Anthony Babich
Well-known member
Troy,
Enjoyed watching this great work!
Enjoyed watching this great work!
Sanford Gunning Box?
- Thread starter Troy Nicolls
- Start date
Troy Nicolls
Member
Thanks! Glad you liked it. I had fun building it. If I can find a new home for it, I plan to build another in stitch and glue.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Good morning, Troy~
Another fine bit of work! Thanks very much for doing this.
A few thoughts - of course!
1) I, too, saw my roller covers in half on the bandsaw.
2) Good color on that Desert Mountains!
3) Before I went to conduit for the headpiece/bow, I laminated them from Red Oak ripped to a scant 1/8-inch. Back in the day, I used Weldwood - and lots of little clamps. The EMT is much quicker and stronger - and is easier to attach to the box. I flatten the ends in a bench vise - then bore a single hole for a roundhead s/s screw.
4) I thoroughly enjoyed your "sea trials". You had the same observations I have had. OK to use as a boat in very limited circumstances - but never to hunt or shoot from whilst afloat.
5) A bunch of us are flat-out this week prepping for Saturday's Long Island Decoy Collectors Annual Show. In doing so, I had the pleasure of reading a new (2025) book about gunning on Long Island. Bernie Schumejda did a fine job with: Of Days Gone By - The Historic Pursuit of Ducks, Geese and Shore Birds on Long Island. I have not yet met Bernie - nor have I studied every page. But, Bernie pointed me to several accounts that dealt with hunting Canada Geese - which is the theme of our main exhibit this year. What has caught my attention most, though, has been a term new to me: Sedge Box.
I have long known that the concept of gunning boxes (coffins) goes way back into the 19th century. The first one I saw in the "flesh" (actually after I had built my own) was at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's, MD.
https://cbmm.org/
All the "originals" I have seen were built square - like a low shoebox. I wish I could see the sedge boxes that Bernie mentions several times throughout his tales. Here is one excerpt - from Shinnecock Bay – December of 1876 - which also covers the wonderful topic of live decoys:
“We come upon a dry shoal, just a wash, fifty feet long by about fifteen in width, and in a moment our keel grates the sand. All hands now jump overboard, and the boxes of geese are carried ashore. The geese are taken out separately, and toggled to stakes that are driven in the sand where the water is an inch or two deep, the line of stakes forming semicircles whose outer edges are from twenty to thirty yards from where we shoot. We then deposit our “duds” in boxes that are six feet long by two and a half wide, sunk into the sand, so that they are invisible twenty yards distant; yet they not only form a perfect “blind” from which to shoot, but shelter us completely from the piercing nor’-westers.”
So, in addition to coffins, meadow boxes, gunning boxes - we now have Sedge Boxes to describe these special portable duck blinds.
[The Admiral Fussbudget - and botanist - in me must point out that most of our saltmarshes are covered not with sedges but with grasses - Salt Hay and Cordgrass. Nevertheless, some of these marsh islands are known as sedges - and others are known a hassocks or thatches.]
6) I hope you do get around to sewing the canvas for at least one of your boxes. I think of the canvas not as skirts but as decks. They do much of the same work as wooden decks - hiding the gunner, keeping weather out - but are flexible to permit easy ingress and egress. And - as any duckboat builder will tell you (and as I am sure you know) - the decks can be as much work as the hull!
All the best,
SJS
Another fine bit of work! Thanks very much for doing this.
A few thoughts - of course!
1) I, too, saw my roller covers in half on the bandsaw.
2) Good color on that Desert Mountains!
3) Before I went to conduit for the headpiece/bow, I laminated them from Red Oak ripped to a scant 1/8-inch. Back in the day, I used Weldwood - and lots of little clamps. The EMT is much quicker and stronger - and is easier to attach to the box. I flatten the ends in a bench vise - then bore a single hole for a roundhead s/s screw.
4) I thoroughly enjoyed your "sea trials". You had the same observations I have had. OK to use as a boat in very limited circumstances - but never to hunt or shoot from whilst afloat.
