A Visit to North Carolina

On a recent visit to North Carolina to see our son, I decided to tow my Grizzly Tracker and a few decoys. I read about duck hunting in North Carolina when he decided to go to school there several years ago. As I anticipated, the hunting reports were quite favorable. I did some research and found a few places that were recommended in the southern coast and the outer banks. I did some advanced scouting last July while in state. I decided to check out Sutton Lake and the Holly Shelter Game Land area further south. Sutton Lake looked promising and more easily accessible.

I was unsure about species of decoys to pack, so I corresponded with a fellow blogger of "The Problems with North Carolina Duck Hunting". He was quite helpful. I will not mention his name here but thank you C.L. One of the things that I inquired about was what the Carolinians called "black heads". As it turns out this is a local name for scaup, which we shoot in Ohio, but we call them "blue bills". Since black heads are a species of note, I was sure to put some "black head" dekes in the bag with pintails, blacks and gadwall.

My wife, our yellow lab Gunner, and I arrived on our winter trip on a Monday. Like a true duck hunter I was up early with my yellow companion, and out the door well before dawn. I arrived at Sutton Lake, launched the boat, but decided to wait until shooting time to embark. Not knowing the lake, I did not want to hit any stumps, rocks, sandbars or any other surprises! I headed out into a mild west wind on a cloudy 40 degree morning, which seemed warm compared to the frigid temperatures I had been forced to endure at home. (Which by the way, has much to do with why I am interested in hunting North Carolina.) Gunner and I crossed the lake, and found a place on the shoreline that offered adequate cover. I quickly tossed our fakes in a hook to our left, and made a line with the black heads on our starboard side parallel to shore. I put the two floating Mojo stands closest to the boat and set up the Avery Quick Set blind. I just loaded my gun in time to look up to see a big flock of black heads, cupped, and cruising down my line of scaup dekes! Wow! I saw several big flocks of ducks that morning including a flock of red heads that landed out of range. What a morning! I was so pumped! I just steered my boat into the wind on a lake that I have never been on, threw out some dekes and the ducks are playing my song! Awesome! I bagged my two black heads that morning (my limit) and Gunner and I were both ecstatic.

Gunner is not particular about what kind of duck he retrieves. The truth is we didn't shoot any puddle ducks that week. We bagged scaup, buffle head, and ruddy ducks.

I say "we" because I made the acquaintance of a couple of young guys, Peyton and Daniel, hunting out of a canoe. I invited them to hunt with me the next day. My 25 horse Johnson is nothing special, but it sure beats rowing! Daniel had to work so Peyton brought his cousin Chris. These guys were great young men. They were very respectful, polite, and grateful. We need good young men and women in the sport of waterfowl hunting.

Chis and Peyton

The adults that I met at the boat ramp were also polite and helpful. They gave me more tips on where to hunt than I could possibly explore. I do have the spots narrowed down to a few that I want to try in the future. Overall this was a great experience. The non-resident license is $40 for 6 days and $60 for the season (for Ohioans). There is a $10 NC duck license and  a $15 game land tag if you plan to use it. Be advised that there are plenty of alligators, but with the temperatures just above freezing we were spared that experience. I did not see the good numbers of ducks again after that first day, but Gunner and I enjoyed every minute of it!