ncboman
11-15-2009, 12:12 AM
Must have been close to 20yrs ago I slipped up on this fella sittin up my permanent deer stand on the property I'd bought a yr or so earlier. He was a jolly kinda fella and said he hunted the property next door and was just walkin around lookin, saw the new stand, and decided to check the view before moving on. Honest enough.
That began an ongoing friendship and every year Larry would show up in Sept/Oct to get permission to hunt my land for the season, often bringing some Pea Ridge Scuppernong wine for my wife.
Larry broke his arm on a firefighting excercise at work and it gave him a lot of trouble for years. He couldn't pull a bow but he had a crossbow and medical permit to use it so I was glad to let the guy hunt.
Larry had the fire in his eye when we talked about hunting, and we always talked hunting. He converted 2 rooms in an old abandoned farm house on the neighboring farm into his hunting camp and we often killed some hot coffee there at the end of the day before I headed home. Larry liked being able to stay there in comfort without water or electricity although he eventually brought a generator. He even made a hot water shower in that old house but you had to bring your own water. He'd bring his son and later his grandson and good times were had by all.
... until a local lowlife burned the place down one halloween.
Larry was in good spirits afterward though and not to get beat, he bought a nice camper and pulled it to the farm to hunt and camp. I could usually count on him being there ML week but some years I got so busy working and then hunting out of state, I'd miss seeing him hunting at all.
Such it was last year, I didn't see Larry. I didn't think much about it as we'd missed each other before.
Today I was sittin up a new stand in that same place I met Larry and I got to thinking about him ... and why I haven't seen him, or even sign of where he's hunted. (I'd always find makeshift blinds in years before.)
Well, when I got home tonight, I googled some;
LARRY L. HOPKINS, 70, died February 24, 2008, at his residence in Goldsboro, NC. Born in Columbia, he was the son of the late Grady L. and Evelyn Spruill Hopkins. He was a firefighter with the U.S. Air Force for 22 years and then served another 17 years with the Civil Service. He was a member of the North Carolina Firemen’s Association. He was an avid outdoorsman and member of the Stuck in The Pines Hunting Club. Survivors: wife Christine M. Hopkins; son Larry Curtis Hopkins and wife Melanie; daughter Lynn Hopkins and her fiancee Red Wise; grandchildren Larry Derek Hopkins, Curtis Chase Hopkins, Amber Lynn Tyson; brothers Brian Hopkins and wife Gail; Gordon Hopkins and wife Sue; sister Jane Hibbs and husband Frank; brothers-in-law Clyde Litchfield and wife Genevieve; Sydney Litchfield; sister-in-law Crla Sawyer and husband Ronnie; nieces and nephews. Arrangements by Shumate-Faulk Funeral Home and Crematory.
Larry was a good man. I'm kinda shocked and sad to find out so long after the fact. Think I'll call Curt tomorrow. :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/Archery/Sept04GatesSunday003.jpg
Larry out behind the barn
That began an ongoing friendship and every year Larry would show up in Sept/Oct to get permission to hunt my land for the season, often bringing some Pea Ridge Scuppernong wine for my wife.
Larry broke his arm on a firefighting excercise at work and it gave him a lot of trouble for years. He couldn't pull a bow but he had a crossbow and medical permit to use it so I was glad to let the guy hunt.
Larry had the fire in his eye when we talked about hunting, and we always talked hunting. He converted 2 rooms in an old abandoned farm house on the neighboring farm into his hunting camp and we often killed some hot coffee there at the end of the day before I headed home. Larry liked being able to stay there in comfort without water or electricity although he eventually brought a generator. He even made a hot water shower in that old house but you had to bring your own water. He'd bring his son and later his grandson and good times were had by all.
... until a local lowlife burned the place down one halloween.
Larry was in good spirits afterward though and not to get beat, he bought a nice camper and pulled it to the farm to hunt and camp. I could usually count on him being there ML week but some years I got so busy working and then hunting out of state, I'd miss seeing him hunting at all.
Such it was last year, I didn't see Larry. I didn't think much about it as we'd missed each other before.
Today I was sittin up a new stand in that same place I met Larry and I got to thinking about him ... and why I haven't seen him, or even sign of where he's hunted. (I'd always find makeshift blinds in years before.)
Well, when I got home tonight, I googled some;
LARRY L. HOPKINS, 70, died February 24, 2008, at his residence in Goldsboro, NC. Born in Columbia, he was the son of the late Grady L. and Evelyn Spruill Hopkins. He was a firefighter with the U.S. Air Force for 22 years and then served another 17 years with the Civil Service. He was a member of the North Carolina Firemen’s Association. He was an avid outdoorsman and member of the Stuck in The Pines Hunting Club. Survivors: wife Christine M. Hopkins; son Larry Curtis Hopkins and wife Melanie; daughter Lynn Hopkins and her fiancee Red Wise; grandchildren Larry Derek Hopkins, Curtis Chase Hopkins, Amber Lynn Tyson; brothers Brian Hopkins and wife Gail; Gordon Hopkins and wife Sue; sister Jane Hibbs and husband Frank; brothers-in-law Clyde Litchfield and wife Genevieve; Sydney Litchfield; sister-in-law Crla Sawyer and husband Ronnie; nieces and nephews. Arrangements by Shumate-Faulk Funeral Home and Crematory.
Larry was a good man. I'm kinda shocked and sad to find out so long after the fact. Think I'll call Curt tomorrow. :(
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/Archery/Sept04GatesSunday003.jpg
Larry out behind the barn