On the thread about teal hunting, Norton mentioned an interest in historical works on duck hunting and market hunters. So I thought immediately of my favorite outdoor writer, but instead of delving into the subject there, I felt he deserved his own topic.

It's a name that will not ring a bell for many hunters in today's world. But, in the past for several generations of waterfowlers and bird hunters Nash Buckingham was an inspiration and role model who furnished no end of enlightenment and entertainment through his many books and articles.

His career as a waterfowler and bird hunter began in the 1890s in the golden age of our sport when hunting was hugely popular compared to today and game was more numerous by mountains and miles. His accomplishments were way too many to list. Co-founder of DU, very successive author, reknowned wing shot, many times grand national field trial judge, Winchester's director of game restoration, moving force behind conservation legislation, experimenter for new factory loads and to name just one more thing, recipient of Winchester's award of outdoorsman of the year in 1962 after being selected by nomination and vote of the nation's 4,000 outdoor writers.

If you lived in Memphis and hunted the Mid-South during the '50s and '60s Nash was a legend and everyone secretely (or not so secretely) wished they could be like him. Because of the age differences I never got to personally meet him. However, I have met and hunted with several gentlemen who were a generation younger than him and who did have that opportunity. One was an ex-tank commander under Gen. Patton. Another was an ex-grand national trap champion. He passed away recently in his 90s and was in his own right a great person and grand old school Southern gentleman. I've sat for hours literally listening to him recount tales of hunts with "Mr. Buck".

Anyway, lest this post become really too lengthy, let me suggest some sources for those interested in the lore and history of waterfowling and bird hunting.

His original editions (Derrydale Press) are very hard to find and pricey but highly sought after collector pieces. There was also a 1980s numbered limited run re-print of his major works (I have a set of these). The titles are romantic and hint at the contents - "Game Bag", "Tattered Coat", "Hallowed Years", "Mark Right", "Blood Lines", "De Shootin'est Gent'man" and "Ole Miss" (the river not the school). Some material will appear dated, however you will be surprised at how much is relevant to today's hunting conditions and also just how much revealing and fascinating social history is contained in these volumes. Another excellent source is "The Best Of Nash Buckingham" (Winchester Press, 1973).

You will find many "how to do it" tips on everything from ducks to geese to quail that are still highly useful and tips on what loads and gauges to use. There's all sorts of material on development of chokes, early types of guns, live pidgeon shooting (in those days that was a wagering sport), live decoys, duck calls and their use, duck hunting club life, early game laws and their development, material on market hunting, interesting tales about market hunters and much else. And his accounts of the Mississippi Delta and its early sporting life are priceless.

Here's one link for more info - http://www.memphishistory.org/...bid/120/Default.aspx. And another - http://www.owaa.org/legends/legendNashBuckingham.htm. And one more - http://www.customcalls.com/cgi....pl?num=1249845966/7. You can google for others. Enjoy. And Regards.

Thanks Shack.....sounds very interesting. Some used ones are available from Amazon; think I'll take a ride over to B&N later to see what they have from Nash.

I have a fantastic Gordon MacQuarrie (The Old Duck Hunters) book I'll let you borry. Would have loved to have hunted with that fellah!

Also, if you don't own or have never read The Old Man and The Boy by Ruark you are in for a second real literary treat.

quote:

Originally posted by Kamo Gari:
I have a fantastic Gordon MacQuarrie (The Old Duck Hunters) book I'll let you borry. Would have loved to have hunted with that fellah!

Also, if you don't own or have never read The Old Man and The Boy by Ruark you are in for a second real literary treat.

I will most certainly take you up on that......

Nash Buckingham was truly one of a kind. Nashville is about 200 miles from Memphis, but all duck hunters hereabouts knew about Mr. Buckingham.

He was one of those men not unlike the great Bobby Jones who had enough money tp devote his life to avocations, but not enough to be a "rich guy." A traditional "gentleman" in every sense.

There were = are - a lot of people who believed that Nash Buckingham was the best wing shot who ever lived. Period.

