Beachcomber & Times Press

By Mark Sampson

The other day I awoke to the "pop-pop" of gunfire not far from my house. Still half asleep, images of the calandar rolled through my mind as I laid in bed trying to figure out what was going on. Finally coming-to enought to realize it was December 14th, I looked out the window to see a strong north wind blowing under partialy cloudy skies.

"Darn" I thought out loud.

My wife woke, "what’s wrong"?

"Nothing, I just wish I was out there too".

I guess in many unfortunate places around the world, hearing shots at first light, or any time of the day for that matter would send folks hustling for their shelters, or dialing 911. Around here it’s different, gunfire in the morning makes some of us green with envy that we aren’t ankle deep in marsh mud, swinging leads on flights of mallards and pintails.

Monday December 14th was opening day in the third part of Marylands duck season and the strong cool north wind made ideal contitions for local hunters. Probably more so than than any thing else, the pursuit of waterfowl best represents the classic Eastern Shore hunt and hunter.

For hundreds of years, locals have kissed thier wives goodby and headed out to a favorite blind with shotgun under one arm, a bag of decoys over their shoulder and a retriever bouncing around their heels. In some families going "gunning" or "ducking", this time of year is as much a part of tradition as putting up a Christmas tree. Certain marshes and blinds have been owned and hunted by the same families through many generations.

The popularity of local waterfowl hunting is quite evident by the hundreds of duck blinds that dot so many of the points and guts of our rivers and bays.

Newcomers to the sport, or the area, might be a little put off by the fact that so much of the shoreline is privately owned and, therefore, not available for public hunnting. Happily though, beginning, or even out of town hunters can watch the morning sunrise from some of the best waterfowl marsh on the shore. I’m not talking about booking a guide or getting into an expensive hunt club.

Hunters who make the short drive down Rt.611 to Assateague Island will find that the National Park Servive maintains 26 blinds for public use along about 34 miles of natural seashore parkland.

There’s no fee to use the blinds, but admission into the park costs $5.00 per vehicle for up to seven days, or $15 for an annual pass. Also, out of the 26 available blinds, most require the use of a four wheel drive vehicle to get to them. In order to drive "off-road" on Assateague requires an annual $60 permit.

So the most a hunter will have to pay is $75 up front, from then on they can pretty much hunt there for nothing. Considering the hunting opertunities, that’s a bargan!

For those without 4X4 vehicles, there are two blinds that can be easily walked to from the hard road, and a third that the Park maintains for hunters with physical chalenges. There are also eight boat-in blinds that can only be reachd by boat.

All of the blinds are bushed up and maintained by the Park Service and are limited to a maximum of three hunters. To keep it fair for all hunters, a dialy drawing is conducted at 5:00 A.M. each morning at the Sinepuxent Ranger Station for first chiose of the blinds. After the drawing, blinds are given out on a first-come basis.

At the ranger station newcomers can look at an areal photograph of the entire Island and see exactly where each blind is located, which may help them decide where to go taking the weather and tide conditions into consideration. The Park also provides hunters with maps of the Island which also show the blind sites.

When conditions are right, Assateague Island can provide a wonderful and productive hunting expereince second to none. We’re certainly lucky to have a public Park like this so close to home.

Of course I’m glad the Island’s not so close to my home that other hunter’s shots wake me up on mornings that I can’t go hunting myself!

For more information on hunting Assateague Island call the ranger station at 410-641-3030.