Larry Eckart
Well-known member
Outer Banks Trip 2020 and a Pilgrimage to the Home of Robert Ruark
I must confess that I did not embark on the annual January trip to duck hunt on the Outer Banks with high hopes. The weather in North Carolina this season has been fair and mild. For many of us, the duck hunting here as in other places around the country has not been overly successful in terms of game bagged. Nevertheless, as with all who follow our sport, we press on because there are other reasons to hit the marsh beyond the kill.
In the end I was correct in my expectation. On two guided hunts we took no birds. The weather was calm, temperature warm. A few birds flew at sunrise and then all was quiet. Even experienced guides have no power to command birds to rise and fly.
So this report is about the other joys and experiences.
We hunted with Outer Banks Waterfowl run by Vic and Ellen Berg. They have 40 years experience guiding on the Outer Banks. We hunted the first day on the Currituck Sound. On the second day we hunted in one of Vic's favored blinds near Bodie Island Lighthouse. By stating this, I am not giving away a place others can hunt because no one can hunt the Pamlico Sound in Dare County if they do not have their own licensed blind or licensed boat blind rig. Freelancing is very hard to do in Dare and Currituck Counties in North Carolina. Vic owns an island in the Pamlico Sound, inherited through his father who, many years ago, traded a large number of pricey decoys for an island in the Pamlico. What a deal!
Here is a picture of our guide's decoy set (not all of it) looking out toward Bodie Island Lighthouse:
View attachment IMG_2498.JPG
The favored boat of guides on the Pamlico Sound appears to be a 21' Jones' Brothers like this one:
View attachment DSC_0748.JPG
Another shot of the same boat:
View attachment DSC_0741.JPG
Our guide also had this interesting boat: a 16' or 17' River Ox. I liked the simple open set up and the flared bow making this a useful, utilitarian craft. They were only made for about five years back in the 1970's.
View attachment IMG_2502.JPG
View attachment IMG_2501.JPG
That night I began searching for such a used boat and my companions quoted our guide: "It's a disease!" Yes! I am stricken so!
On our third day we went fishing. The local tackle shop in Kill Devil Hills advised us to drive 45 miles south to Buxton, NC near Cape Point. "The water is 10 degrees warmer there," said the local. Stopping at another tackle shop in Buxton, they directed us to a parking area where the walk was only a few hundred yards to a nearby jetty.
For those looking to fish the Outer Banks but do not have four wheel drive, the area near Buxton is easy walking access to the ocean and beach.
I immediately saw one difference in the water between Cape Point, Kill Devil Hills and where I used to live, Hilton Head Island: the water below Cape Point is blue! Streaming north from the coast of Florida, the Gulf Stream deposits its blue water near the tip of the Outer Banks. The water is beautiful!
View attachment IMG_2505.JPG
We did better fishing than duck hunting. We caught sheepshead and redfish, although nothing sizeable. Friend Mark, who lives in Illinois, with his first redfish:
View attachment IMG_2509.jpg
A few weeks later I had to drive from Raleigh to Myrtle Beach for a conference. On the way down I stopped in Southport, NC where Robert Ruark grew up. I will post the chronicle of that trip soon.
Blessings,
Larry
I must confess that I did not embark on the annual January trip to duck hunt on the Outer Banks with high hopes. The weather in North Carolina this season has been fair and mild. For many of us, the duck hunting here as in other places around the country has not been overly successful in terms of game bagged. Nevertheless, as with all who follow our sport, we press on because there are other reasons to hit the marsh beyond the kill.
In the end I was correct in my expectation. On two guided hunts we took no birds. The weather was calm, temperature warm. A few birds flew at sunrise and then all was quiet. Even experienced guides have no power to command birds to rise and fly.
So this report is about the other joys and experiences.
We hunted with Outer Banks Waterfowl run by Vic and Ellen Berg. They have 40 years experience guiding on the Outer Banks. We hunted the first day on the Currituck Sound. On the second day we hunted in one of Vic's favored blinds near Bodie Island Lighthouse. By stating this, I am not giving away a place others can hunt because no one can hunt the Pamlico Sound in Dare County if they do not have their own licensed blind or licensed boat blind rig. Freelancing is very hard to do in Dare and Currituck Counties in North Carolina. Vic owns an island in the Pamlico Sound, inherited through his father who, many years ago, traded a large number of pricey decoys for an island in the Pamlico. What a deal!
Here is a picture of our guide's decoy set (not all of it) looking out toward Bodie Island Lighthouse:
View attachment IMG_2498.JPG
The favored boat of guides on the Pamlico Sound appears to be a 21' Jones' Brothers like this one:
View attachment DSC_0748.JPG
Another shot of the same boat:
View attachment DSC_0741.JPG
Our guide also had this interesting boat: a 16' or 17' River Ox. I liked the simple open set up and the flared bow making this a useful, utilitarian craft. They were only made for about five years back in the 1970's.
View attachment IMG_2502.JPG
View attachment IMG_2501.JPG
That night I began searching for such a used boat and my companions quoted our guide: "It's a disease!" Yes! I am stricken so!
On our third day we went fishing. The local tackle shop in Kill Devil Hills advised us to drive 45 miles south to Buxton, NC near Cape Point. "The water is 10 degrees warmer there," said the local. Stopping at another tackle shop in Buxton, they directed us to a parking area where the walk was only a few hundred yards to a nearby jetty.
For those looking to fish the Outer Banks but do not have four wheel drive, the area near Buxton is easy walking access to the ocean and beach.
I immediately saw one difference in the water between Cape Point, Kill Devil Hills and where I used to live, Hilton Head Island: the water below Cape Point is blue! Streaming north from the coast of Florida, the Gulf Stream deposits its blue water near the tip of the Outer Banks. The water is beautiful!
View attachment IMG_2505.JPG
We did better fishing than duck hunting. We caught sheepshead and redfish, although nothing sizeable. Friend Mark, who lives in Illinois, with his first redfish:
View attachment IMG_2509.jpg
A few weeks later I had to drive from Raleigh to Myrtle Beach for a conference. On the way down I stopped in Southport, NC where Robert Ruark grew up. I will post the chronicle of that trip soon.
Blessings,
Larry
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