NDR ......... Sora

jode hillman

Well-known member
One of my favorite days of the year! Pulling the rail skiff ( circa 1920, restored 2018) out of mothballs and giving her a nice thick coat of warmed up linseed oil. The oil helps keep the water out of the wood and really brings it back to life. She will be on the rice looking for Sora soon. The exterior gets a good thick coat of paste wax to held push through the heavy growth.


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Jode,

I love railbird hunting. That's a great old boat. You may have said in years past, but I've forgotten whether your boat has any rocker or is a flat bottom? I've had rail skiffs both ways, there's good and bad to each.
 
Jode,

I love railbird hunting. That's a great old boat. You may have said in years past, but I've forgotten whether your boat has any rocker or is a flat bottom? I've had rail skiffs both ways, there's good and bad to each.
Thanks, it's one of a few I've owned but definitely my favorite. She has slight rocker from to back, and also some curvature port to starboard. 3/8 cedar planked construction allow for gentle curves throughout. The rocker helps get her up over the rice mat, and the side camber makes turning a breeze. She has amazingly light for her 16 foot length, probably coming in at 125 pounds or less.
 
Jode,

Really like that Rail skiff, and the Preparing For The Season mode that yer in. It's a long standing part of the lifestyle of decoy carvers & huntin' boat folks. Two Thumbs Up.

The colorful can of "THE HEAVENLY COFFEE" made me smile and chuckle. I've got good old collection of them scattered about in my shop, painting nook, and other places. Steel cans are good for lotta things ain't they.


Best regards
Vince
 
Very cool and beautiful boat!!
I used to hear clapper rails in the marshes back in Alabama but never hunted them. Too much work, even at high tide we didn’t have enough water to float a boat.
Did shoot quite a few common moorhens back in the day during early teal season.
 
Jode,

Really like that Rail skiff, and the Preparing For The Season mode that yer in. It's a long standing part of the lifestyle of decoy carvers & huntin' boat folks. Two Thumbs Up.

The colorful can of "THE HEAVENLY COFFEE" made me smile and chuckle. I've got good old collection of them scattered about in my shop, painting nook, and other places. Steel cans are good for lotta things ain't they.


Best regards
Vince
Thanks Vince. She's one of my babies.

Heck yeah those steel cans sure come in handy. I just can't seem to throw them away! Lol we had great water levels today
 

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Very cool and beautiful boat!!
I used to hear clapper rails in the marshes back in Alabama but never hunted them. Too much work, even at high tide we didn’t have enough water to float a boat.
Did shoot quite a few common moorhens back in the day during early teal season.
We have a lot of clappers down by my marsh cabin on the salt water.

But this boat is mainly purpose built for chasing sora rail up in our rice Meadows. Very big tides today made for easy pushing and rails that flushed quite well. We had several double and triples in the mix
 

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Nice day of rail shooting! I think my favorite part is the ability to use guns that aren't generally suitable for ducks. A .410 can be good fun. Black powder breechloaders are fun too. The marsh gets covered with a blanket of smoke, just like it must have been back in the 1800s.
 
Nice day of rail shooting! I think my favorite part is the ability to use guns that aren't generally suitable for ducks. A .410 can be good fun. Black powder breechloaders are fun too. The marsh gets covered with a blanket of smoke, just like it must have been back in the 1800s.
I agree wholeheartedly. Most of my real shooting friends prefer 28 gauge.

I think Black powder shotgunning would be excellent! I've never done that but I can only imagine how cool it must be
 
I agree wholeheartedly. Most of my real shooting friends prefer 28 gauge.

I think Black powder shotgunning would be excellent! I've never done that but I can only imagine how cool it must be
It was my dad's "thing" starting around 1970. He bought a bunch of fine damascus doubles, which could be had for nothing. Many were bought for 50 bucks, some nice Claybroughs, Parkers and Greeners were a whopping 200. We shot ducks when conditions were right to bring them in close. These were all breachloaders, we loaded shells with BP or pyrodex as the spirit moved. Sometimes we used plastic wads, other times felt.

The most fun though, IMO, was the rail shoots. The whole marsh would be a bowl of smoke if there were a lot of birds. Some of the guns had almost no choke, an ounce of 9s and 3 drams of bp was a great recipe. Your boat is old enough so it may have seen a little smoke back in the day, some old timer still bringing out old smokey. I question whether we could do it nowadays. I suspect the FD, and maybe the swat team, would be called.

He did have a beautiful Claybrough hammer sxs 8. Somebody had blued the barrels but the wood was original and it shot nice. I shot some skeet with it, the entire club would stop shooting to watch. What a smoke show. We used steel mill door empties, you had to pull the brass collar off before loading. I believe we used 2 Oz, 4 drams with felt wads. Basically a 10 gauge duck load. I like to think it was a 10, since using an 8 on ducks would have been frowned upon, even if it was only a few times. ;) Another story of misspent youth.

Sadly many of my dad's guns were sold when he passed. I could only rescue so many. I do have a beauty of a 10 GA Greener on the wall. Some good memories there.
 
