Waterfowling and decoy history...

Great pics! I really enjoy seeing these old photos and hearing stories of waterfowling history. The "skipping a generation" theory holds true for me. My grandfather hunted, but my father does not. I hope it doesn't hold true for me when I have kids. I will do everything I can to keep the tradition alive.
 
I sure did enjoy what you had to say, Pat. Your great grandpa was at about the same age as one of my mentors back in the early 50's. He too, hunted in the late 1800s.
Thanks for this thread. Looks like you are one lucky person with "Homerun" in your gene pool.
Al
 
Pat,
This is truely great stuff. The old pictures are awesome. It truly shows the passion that these guys had. Just think no gor-tex, thinsulate or neoprine. How did they do it. That just shows how tough these guys were. It brings back memories im certain in all of us. I have just started to get into restoring old duck skiffs - go three under way. I cant get enough of this stuff.

Thanks for sharing

Shawn
 
Thanks for bringing this back to the top Pat. No doubt great grandpa would be proud of what you are doing to pass this tradition along and it is plain to see the influence he has had on your work as well. I appreciate this type of thread at a time of year when one's thoughts might be used in a less productive manner. Thank you for all you do.
 
Guys - I appreciate all the kind words and energy from this post. It has been a blessing to have such a family history of not only decoy carving but waterfowling. My great grandfather has been my inspiration. He didn't know it at the time but he passed something onto me that would be a significant part of my life. Through decoys and waterfowling, I've met friends and many of you. Legacies are important. He had no idea the significance of what he left me and how it's impacted my life. Which begs the question, are we passing it on? Are we doing things in our lives that our children and grandchildren will look back on and appreciate? Start a legacy today. It could be waterfowling, angling, shooting sports, decoy carving, bait building, photography, whatever. Just start it... It's your history and your God-given talent. It will put many good people in your life and, your family and friends will appreciate some day...

Here are a few more pics to enjoy...
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Great post Pat. After a many year absence from hunting I started again a few years ago and also began carving, something my father did spend a lot of time doing once. Living apart as we do, I get a lot of my tutoring over Skype but its amazing how close it keeps us. I mostly use his patterns and I have a handful of his old retired gunners that I'm planning to restore and float in the rig when we hunt together one day. This post got my thinking about that again for sooner rather than later, thanks for that.
 
Pat, thanks for sharing you history. We might be brewing a bit of history here. This is my son doing a bit of painting. He and his sister both have sacrificial teal that they can paint when I'm working and they want to "help."
I actually have a video of him using a drawn knife at age 2.5. He has continued to show intrest and I hope he'll continue as he grows older.

Frank


Middletonboatworks.com
Frankmiddletondecoys.com

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