Eastern Neck Island has long been a major feeding and resting place for overwintering waterfowl, and before it became a wildlife refuge the area had a rich history of sport and market hunting. Many people made their living by guiding hunting parties and selling waterfowl to Baltimore restaurants. A flat-bottom boat from about 1910-1920 may be the only surviving Chesapeake Region gunning skiff adapted for use with a battery gun, a multi-barreled muzzle-loading gun arranged to fire in a series in order to kill as many ducks or geese at one time as possible. Although these guns were outlawed in 1918, outlaw hunters continued to use them. The hunting skiff was found in an old shed on Eastern Neck Island and is thought to have come from Chincoteague, Virginia. It is a flat-bottom wooden cross-planked boat 17 feet, 11 inches long and 48 inches wide, with a stem and transom of white oak, sides of cedar, and steel nails.