty-sculling-oars.htm Nick

What I find most interesting is that if you were to go into a room full of scientists and present a case on anything OTHER than global warming, with a few years of "direct observation" as your only evidence, you would be laughed out of the room. The hysrteria surrounding this "phenomenon"...

I've used a rig of LL Bean black ducks for the last 8 years, and the rig has been in the family for at least 30. The older LL Bean decoys have a really nice silhouette. I've used a group of LL Bean birds opposite a group of some of the more expensive "hand carved" decoys out there and the...