It was my dad's "thing" starting around 1970. He bought a bunch of fine damascus doubles, which could be had for nothing. Many were bought for 50 bucks, some nice Claybroughs, Parkers and Greeners were a whopping 200. We shot ducks when conditions were right to bring them in close. These were all breachloaders, we loaded shells with BP or pyrodex as the spirit moved. Sometimes we used plastic wads, other times felt.

The most fun though, IMO, was the rail shoots. The whole marsh would be a bowl of smoke if there were a lot of birds. Some of the guns had almost no choke, an ounce of 9s and 3 drams of bp was a great recipe. Your boat is old enough so it may have seen a little smoke back in the day, some old timer still bringing out old smokey. I question whether we could do it nowadays. I suspect the FD, and maybe the swat team, would be called.

He did have a beautiful Claybrough hammer sxs 8. Somebody had blued the barrels but the wood was original and it shot nice. I shot some skeet with it, the entire club would stop shooting to watch. What a smoke show. We used steel mill door empties, you had to pull the brass collar off before loading. I believe we used 2 Oz, 4 drams with felt wads. Basically a 10 gauge duck load. I like to think it was a 10, since using an 8 on ducks would have been frowned upon, even if it was only a few times. ;) Another story of misspent youth.

Sadly many of my dad's guns were sold when he passed. I could only rescue so many. I do have a beauty of a 10 GA Greener on the wall. Some good memories there.
Wow, sounds like you have more than enough awesome memories to last several lifetimes. I'm glad that you do have at least a few of your father's guns.

Breech-loading Blackpowder sounds very interesting. Are those the type of brass shot shells I see sometime for sale at Decoy Show's? I guess they are The Go between of muzzleloading shotguns and a contemporary style cartridge? I'm not too familiar with that evolution.

The biggest challenge I find when you take new people rail hunting is they tend to rush to the shot. Sora, while quite maneuverable are generally not very fast flyers. I usually count to three at a leisurely place, shoulder the gun and put it right on the beak of the bird. Generally leading them is not necessary unless they are crossing hard or there are Highwinds.

I enjoy Black powder big game hunting, I can only imagine how Smokey would have on the rice Meadow on a calm morning or evening!
 
Wow, sounds like you have more than enough awesome memories to last several lifetimes. I'm glad that you do have at least a few of your father's guns.

Breech-loading Blackpowder sounds very interesting. Are those the type of brass shot shells I see sometime for sale at Decoy Show's? I guess they are The Go between of muzzleloading shotguns and a contemporary style cartridge? I'm not too familiar with that evolution.

The biggest challenge I find when you take new people rail hunting is they tend to rush to the shot. Sora, while quite maneuverable are generally not very fast flyers. I usually count to three at a leisurely place, shoulder the gun and put it right on the beak of the bird. Generally leading them is not necessary unless they are crossing hard or there are Highwinds.

I enjoy Black powder big game hunting, I can only imagine how Smokey would have on the rice Meadow on a calm morning or evening!
The shells we used were modern hulls. The shotgun chambers and bores are essentially the same as guns manufactured today. I have some brass hulls for display, but I don't recall shooting any.

I agree, most folks are too quick to shoot. The birds tend to fly 25 yards or so, the Clappers and Virginia's a bit further. The soras are funny, how they fold up their wings and drop in to land.
 
The shells we used were modern hulls. The shotgun chambers and bores are essentially the same as guns manufactured today. I have some brass hulls for display, but I don't recall shooting any.

I agree, most folks are too quick to shoot. The birds tend to fly 25 yards or so, the Clappers and Virginia's a bit further. The soras are funny, how they fold up their wings and drop in to land.
You definitely have spend some time chasing the rails. A lot of guys think when the Sora fold their wings and drop that they actually shot them! How many times I have to tell them you did not hit that bird be ready it will flush again! L O L and sure enough there it goes
 
You definitely have spend some time chasing the rails. A lot of guys think when the Sora fold their wings and drop that they actually shot them! How many times I have to tell them you did not hit that bird be ready it will flush again! L O L and sure enough there it goes
I haven't been in several years. Reading your posts has me wanting to get out, I need to make the time. Rail hunting really is a special sport, "The sport of Kings" it was sometimes called.
 
Thanks Vince. She's one of my babies.

Heck yeah those steel cans sure come in handy. I just can't seem to throw them away! Lol we had great water levels today
Double ended wood boat and Chock Full of Nuts in the same post...all while I am sitting on the porch drinking some "Heavenly Coffee"...

I love seeing that boat of yours Jode, great you not only restored it but keep using as intended. Thanks for sharing.
 
Hunting rails from a nearly 100 year old boat......that would be incredible!

One of my sons and I hunted marsh hens yesterday here in SC. We had a great time!
 
I haven't been in several years. Reading your posts has me wanting to get out, I need to make the time. Rail hunting really is a special sport, "The sport of Kings" it was sometimes called.
Yes, I think you're right. The guy that introduced me to it call it the "gentlemanly pursuit "

No matter how long you've been away from it you slip right back into it pretty easily.

Well all except the part of the aging shoulders lol
 
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