Rightly or wrongly, justified or otherwise, the lead horse is over the hill---gone. There aren't split-shot or sinkers in our fishing tackle shops either. Eagles eat fish. They're a tourist draw here. There are so many the Province has been shipping them to New England for years to restore its stocks. Three bald eagle nests are on our property.
I grew up in a village of subsistence fishermen. Perhaps six were market hunters. My neighbour provided 125 sea ducks for Christmas one year for $2 a pair. They shot over limits and out of season to live. I set off a firestorm when I said here 10 years ago they had a hunting ethic surpassing most of what I see from the blinds and bay today.
Shells were precious. Villagers didn't shoot out of range, never sky-busted and always sacrificed time and effort to retrieve dead and crippled. A lost bird was to be disgraced. I was humbled to do the eulogy for my fisherman cousin, acclaimed the best gunner on the Eastern Shore.
Yes, I contributed to ducks picking up lead. Off Rum Point particularly, generations of villagers deposited tons of lead on a hard bottom. I believe lead is bad stuff, and erring in favour of ducks and geese gets no groans from gunners around here.
