Cool IL duck hunting video from 1919

What??? No "Shadow Grass," Avian- X decoys, face paint, mud-motors, + everyone is wearing those FDR wire rim specs instead of tinted shooting glasses & shooting SxS's instead of 3 1/2" magnum autoloaders ..... and they still killed ducks????

Great post! Thanks.

Pat, there's one sequence in the video that comes awful close to that pic you've posted of your granddad rowing his duck skiff.
 
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That was an great video. Thanks for posting that. Live decoys, cool boats, and looked like all were having a great time.

Chad A
 
What a great glimpse back in time, to a time when it was all so much simpler to hunt. I agree with what so many others have said. No fancy camouflage; no 3 1/2" autoloaders; no LED lights on their boats...... I always said I was born 100 years too late.

I found it ironic that some of their duck boats resemble the Four Rivers boats of today. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thanks for posting this video !

Fred
 
Bob - It was actually taken around the same era and location as the picture of my great granddad's picture however, he was never a member of the Senachwine Club. What is the same is the style of hunting they did. And, the fleetfootedness of the pushers standing in the skiffs is amazing. To be able to stand in those skiffs is amazing and, a real skill. My great granddad also used live decoys before they were outlawed. Once outlawed, they began making duck calls which he learned to make from Charlie Perdew. We should all be grateful to Joe and Donna Tonelli for taking the time to save and capture this history otherwise lost. Where else would you have seen footage of live decoys being deployed?


Great grandpa in a skiff he built deploying decoys he carved...

View attachment skippyskiff.JPG

Some of his duck calls...

View attachment Bartocalls.JPG
Calls Collection of Bill Claussen...
 
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I'm planning to hunt some day in a tweed coat, tie, fedora while toting my uncles 1903 Parker and smoking my grandfather's pipe. Looks like I'd fit in at the club. Great video.
 
Ed, Thanks so much for this piece of history. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I am wondering if I could use some of those live looking mojo decoys where I hunt?
Al
 
I know at least one member of this forum that hunts in a Fedora and another that hunts in tweeds while shooting a vintage side by side both have been known to enjoy a good smoke. The tie, your on your own...
 
That was and is classic. These guys look like they were having the time of their life.... The world must have been a lot different in those days. I was most impressed with the live decoys the guy was putting out.
Thanks for sharing, Jeff
 
Really terrific video. The skiffs were so interesting. Does that style of skiff have a name? I assume the hunters typically gunned out of them? Or did they primarily use them for transportation to blinds and points? Or both?
 
James - No real terminology that I am aware of on the Illinois River. Generic terms were used like a "double-ender" and a "punt boat" or, "skiff" that I am aware of. A could of regional styles of duck boats for this area are...
  • Senachwine Sheet Iron Skiff - Devised to cope with the difficulties of early or late shooting, namely high water or ice. With a length of 16 ft. and a weight of 75 to 100 lbs., this stiff, beamy craft was well suited to it's task.
  • Hennepin - Basically a fair weather craft, this excellent punting boat was built by James Cunningham, Keeper of the Hennepin Club.
Source: Push, Paddle, Punt - Historic Midwestern Boats by Lou Schifferl, Decoy Collector's Guide, 1966-67 Annual, Hal Sorenson Editor, Burlington, Iowa.

In the film, these skiffs look more like Hennepins or, even some Dan Kidneys. Coincidentally, I was with Joe Tonelli yesterday. Joe found this original footage in a museum in Chicago archive. They were going to throw it away. And, thankfully, Joe salvaged it. Joe shared this is only a small piece of this footage. There was an entire canister of it. Unfortunately, much of this old film is brittle and very difficult to transfer over to a digital format because of breakage.
I appreciate your interest in waterfowling history.


Bob Welsh - Anything to add???

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