Pete Wallace: Chincoteague Hunting

Tides run just about everything on Chincoteague, whether it means accessing a clamming flat at a low or getting a skiff up a shallow creek on a high. So, when I talked recently with long-time Chincoteague guide Captain Pete Wallace, it was the saltwater tidal waterfowl hunting that I was most interested in.

““Wind, tides, currents, ice and coastal storms can move the eelgrass and brant salad miles from where the brant have been feeding.””

To be sure, Chincoteague and its surrounding bays, marshes, and creeks offers such a variety of water that you can shoot over a dozen species in a day, from sea ducks to wood ducks. But it’s the tidal hunting that is Chincoteague’s claim to fame. 

“The water depth here changes about three and a half feet during normal conditions, substantially more during a Nor’easter and full moon,” says Pete. “Many waterfowl hunters have been stuck out in the shallows until the middle of the night, and that includes locals that should have known better!”

I talked with Pete on a recent late fall afternoon, and he covered a variety of topics that he’s observed over his 30 years running the Chincoteague Hunting and Fishing Center. We dialed in on three species though: rail and Atlantic brant, because of the tidal aspects to hunting them, as well as snow geese, because of their prominence in the lower Delmarva ag lands. 

Below are my questions in bold, followed by Pete’s answers. 

Where are your home waters? 

We are based in Chincoteague, Virginia. We hunt the seaside from the Maryland state line south about 25 miles. We also hunt Saxis, Virginia, on the Chesapeake, when conditions are right.

What’s the habitat like around Chincoteague that you hunt? 

Most of the area consists of short marsh grass with very few bushes or trees – hunting tidal marsh seldom offers many places to conceal yourself. 

The bottom consists of sand, mud and oyster rock. If you are using a dog, it is imperative to stay away from the oyster rock! Oyster rock is about the same as walking on broken glass, and it can also puncture waders. 

With the tide comes the seaweed. Kelp, eelgrass, and slime often become entangled in your decoy cords and wash out your spread.

What are the various species that you hunt?                

You can hunt puddle ducks, divers, mergansers, sea ducks, brant, and Canada and snow geese all in the same day, with over a 20-bird limit. On a typical day, you will see all those species. To the best of my knowledge we have killed every bird listed in North America, except cinnamon teal.

Rail can also be found in any of the saltwater marshes on both the seaside and Chesapeake side. Clapper rail are by far the main rail we hunt -- referred to as marsh hens by the locals. We also have sora rail, but not nearly in the numbers of the clapper. The sora is a much smaller bird and prefers more brackish water. Clapper rail typically feed along the banks and low areas of the salt marsh at low tide.

Are rail migratory or pretty much residents of the salt marshes?

Rail are listed as migratory waterfowl – and yes, they are fowl and they do hang out around the water. They may migrate, but if they do, they will have to pay the toll at the Bay Bridge Tunnel because they neither have the ability to fly or swim across the Chesapeake Bay. 

When flushed, they will fly about 100 yards and land. Clapper rails’ ability to fly is limited to under 300 yards and their ability to swim is much less. If we get a severe fall storm, such as a hurricane, hundreds of dead rail will wash up on the mainland shore due to drowning. If they were able to swim or fly a half mile to high ground, I'm pretty sure they would do it.

So, it sounds like it’s almost a walk-and-stalk or a drive? 

The best way to hunt them is to walk the bank of a 20- to 50-foot-wide creek that ends at a point and try to drive them to the point. You should not be “stalking” birds, but you should be driving them. When you get to the point at the end of your drive, work that area hard and wait. There will most often be birds there and they often take minutes to decide to swim or fly. 

Rails’ first choice to avoid being captured is to run, second choice is to hide, third to swim, and the last choice is to fly. Your best shots will be birds trying to fly across the creek. Rail hunting is done at or about high tide. The higher the tide, the more successful the hunt. 

Is that because they have less land to run on and fewer places to hide? 

