Home

• Early Summer Specials!
• Special Combos
• Action Decoys
• Field Decoys
• Blinds
• Clothing
• Bags, Cases & Straps
• Cooking Items
• Spices & Jellies
• Books & Videos
• Calls
• Tapes & CD's
• Accessories
• Dove Hunter's Special
• View Cart

 

• Recipes
• Newsletter Archive
• Duck Tales!
• Columns
• Outdoor Tips
• Interesting Links
• Photo Gallery
• Visitor's Survey

DUCKTALES

"THE CURLEW INCIDENT"
- OR -
"STUPID - DUMB - IGNORANT"

 

Those three words represent my actions in the following circumstance. The problem all started one morning several months back after a goose hunt. A group of us had hunted until around 10 AM and gathered at a country store to have a couple of beers and eat some tamales, which by the way are some of the best tamales around. While at the store a group of what we through were snipe were in a field beside the store, which is part of the stores acreage. As they flew off I shot one. In a few minutes it was cleaned and in a ziploc bag ready for grilling as soon as we picked up some bacon when the store opened.. Like a number of country stores there were charcoal grills next to the store for the use of  it's patrons. 

While cleaning the bird, a hunter who represented himself as goose guide for the same company that our group leases our hunting property from, walked up behind me and said the bird was a curlew. That was the first time in my life I heard the word curlew. I said it was a snipe, he said yes, but a curlew snipe. He bummed a beer and headed off. With in 15 minutes two state game warden trucks appeared with a warden in each truck. They asked who shot the curlew. I told them I had. They informed me it was a non-game bird and gave me a ticket for an Eskimo curlew. I paid the fine to the judge a few weeks later and put the incident behind me. The fine wasn’t earth shattering but substantial. Then a few weeks ago I received a letter from the Enforcement Division of the Parks and Wildlife requesting a replacement fee of $8,100.50!! As a retired person with a part time job this represents more than 50% of my after tax working income, not something that is easily paid.

• Stupid - not knowing for certain the identity of the bird being shot.
• Dumb - not knowing if the game warden was right or wrong on his knowledge of the bird listed in the ticket.
• Ignorant - In paying the ticket without researching the bird.

The replacement fee was one of the greatest shocks this ol' boy has ever received in my 67 years. Since that time I’ve researched the curlews. Yes, there are more than one! And I found that the greater possibility was that the bird was a long-billed curlew or a Whimbrel - not an Eskimo curlew. Also, these birds are members of the sandpiper family, not the snipes. Both are in this area in numbers and fly in large groups. The number I saw in one group was around 40. One major books list the Eskimo as extinct, not endangered, but extinct!. I doubt that I saw 40 sitting on the ground in a small field next to a country store. The ol' adage that 'assume' makes an 'ass' out of  'u' or 'me' is very correct in this circumstance.

I’m hooked, if I live long enough the fee will be paid. It brought to mind that most waterfowl hunters are city dwellers and have never lived in the country. Other than eagles, hawks, some cranes and one or two other birds most hunters I’ve talked with have no idea which birds are listed in the Migratory Bird Act or the 70’s Endangered Species Act. As careful as a hunter can be, mistakes are made. And even if everything is done right, accidents can and do happen. For the average hunter such situations can become financially critical. If we live long enough and hunt enough times a mistake will be made, the wrong bird will be shot on purpose (thinking it is a different species) or by accident (hitting something not being shot at).

Duckngoose.com is making an attempt to reduce some of these situations. Along with Pam Talbot, duckngoose.com's website designer, we are developing a DVD and/or CD-Rom with both Federal Acts, plus each bird’s description, a brief history, coupled with pictures. I’m not sure which states other than Texas have a recovery fee, but if some don’t they soon will. Most Parks & Wildlife Departments need money and this is just one more method of getting it. The cost of the DVD and/or CD-Rom will be directly in line with the production costs of the item. We hope to have it available by June of this year.

We'd like to know your thoughts on the value of such a resource. If you would be interested in purchasing a copy of this publication when it is completed, please email me at:

Chris Fiedler

 

LATEST NEWS

Thanks to attorney Jim Ebanks of Houston, TX and his efforts on my behalf. The waterfowl agency agreed that the bird in question was a long billed curlew not an Eskimo curlew and the replacement fee is less than one thousandth of the Eskimo curlew. This advice is offered to any hunter or fisherman that receives a citation from any game warden. Contact an attorney before you do anything! We found in checking that the interpretation of the many game laws is different from warden to warden and in some cases NONE are correct. For your own peace of mind, allow your attorney to determine the course of action.

LONG BILLED CURLEW

ESKIMO CURLEW, Galveston Island, Texas, 1962. Don Bleitz

 

 

LINKS ON CURLEWS:

• SANDPIPERS, CURLEWS AN PHALAROPES OF THE WORLD
• THE ESKIMO CURLEW
• Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC)

 

LINKS ON ENDANGERED AND/OR THREATENED BIRDS IN TEXAS

• ENDANGERED BIRDS IN TEXAS

 

LINKS TO BIRD IDENTIFICATION SITES:

• PATUXENT BIRD IDENTIFICATION INFOCENTER
  U. S. Geological Survey Site which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. This site presents photographs, songs, videos, identification tips, maps, and life history information for North American birds.
• DUCKDATA
  This info is found at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center's site (PWRC). DUCKDATA provides a comprehensive bibliography of published literature on the ecology, conservation, and management of North American waterfowl and their wetland habitats. 
• WATERFOWL IDENTIFICATION IN THE CENTRAL FLYWAY
  This guide has information and photos of all the puddle ducks and the diving ducks as well as other waterfowl and waterbirds. You can download the guide to your computer by clicking here.

 

LINKS ON FEDERAL LAWS

• BIRDERS AND U.S. FEDERAL LAWS
  Download a zipfile containing information on: "Birders and U.S. Federal Laws" by clicking here.

 

 

To find out how to contribute your own stories to this site:
Email Chris Fiedler.