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Brown Wood Duck LbNA #44885

Owner:Lone Star Quilter
Plant date:Dec 5, 2008
Location:
City:Brownwood
County:Brown
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Clearlakegirlscout
Last found:Mar 8, 2020
Status:FFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Dec 5, 2008
A decoy was originally a small pond with a long cone-shaped wickerwork tunnel, used to catch wild ducks. After the ducks settled, a small trained dog would herd the ducks into the tunnel. The catch was formerly sent to market for food, but now these are only used to catch ducks to be ringed and released. The word came from the Dutch eende(n)kooi = "duck cage". Wildfowl decoys (primarily ducks, geese, shorebirds, and crows, but including some other species) are considered a form of folk art. Collecting decoys has become a significant hobby both for folk art collectors and hunters. The world record was set in January 2007 when a Red-breasted Merganser hen (circa 1875) by Lothrop Holmes of Kingston, Massachusetts sold for $856,000. We were just having fun here at Brownwood State Park watching the brown ducks bob on the lake. We called them Brownwood Ducks and, since they looked like decoys, Brown Wood Ducks.

Directions:
Lake Brownwood State Park is 16 miles northwest of the town of Brownwood. Take State Highway 279 to Park Road 15 then east 6 miles to the park. Stop to pay the fee and get a map. Find the Willow Point camping area and park near the fishing pier close to the hiking trail shown on the map.

To the Box:
From the parking area, walk back up a few paces to the upper end of the trail (not the one closest to the lake. This trail goes steeply uphill via a series of rock steps placed by the CCC. Go all the way to the top of the hill. There, you’ll find the remnants of al old rock bench just to your right. From the bench, continue on for 12 steps and look to the right, 5 steps off-trail for 2 small scrub oaks very close together. The Brown Wood Duck is at the base of the trees covered with rocks. There is another, better, bench just downhill through the brush from the first one, that is situated on a rock ledge overlooking the lake. Sit and enjoy the view, but this is no place for children, so be careful. As always, watch for critters and stickers, and be sure to rehide the box with the rocks so it can’t be seen from the trail.