Good luck and have a great time.Watch out for the bears and snakes.  

I guess the Pungo's free Wi-Fi ain't working due to the tropical storm off the coast, 'cause we ain't heard a peep from those fellers.  Either that or the mosquitoes, bears, or snakes have got 'em.

Didn't hear anything last year 'til we started getting back either, Tom. I think I was the first back. I'll tell you I didn't see anything but squirrels here on the base yesterday but niether did much of anyone else either. I think they only got one , maybe two, Deer on the whole base yesterday. Weird - too nice a day I guess. It was still great being out there another year.

hey guys i talked to tim. they've only seen two the whole time so far. depending on what this weather does he may or may not come home this weekend.

We skedaddled home last night. The forecast was calling for much rain and sustained winds of 30-40 mph today and wind and rain on Monday. The deer were not cooperating yesterday. Probably because the trucks started running refuge roads at 0400 in the morning.  The closest doe I saw was 150 yards away. We saw NO snakes, NO mosquitoes and a couple of bears. I did sneak up on a red fox who had it's back to me eating something. I got within 15 ft before it took off.

Tim (Stobber) was great host and I look forward to getting out there next time.

Dave,
Thanks for the comments my friend!
Sorry we had to bail out so early in the trip....just didnt think it was wise to stay .
I called Mike this afternoon and he said they barely even knew the storm had passed through, winds at 20mph,1/4" of rain and it lasted only 3hours and the skies are clear as a bell.
Now i really feel dumb, just goes to show ya ..nobody knows what God is thinking, he has the final say so.
It was still not bad though...i got to meet a couple new friends and hunt with them. Thanks Dave and Richard, real nice guy's and a pleasure to share camp with.  Dave you have a new fan....You won Justins respect when you COACHED him through the M.R.E',s, that kid really needs to get out more often. He's still amazed at the chemistry of a M.R.E.!
We did see 2 bears pretty close ...at one point we were only about 25 yards from lil'125#. Then saw another at about 50yds. prolly 300#.
Watched a couple of foxes hunting moles in a manicured lawn, saw several deer but none presented any shots...most were seen the day before opener.Had the opportunity to meet SEVERAL wildlfe officers. One of which was on a camophlage stakeout of our vehichle, Justin spotted a bald head sticking out of the weeds a few yds. from the Blazer so he walks over and introduces himself and finds he's under survelence (?)LOL! No problem, just had to check our permits and license. After they leave Justin kinda starts badmouthing and poking fun at law enforcement till he finds out that Dave is a cop(LOL)!!!  
I had a pair of otters to keep me company for about 20mins. They swam right up to me and talked a little smack, i tried to talk back but they werent impressed and moved on down the canal.
Picked up a bucket full of turkey fedders before i remembered you cant take them off the refuge(?)Go figger.
Bernie...we did cook the customary HOBO's with deer burger, sorry you missed it, the last night we were there we dined on crawdad's , smoked sausages and home grown tomaters.
I hope that we get a few more guy's to show up next year as we were able to locate a very remote area that appeared to get very little hunting pressure along the Alligator river. Regrettfully we had to bail out before getting to hunt it.
Maybe we can generate some interest in a week end hunt before season is over.
Real dissapointed we had to bug out but still a great trip as always.
Dave i'll call ya soon and you can come hunt the farm with me......i went and scouted it out today and the deer are cruising the creekbed just as suspected...saw  4 coons at once there today!
Tim

Great report, guys. We really got bum-fuzzeled here in Coastal NC this year, even though the storm fizzled out. Nobody except Beaufort and Morehead City even got much (badly needed) rain, though we got a fair amont here near Swansboro and in Jacksonville. Nothing like what the area was hoping for from the storm but we still are blessed that we dodged the bullet as far as wind and damage ... again. Thank you, Lord. Season opener was a little disappointing, to say the least, but onward and upward to better days ahead!

However you look at it, it felt good sitting in the tree with my Dano Osage "Sneaky Snake" and my Art Butner Cane Hunter Arrows - I was ready, even if the Deer weren't!!!