Some facts: 1.He never learned to drive an automobile.
2. He (like Jeff cooper) was fond of naming his firearms. The most famous he named "Bo-Whoop" (I am not making that up). Custom Parker, I think.

Thanks much for starting this thread.

I read an article in a past Gun Digest About his shotguns. I'm not sure which issue it was in But It was quite interesting. The article said that he lost his first one and had a second made.

Nash's most famous gun was a custom Burt Becker built 12 ga 3" magnum. It was on a Fox action and if memory serves, had 32" tubes. It was nicknamed "Bo-Whoop", but it was someone he was hunting with who thought that up. It was supposed to mimic its booming report. It was lost when accidentally left on top of a car trunk, and was never recovered...even after a reward was posted. The second Burt Becker magnum was its replacement. That one was given a pistol grip stock, unlike the first. Nash actually favored the straight stock.

There is a chapter in the "Best of Nash Buckingham" called "Mr. Buck's Guns" which covers all this and the rest of his guns.

For ducks his favorite load was a Win. 3" shell with 1 3/8 oz of coppered 4s. It was a very high speed load but I've never read the exact velocity. It was probably something commercially available from Win at the time although he did experimental load testing for them and he could have been using something more custom. There was no 3.5" in 12 then, but there was in 10 ga. There were also no 10 ga autoloaders then. He did in his works speak of using the 10 ga and the 8 ga but that was in his youth before the 8 was banned. Those would have been doubles. Apparently no one thought there was any need for 3.5" in 12 ga then.

On this subject there's also another interesting chapter found in the same work called "Are We Shooting 8 Gauge Guns?" But I'll try not to introduce any spoilers for you on it.

Anyway, Nash went thru a progression of shotguns during his long career starting with heavy hammer doubles, and progressing to pumps (there's a nice pic of him aiming a Model 97 in a live pidgeon shoot), the Fox magnum doubles, one or more Win Model 21s and later in life autoloaders. He gave up the heavy Becker double as age became a factor and stamina along with it.

It's true he didn't drive. I believe he rode the bus from mid-town Central Gardens in Memphis to downtown where I'm told he had an office on Cotton Row. One old gentleman I knew who hunted with him said he'd drop by to pick Nash up to take him dove shooting and would find him waiting in front of his house with his gun, and he'd ask two questions.."do we have permission?" and "are there birds?".

Would I have enjoyed hunting with him? You better believe it! But a lot more than that I would have been thrilled to go all the way back and get to hunt around 1900 or just to even be there and see the Golden Age of waterfowling and bird hunting. I'd have loved to see and experience such a time when there were still truly wild places..and the only limits on ducks were self-imposed club limits and at that twenty five a day..

Shack, I bought a special edition set of his books years ago, maybe the same one as yours. From it, I received both an education and a wonderful time reading. Many authors can provide only one or the other.
Buckingham and Raurk are still two of my favorite authors.

Shack,

there was no need for 3.5 inch 12 gauge because there was no Federal requirement of steel shot to deal with back then.

quote:

2. He (like Jeff cooper) was fond of naming his firearms. The most famous he named "Bo-Whoop" (I am not making that up). Custom Parker, I think.

Legend has it - good hist. Shack! (BTW, I own the sister to Cooper's "Baby")

The Becker Foxes were the first overbored shotguns sold commercially here in the US and are covetd by collectors today. They are the Harry Pope equivilant of the shotgun world. In all of my years of collecting I've yet to be able to get my hands on one of Burt's masterpieces. Still looking! I also heard / read once that "Mr. Buck" shot a 99/100 on his first go at Skeet!

[quote]Would I have enjoyed hunting with him? You better believe it! But a lot more than that I would have been thrilled to go all the way back and get to hunt around 1900 or just to even be there and see the Golden Age of waterfowling and bird hunting. I'd have loved to see and experience such a time when there were still truly wild places..and the only limits on ducks were self-imposed club limits and at that twenty five a day..[quote]

You still can....Head down to Paraguay and Bolivia.....Ahhh, the good "new" days!