In January of 1979 I first ventured to Pamlico Point. McGee, Trevor and I hunted the Goose Creek Impoundment. Killed Pintails and Blacks. Doesn't get any better than that. So we started going up there on a regular basis. After a few trips to the impoundment we heard enough shooting out on the sound to get us interested in trying it out. Turned into my primary shooting location for many years.
About 10 years ago, Kelly Murphy and I pooled our money and bought Whitfield's trailer on Horne Road. We worked like crazy to fix up the 56 year old mobile home and get the yard shaped up. Didn't have a lot of money to work with, but we made it into a nice duck camp.
Then the birds started getting scarce. Then Kelly fell on some hard times and couldn't get up there to hunt very much. As I got older I didn't feel like making the trip and going to all the trouble just to hunt by myself. Slowly but surely I quit hunting up there completely. Never totally ruled it out in my mind, but something always seemed to keep me away.
This Summer we sold the place. It was a hard decision. Absolutely some of the best times of my life were up there at Lowland. But it all fizzled away to nothing. Just a place to have to fight the bugs and cut the grass. Am I sorry I sold it? In a way yes. It will always hold a million good memories in the back of my mind. But, I feel it was a good time to move on. I can kill ducks anywhere. So without all the old friends that made 825 Horne Road so special it just wasn't ever going to be the same again.
Maybe in time I'll regret the decision. But for right now, I think I am OK with it.
About 10 years ago, Kelly Murphy and I pooled our money and bought Whitfield's trailer on Horne Road. We worked like crazy to fix up the 56 year old mobile home and get the yard shaped up. Didn't have a lot of money to work with, but we made it into a nice duck camp.
Then the birds started getting scarce. Then Kelly fell on some hard times and couldn't get up there to hunt very much. As I got older I didn't feel like making the trip and going to all the trouble just to hunt by myself. Slowly but surely I quit hunting up there completely. Never totally ruled it out in my mind, but something always seemed to keep me away.
This Summer we sold the place. It was a hard decision. Absolutely some of the best times of my life were up there at Lowland. But it all fizzled away to nothing. Just a place to have to fight the bugs and cut the grass. Am I sorry I sold it? In a way yes. It will always hold a million good memories in the back of my mind. But, I feel it was a good time to move on. I can kill ducks anywhere. So without all the old friends that made 825 Horne Road so special it just wasn't ever going to be the same again.
Maybe in time I'll regret the decision. But for right now, I think I am OK with it.
27 August, 2011 - Hurricane Irene devastates Goose Creek Island. Virtually every home is destroyed. An eight foot storm surge covered the island. The eye wall of the hurricane was over Lowland for 2 1/2 hours. Terrible, just terrible.
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