Tim is right we saw more game wardens than deer. Give me a call I'm ready to try again.

Alright Bernie...now that you got opening day out of the way it's time to hunt with me and Justin.
I'm thinking about floating through Croatan this week-end....what say ye?
I went and did some scouting here at home this A.M. . I saw 2 does at about 80yds. Followed this dry stream bed about 200yds. and found a spot that i thought the pigs were wallowing but turns out it's a deer wallow...i guess theyre using the damp sand to stay cool, i've never seen that before. They have really torn up the woods pretty good. It's a nice lil' funnel about 60yds wide between a old log-out and a bean field, the creek bed runs thru the middle of it with a old growth hardwood hill on the west end. It forms a nice little saddle along the dry creek bed. It has a couple of little artesian springs here and there to provide cool , clean water.     I think i'm gonna save that spot as my new hidey hole(LOL)!
Steve, Justin and I are gonna head over to the farm this afternoon and watch a well used trail along Nahunta creek .
Good luck guy's!

QuoteI called Mike this afternoon and he said they barely even knew the storm had passed through, winds at 20mph,1/4" of rain and it lasted only 3hours and the skies are clear as a bell.[\\QUOTE]
I told y'all not to worry about the weather!  I can't believe y'all bailed out on account of that wimp-a$$ storm. ;-)

Tell me, guys - just what is it with these wildlife officers?  Hidin' in the bushes and such "surveilling" a bunch of bowhunters?  Are they that hard-up to issue a citation that they've got to even waste time with bowhunters?

QuoteOriginally posted by NativeCraft:
 

QuoteI called Mike this afternoon and he said they barely even knew the storm had passed through, winds at 20mph,1/4" of rain and it lasted only 3hours and the skies are clear as a bell.

I told y'all not to worry about the weather!  I can't believe y'all bailed out on account of that wimp-a$$ storm.   :D  

Tell me, guys - just what is it with these wildlife officers?  Hidin' in the bushes and such "surveilling" a bunch of bowhunters?  Are they that hard-up to issue a citation that they've got to even waste time with bowhunters? [/b]

QuoteI called Mike this afternoon and he said they barely even knew the storm had passed through, winds at 20mph,1/4" of rain and it lasted only 3hours and the skies are clear as a bell.

I told y'all not to worry about the weather!  I can't believe y'all bailed out on account of that wimp-a$$ storm.   :D  

Tell me, guys - just what is it with these wildlife officers?  Hidin' in the bushes and such "surveilling" a bunch of bowhunters?  Are they that hard-up to issue a citation that they've got to even waste time with bowhunters? [/QB][/QUOTE]

Dang, gang..sorry about the triple post - I was attempting to edit my original post and now look what I've done!

hey tim maybe this afternoon we'll see something. cant wait to get out. just checked my trail cam on the field i had it on. the film was used up and it still had 61 hits on the camera. i'll let you know whats on it.

Probably the Game Wardens figured they would really be gun hunters with silencers, dressed up as bowhunters - LOL - fooled 'em, huh?

I don't know, Tim, after the opener I don't hunt weekends  much (except special days - ends, starts, etc.) but shoot me a PM and tell me what/when/where/etc. you are talking about when you say floating through the Croatan - I might be interested.

Awwww...i aint mad at the game warden, he's just doin' his job. They had a large graduating class this year and training a lot of rookies.
Kinda wierd getting my license checked by guy's that still have a drivers permit (LOL)!!!
It seems they have a lot of guy's riding thru and shooting from the bed of thier trucks.....i think that's why the officers were in stealth mode.

I had that happen once, right out here off hwy 24, and the young "trainee" was trying his best to act all business and bada_ _ like. The senior guy, who was an old timer with a rep for being pretty straightline, hardnose himself, was looking at the youngster from the side like, "What have, I created a monster here?" I had all I could do to keep from laughing while humoring the serious young agent. The trainor got me aside afterwards and thanked me - LOL.

Dontcha love it when you know yer right and they cant get ya fer anything!?(LOL)

Well now that all you guys have cleared out, I guess I can go kill some of those deer.  :D

Good luck - and keep us posted - LOL