Labor Day has come and gone...but with it, we had fantastic weather and even better college football games! While Earl ruined our early weekend groups (we had to postpone until October 29 for Operation 4-Heroes Wounded Warrior Family Camp), it got out in time for the skies to clear and the temps to cool. Labor Da weekend also saw the Dove season opener, too.
Dove hunting is a great way to introduce a new sportsman - young or old - to hunting. Doves are small migratory birds that feature understated, but beautiful sandy-bronze plumage. They make for challenging targets, especially with an Eastern NC tailwind, but none are too swift for yours truly. Sike. I missed more than I harvested, but how may doves can one dude eat, anyway! All total, I think we bagged around 20 at a public hunting location, pretty good for some of the antics that can be experienced from other hunters at such places. Speaking of eating - there may not be a milder game bird in the sky. Doves taste a lot like chicken wings - just not as greasy. I like them deep fried or wrapped in bacon and grilled to medium rare. One of the highlights was taking summer staff member Kali Beach on a dove shoot. She bagged 3...but her best talent serves as a retreiver. She had a knack for finding downed birds in cover and "huntin' 'em up"...
East Carolina and NC State both had big wins over the weekend. NC State beat an overmatched Western Carolina team - but everybody likes cupcakes on Labor Day weekend. East Carolina sent Hurricane Earl Packing on Friday and welcomed the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to Dowdy-Ficklen. The game was back and forth the entire time, but the coffin was nailed shut when an East Carolina receiver caught a Hail Mary touchdown pass with no time left. It was Coach Ruff's debut game...I expected to see a little more defense from a former Defensive Coordinator, but was just as pleased with the final outcome.
UNC took a punch to the guts from LSU. LSU took it to the 'Heels early on, but like all good teams (even those down a pile of starters), they came back and had chances to win in the final seconds.
My Auburn Tigers opened their season with a throttling of Arkansas State - a tricky Sun Belt conference team that's known for taking good teams wire-to-wire. Auburn hung 52 on the Red Wolves, with new Auburn Quarterback Cam Newton Stealing the show and turning in a highlight reel. Auburn plays Mississippi State in PRIMETIME on Thursday night...my lady friend is a Bulldog friend, but proclaims this game a win-win situation for her...not so fast...pick one or the other.
My personal Labor Day activities included the above noted dove shooting, a trip to the flats at Oregon Inlet, and quick ride up and down the Scuppernong, and seeing some friends and watching football...typical, but fun.
The Eastern 4-H Center is celebrating Mittie Hamilton's birthday - I'm not telling her age, though...she's still very feisty! This week, we'll entertain youth groups from Camden and Washington County, as wel as two reunions and a Christian Women's Retreat. The going's on here are really going and breaks are few and far between on the weekends. Weddings are also taking up several of our weekends...so the food is going from good to great (good is ambitious according to camp staff who ate camp food for 10 weeks - but they don't like anything except chicken fingers and iPods).
Enjoy the day...
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