Chincoteague Island area curiosity.

Troy Fields

Troy Fields

Well-known member
I was down on Chincoteague Island this past Friday and couldn't help but notice all the permanent blinds out on the marsh (as you cross over from the mainland) and the apparent close proximity they are to each other. Having never hunted down there, or anywhere for that matter that has that amount of blinds, are those on a permit system, private blinds with permits, how does it all work? And is access by water only? Didn't seem possible to park on the road and walk in. As I said, just curious that's all.
 
Virginia eastern Shore has a permit system of some type. Think those blinds your seeing from bridge probably belong to guides operating from there shooting buffel heads and mergansers.
 
I have hunted waterfowl there many times in the past and can only give you my experiences which have all been good. I seldom shoot Mergansers and Buffleheads. Many blinds, but used only in certain weather conditions and where the birds are. All blinds the hunters are "carried" to by boat far as I know. Met some very good guides and decoy carvers while there. When the birds are in ya never know what will show up over the decoys. If you seek more knowledge go on the Southern Decoy Collectors facebook and they will provide the info.


Best regards
Vince
 
Vince Pagliaroli said:
I have hunted waterfowl there many times in the past and can only give you my experiences which have all been good. I seldom shoot Mergansers and Buffleheads. Many blinds, but used only in certain weather conditions and where the birds are. All blinds the hunters are "carried" to by boat far as I know. Met some very good guides and decoy carvers while there. When the birds are in ya never know what will show up over the decoys. If you seek more knowledge go on the Southern Decoy Collectors facebook and they will provide the info.


Best regards
Vince
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Thanks Vince. That gets me through my curiosity stage. Appreciate the response
 
Troy Fields said:
I was down on Chincoteague Island this past Friday and couldn't help but notice all the permanent blinds out on the marsh (as you cross over from the mainland) and the apparent close proximity they are to each other. Having never hunted down there, or anywhere for that matter that has that amount of blinds, are those on a permit system, private blinds with permits, how does it all work? And is access by water only? Didn't seem possible to park on the road and walk in. As I said, just curious that's all.
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Most of those blinds are maintain by guides on the island no one owns them. There is not permit system on the easternshore of Va only on Va mainland. You can almost hunt where you want out of a boat all those hammock island are public from that causeway to about the bay bridge tunnel. i have some great hunts there and some bad ones
 
john f skipper said:
Most of those blinds are maintain by guides on the island no one owns them. There is not permit system on the easternshore of Va only on Va mainland. You can almost hunt where you want out of a boat all those hammock island are public from that causeway to about the bay bridge tunnel. i have some great hunts there and some bad ones
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Thanks John
 
Are those known as "curtain blinds" or is that something different. Does anyone down there still "Body Boot" hunt or is that a thing of the past ? I'd like to try either style sometime.
 
Curious on both the law and the local tradition of how those are used. Coming from a place where the entire intertidal zone is open to public hunting, I've always been some combination of mystified and horrified by what I hear about blind leasing blind sites off the shore in the mid-Atlantic. I was relieved to hear that such is not the practice on the VA Eastern Shore. Are those blinds regulated at all? And even if they are not, is the local tradition that they are only hunted by the person who built it, or is it first come first served, or something in between?
 
Jeff Reardon said:
Curious on both the law and the local tradition of how those are used. Coming from a place where the entire intertidal zone is open to public hunting, I've always been some combination of mystified and horrified by what I hear about blind leasing blind sites off the shore in the mid-Atlantic. I was relieved to hear that such is not the practice on the VA Eastern Shore. Are those blinds regulated at all? And even if they are not, is the local tradition that they are only hunted by the person who built it, or is it first come first served, or something in between?
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They are not regulated it’s the tradition not to hunt what you didn’t put up. The farther you move south of chincoteague the less permeated blinds and people.
 
Blind laws in Virginia, apply east of Rt 95. And they suck! I live in Northern VA, where we can not hunt within 400yrds of a licensed blind occupied or not. We have riparian and non-riparian rights blinds. As a land owner (riparian) you can license a blind in front of your property. Later in the Summer, anyone can exercise non-riparian rights to place a blind in front of unclaimed property. If I do set a blind as a non-riparian, then the land owner can license it next year, and I am out of luck.

We have many ghost blinds, just locking up shoreline all over the place. Guides, lease riparian rights and put up blinds to lock the rest of us out. I hunt out of my boats and to do that I need to have my floating blind permit for $42.50, and us my range finder and onX to define where I can hunt divers in the middle! All the shoreline is locked.

Out East, on the Northern Neck, many of the blinds are not licensed as formally. I don't know if there is just less enforcement?

2 yrs ago, the laws changed such that validating blinds meet requirements and verifying current license was no longer a Game Commision responsibility. Similarly encroachment of the distance limits has become a civil matter and that trespassing charges would have to be made by the blind owner. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of our blind laws but I doubt it. Too many landowners will push to keep us out.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
Curious on both the law and the local tradition of how those are used. Coming from a place where the entire intertidal zone is open to public hunting, I've always been some combination of mystified and horrified by what I hear about blind leasing blind sites off the shore in the mid-Atlantic. I was relieved to hear that such is not the practice on the VA Eastern Shore. Are those blinds regulated at all? And even if they are not, is the local tradition that they are only hunted by the person who built it, or is it first come first served, or something in between?
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I share your sentiments about the intertidal zone. We are very fortunate here in NJ to have similar laws to you.

