
DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711130329

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 7    EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: BEACH PEOPLE 

SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: POPLAR BRANCH                     LENGTH:  113 lines

THEY COME FOR THE FOOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP

IRENE CARPENTER has never shot a swan. Or a goose. Never even fired a gun.

But during the past decade, more than 1,000 dead ducks have been dragged across her doorstep.

``They're just limp, old, dead birds. It's not a thrill to see 'em,'' said Carpenter, 62, who runs a Currituck County hunting lodge with her husband, Hugh. ``Seem to get those boys excited, though.

``They come in after spending all day on the water, got ice hanging from their beards, eyebrows all frosted over. Line those birds up in the yard and take pictures of 'em. Then cut the breast meat out and stick it in my freezer.

``Never given me any to cook, though - which is all right with me.''

The Carpenters, who have been married for 43 years, lived in Chesapeake, Va., most of their lives. Hugh worked in a concrete factory. Irene raised seven daughters.

In 1985, they moved to Poplar Branch and bought a 20-year-old house and hunting lodge on the Currituck Sound. The investment gives them the opportunity to do something together, they said. They're virtually alone in their isolated abode from March through October.

But once hunting season starts, their business begins booming.

``They'll be showing up Sunday. Already got our rooms booked for 45 days of the 60-day duck season,'' Hugh said. ``The season's getting longer - so we're working more and more.''

Growing up, Hugh said, he shot squirrels and rabbits. But he'd never bagged a bird until he bought the lodge. Now, he gets out on the water, fired up to find fowl, at least twice a week all winter. Sometimes a son-in-law joins him. But he's never been to a blind with his wife or daughters.

``Fellowship is the big thing I enjoy about it. It's just a guy thing,'' he said, smiling slowly beneath silver-rimmed spectacles. ``We see who can get the first shot off. See who can get the most birds. Irene, she just likes to shoot the breeze.''

During most of the year, the Carpenters sleep until 7 a.m. or so. But when up to eight hunters fill their oblong lodge, they rise at 4 a.m. to brew coffee and bake biscuits. Irene makes big breakfasts for the hungry hunters: Bacon, ham, sausage, eggs, grits, stewed apples and muffins usually are on the menu.

She also packs a cooler for each man to bring on the boat. Three sandwiches, a Thermos filled with coffee, fruit, a snack of some sort and homemade cookies comprise most lunches.

``Shooting starts a half-hour before sunrise. So they want to get on the water by 5:30 a.m.,'' she said. ``Everybody's in a hustle in the morning. They don't linger much. But they always take time to eat a big breakfast.''

A lazy susan is mounted in the center of the round, wooden table that takes up most of the Carpenters' living room. When the forks are flying, that lazy susan spins so fast it'll take a finger off, Hugh said. Sometimes the hunters devour three or four helpings each.

After her guests have gone out on the water, Irene cleans up the kitchen, goes to the grocery, washes towels, changes sheets - and starts supper.

She doesn't serve dinner until well after dark. The men get back from the blinds about six, shower - and sometimes clean their guns. Then they line up their loot, shoot some photos in front of the lodge and walk across the grass to the main house where a hot meal is waiting.

Wild rice, mashed potatoes, corn bread, steamed vegetables and rolls often are served as side dishes. Roast beef, cornish game hens and baked chicken all are popular entrees. ``We haven't had a vegetarian hunter yet," Irene said. "These men eat most anything. The only thing any of 'em have ever turned down is mayonnaise.''

Mark Marshall, a hunting guide who docks his boat at the 220-foot pier behind the Carpenters' lodge and carries many of their guests out to find fowl, said Irene's cooking is almost as big a draw as the ducks.

``A lot of the guys who come down here to hunt say they shoot just to pass the time between meals,'' Marshall said.

``They have hearty appetites,'' Hugh said, agreeing with the assessment of his wife's cooking. ``Eating becomes a contest with them.''

A long, low, cinder-block structure with a wide, enclosed porch across its front side, the lodge was built in 1965. Since it already had an established clientele, the Carpenters decided not to change the name. ``Barretts' Fishing and Hunting Lodge'' still greets guests on a painted piece of plywood about three miles north of Poplar Branch Post Office - but hunters have been the only inhabitants for the past three years.

Stuffed pintail, bufflehead and other ducks, many of which Marshall preserved in the taxidermy shop at his home, soar from the walls of the Carpenters' rustic lodge. An overstuffed sofa sits in front of a television. ``Hunting and Fishing Trivia,'' a deck of cards and piles of plastic poker chips are stacked on a formica table.

But most of the men don't play games at night. ``They exchange stories - lies,'' Hugh said. ``Even if they don't get a duck, they're usually happy just to sit around talking about birds they bagged before.''

They each pay $80 a night - which includes the three meals. Usually, hunters share their rooms with a buddy. So all of the beds are singles.

Duck season starts this week and ends in January. Hunters will start shooting swans a little later. And they'll be at Barretts', bagging geese until March 10.

Then, Irene and Hugh can relax - and try to remember that they're semi-retired.

Although she's around hunters four months of the year - and loves having them in her home - Irene said she has no desire to shoot anything herself.

``I don't appreciate them having to shoot the swans, because they're so pretty,'' she said of the snow-white birds. ``But it doesn't really bother me. That's just their game.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Lane DeGregory

Guide Mark Marshall, left, talks with Hugh and Irene Carpenter at

Barretts Fishing and Hunting Lodge, which the Carpenters own on the

Currituck Sound.

Graphic

HOW TO GO THERE

Irene and Hugh Carpenter run Barretts' Fishing and Hunting Lodge

in Poplar Branch between November and mid-March.

Rooms, which include three full, home cooked meals, cost $80 a

night. The Carpenters also arrange hunting guides - whose boats pull

up to the lodge's dock.

For more information, or to make reservations, call 453-2450.