Yes, if you are able to hunt an extremely high tide, you are able to just hunt the high ground. The marsh grass closest to the water grows further apart and taller than the thick grass up on the marsh. At low tide the marsh hens will use the cover of that grass to either run behind you or stay far ahead of you. As the tide rises and water floods the tall, wide, spread grass, the rail are forced into the shorter and thicker grass further up on the marsh.  The highest tides typically occur during the full or new moon and a Nor’easter. 

When’s the best time of year to hunt them? 

The rail season opens on September 10th and runs through November 18th, the

earlier in the season that you hunt, the better. Although you don't see nearly the number of rail in the late season as in the summer, I have chased marsh hens out of duck blinds in January.

By that time, you’ve moved on to another creature of the tides – brant? 

Yes, that is the thick of brant season. Brant spend their summers at the Arctic Circle, farther north than any other bird, but they are typically the first waterfowl to arrive, and the last to leave. Last year there were more brant on the Eastern Shore than I have seen in my lifetime, and I'm old! 

What are brant's favorite habitat?

Brant feed in about the same depth water as puddle ducks. Their primary food is eelgrass and “brant salad,” or kelp, which is only found in salt water. They feed on the bay flats and move to their desired water depth as the tide changes. They change locations regardless of weather conditions.

What is a brant hunt like compared to, say, divers or Canadas?

Brant are one of the most vocal waterfowl in the area, seldom quiet in flight or at rest. They decoy well and will often return two or three times to the spread after being shot at. This apparent fondness of being shot combined with their predictability and the huge numbers of brant in the area lead many hunters to think Brant are a sure thing. They are not. The same forces that replenish the brant’s food supply can change its location. Wind, tides, currents, ice and coastal storms can move the eelgrass and brant salad miles from where the brant have been feeding. If the location of their food changes, so does their flight path.

How do the tides impact the hunt for brant? 

Brant move with the tide, so you need to be ready to re-adjust when the tide changes. Depending on what point during the tidal cycle that you set your decoys, the whole spread could shift out of range when the tide changes. Water that is four feet deep going out can be bone dry when you are heading back. Many waterfowl hunters have been stuck out in the shallows until the middle of the night, and that has included locals that should have known better!

The tidal currents cause divers, mergansers and sea ducks to change feeding locations throughout the day. But tides have little to no effect on Canada and snow geese.

So, speaking of geese, snow geese aren’t really tidal, as you mention, but it seems like the lower Delmarva near Chincoteague has some of the highest concentrations of snows in the country. Why is that? 

It’s true, there are more greater snow geese on the Delmarva Peninsula than anywhere else in the country, and Chincoteague is listed as the wintering grounds for them.

But it's hard to answer why there are so many snows because we didn't have many last year. Last year we only had a few hundred.

How many snows are in a typical flock, and how many decoys do you put out? 

Typical flocks are in the thousands. The reason there are/were so many is because of their habits.

Typically, in mid-morning the sky is full of thousands of snow geese as far as you can see. They fly from the refuge to the fields around 9am and return at sunset.  

When they take off, they go straight up and fly at 1000 feet. When they land, they come down in a circular pattern, and watch for anything that doesn't look right. Canada geese come in low and fast -- when the shooting starts it takes them a while to get their act together, and they are easy to knock down. Snow geese come in high and slow, and when the shooting starts, all you see is their rear ends. That's why there are so few Canadas and so many snows. 

The big kills are when the whole flock of a thousand plus birds comes in, and there are so many and they are so loud that they can't hear the shooting. We don't get that here. We hunt the marsh, and get the going and coming from the refuge to the fields. The big numbers are typically migrating geese. The flocks we typically are dealing with are 100 or less birds. 

When’s the peak migration time? 

We do the best on snows in February, when the flocks break up. That's if we have the birds. Wind, fog or freezing weather works well for us. But snows are the hardest bird to hunt that there is!