As far as body booting it is still done on the Susquehanna flats in Maryland. There are a few outfitters still offering that very challenging method of hunting. The only still operating curtain blind outfit (basically a sink box) that I’m aware of is around ocracoke island in the outer banks in NC
 
More and more thankful for: (1) Maine's public access to all of the intertidal; (2) Maine's 100 yard from occupied buildings rule for no hunting; and (3) Merrymeeting Bay's no permanent blinds rules. These combine to ensure public access to a public resource. But the Eastern Shore sounds interesting. Always wanted to get out to Chincoteague. Maybe a duck trip needs to be planned.
 
My first hunt at Chincoteague was in the early 70's. My last hunt in the mid 90's with other hunts there from time to time. The Refuge Waterfowl Museum was still open, and Cigar was the resident carver. Many of the good decoy carvers were still doing what they did, and we always gunned over their decoys. Hunted every type of blind that there is in that area usually with good results due to good guides. Had the Wild Ponies walk thru the decoys on more than one occasion. They are good confidence decoys. The friendship, the lodging, the food and the experiences were always good. Even when the boat got hung up on low tide and ya had to grunt it out. Have many fond memories, decoys traded that I still enjoy and lots of photo's. During those years I enjoyed hunting up and down the east coast from NJ to NC and very glad I did. Live yer dreams as ya only go round once.
 
Jeff, I have the same experience as you when I lived in Vermont. I was used to having full access up to the seasonal high water mark and similar distance from occupied buildings controls. During duck season, many of the camps/cabins are closed up, and we would/could hunt right out front. John Bourbon and I did build blinds, back before we could have duck boats. These were tagged for ID only, and did not prohibit anyone else from using it as it was on State waters. I would leave my name and phone number very visible inside, along with a note, asking for communication if someone wanted to use it. I had a few guys that would reach out and it was never an issue, and I never arrived to find someone in the blind when I intended to hunt. I found leaving a 5 gallon bucket with a food wrapper and some spent shells in it resulted in a nice clean blind each time I arrived.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
More and more thankful for: (1) Maine's public access to all of the intertidal; (2) Maine's 100 yard from occupied buildings rule for no hunting; and (3) Merrymeeting Bay's no permanent blinds rules. These combine to ensure public access to a public resource. But the Eastern Shore sounds interesting. Always wanted to get out to Chincoteague. Maybe a duck trip needs to be planned.
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Jeff pick me up on the way down 95!
 
Vince Pagliaroli said:
My first hunt at Chincoteague was in the early 70's. My last hunt in the mid 90's with other hunts there from time to time. The Refuge Waterfowl Museum was still open, and Cigar was the resident carver. Many of the good decoy carvers were still doing what they did, and we always gunned over their decoys. Hunted every type of blind that there is in that area usually with good results due to good guides. Had the Wild Ponies walk thru the decoys on more than one occasion. They are good confidence decoys. The friendship, the lodging, the food and the experiences were always good. Even when the boat got hung up on low tide and ya had to grunt it out. Have many fond memories, decoys traded that I still enjoy and lots of photo's. During those years I enjoyed hunting up and down the east coast from NJ to NC and very glad I did. Live yer dreams as ya only go round once.
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You were definitely hunting along bayside of Virginia end Assateague Island if ponies were around you. Many good spots along there to shoot birds. Farther north you go towards Md/ Va. line the better it can get. The blinds seen from causeway not so much.
 
We only hunted from the blinds seen from the causeway (mabbee) a couple of times in all the trips we made there. Always when the guide suggested it. Each time it paid off with Teal, Black ducks and some others. You are correct as the closer to Assateague Island and the blinds further north the more birds and a greater diversity. When we first began hunting down there they didn't even have a McDonald's.... My how times have changed. My last time there was just after the Pony Roundup and we stayed close to the corral. What a time that was. The local folks took very good care of us and we ate where they did. Fresh Sea Food on paper covered tables with plastic knives & forks and more than we could eat, but we did anyway. Was the only time I was there not to hunt. I got to see more than usual in the daylight. The hunts with Jimmy Bowden were always memorable cuz his shop had sawdust up to mid calf and more decoys than a person can imagine one man could make. I can go on and on but that's enough.
 
William Mills said:
I share your sentiments about the intertidal zone. We are very fortunate here in NJ to have similar laws to you.

As far as body booting it is still done on the Susquehanna flats in Maryland. There are a few outfitters still offering that very challenging method of hunting. The only still operating curtain blind outfit (basically a sink box) that I’m aware of is around ocracoke island in the outer banks in NC
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There are several guys on Ocracoke that run hunts out if curtain blinds. The guy I hunted with 5-6 years ago had 2 as do most of them I think. They stay booked up. I could be mistaken but I think there are some curtain blinds off Hatteras too.
 
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