5) A bunch of us are flat-out this week prepping for Saturday's Long Island Decoy Collectors Annual Show. In doing so, I had the pleasure of reading a new (2025) book about gunning on Long Island. Bernie Schumejda did a fine job with: Of Days Gone By - The Historic Pursuit of Ducks, Geese and Shore Birds on Long Island. I have not yet met Bernie - nor have I studied every page. But, Bernie pointed me to several accounts that dealt with hunting Canada Geese - which is the theme of our main exhibit this year. What has caught my attention most, though, has been a term new to me: Sedge Box.
I have long known that the concept of gunning boxes (coffins) goes way back into the 19th century. The first one I saw in the "flesh" (actually after I had built my own) was at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael's, MD.
https://cbmm.org/
All the "originals" I have seen were built square - like a low shoebox. I wish I could see the sedge boxes that Bernie mentions several times throughout his tales. Here is one excerpt - from Shinnecock Bay – December of 1876 - which also covers the wonderful topic of live decoys:
“We come upon a dry shoal, just a wash, fifty feet long by about fifteen in width, and in a moment our keel grates the sand. All hands now jump overboard, and the boxes of geese are carried ashore. The geese are taken out separately, and toggled to stakes that are driven in the sand where the water is an inch or two deep, the line of stakes forming semicircles whose outer edges are from twenty to thirty yards from where we shoot. We then deposit our “duds” in boxes that are six feet long by two and a half wide, sunk into the sand, so that they are invisible twenty yards distant; yet they not only form a perfect “blind” from which to shoot, but shelter us completely from the piercing nor’-westers.”
So, in addition to coffins, meadow boxes, gunning boxes - we now have Sedge Boxes to describe these special portable duck blinds.
[The Admiral Fussbudget - and botanist - in me must point out that most of our saltmarshes are covered not with sedges but with grasses - Salt Hay and Cordgrass. Nevertheless, some of these marsh islands are known as sedges - and others are known a hassocks or thatches.]
6) I hope you do get around to sewing the canvas for at least one of your boxes. I think of the canvas not as skirts but as decks. They do much of the same work as wooden decks - hiding the gunner, keeping weather out - but are flexible to permit easy ingress and egress. And - as any duckboat builder will tell you (and as I am sure you know) - the decks can be as much work as the hull!
All the best,
SJS
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roy brewington
Well-known member
Have you ever heard the term "Tump" used to describe those little Marsh Islands. That's a familiar terminology used in my area. Occasionally even see it on some maps/charts.
Tump is a new one for me. In addition to all the aforementioned names, "clump" is a term sometimes used for a really small grass island. These are typically atop the remains of colonial era fishing piers, sadly sea level rise has eroded most of them.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Roy and SJ~
Not only have I not heard the terms Tump or Clump - but I see that I wrote "Hammock" instead of "Hassock".
Off to the Edit screen....
SJS
Hammock is a word used for high ground in a swamp, so you were correct even if you misspelled it.
My family owned a part of town called "The Hammock" until the 1930's, it's a high ground/beach dune area between Long Island Sound and a salt marsh.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
SJ~Hammock is a word used for high ground in a swamp, so you were correct even if you misspelled it.
I always thought of hammocks (in the ecological sense) as sub-tropical wetland features. Who knew there was one North of me!
Never too old to learn (I just won't retain it....).
SJS
Steve McCullough
Active member
Hi Troy. I really enjoyed watching you build the gunning box! It is a fantastic hide. I bought one that a gentleman built at the Tuckerton, NJ show in the late 90s and still have that box. I also watched several of your other videos and really enjoy your content!!
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Steve~
I'm fairly certain your box was built by Ken Barnett. I missed Tuckerton in '25 - but I think he's still there.
All the best,
SJS
Anthony Babich
Well-known member
Yes he’s still there and I believe he will be at the Stockton show for NJ Decoy Collectors on 3/28
Steve McCullough
Active member
Yes! I forgot his name, but it was definitely Ken. He built a great box!
Anthony Babich
Well-known member
Steve, the Higbee box is 7' long with a 3' beam. Absolutely love it the custom canvas makes all the difference. I plan on towing this out alot more next season hopefully with the AERO!