The men seem more interested in Jenkins' hospitality than in 

 hunting. They wander to a back room, where a kettle of sumptuous 

 stew simmers on a small gas range. Dipping a ladle into the pot, 

 they retrieve a stew of navy beans and Polish sausage. They've 

 done this before. 



"Was that you that fired those three shots this morning?" Jenkins 

 asks one of the hunters, whose name is Dick. 



"Not me," Dick says. "Besides, I've only got two shots any- 

 way." He pulls a couple of green shotgun shells from a pocket in 

 his vest. 



"They're the same two shells you had last 

 year," Jenkins jokes. 



"And the year before that and the year 

 before that," Dick says. "Look at 'em. 

 They're so slick because I keep taking them 

 in and out of my gun." 



Hunting in the Great Dismal Swamp 

 National Wildlife Refuge is limited to a 

 management hunt for white-tailed deer during 

 the. fall. On adjacent private lands, hunters 

 stalk deer and other wildlife. Deer are plenti- 

 ful here, and occasionally a hunter or camper 

 will spy a bear. 



On an earlier trip, George spotted a 

 mother bear with twin cubs, born only a few 

 days earlier. Fish and Wildlife employees say 

 otters, bats, raccoons, minks, gray and red 

 foxes, and gray squirrels are still common. 



Dick and Jenkins say they haven't seen 

 bears or bobcats in many years. 



The three men drag chairs to a small table 

 sitting at an odd angle on the slightly sagging 

 floor. They swap hunting tales, most of them 

 taller than the swamp's most famous lady, 

 "The Witch." This huge Atlantic white cedar 

 haunts the southeastern shore of Lake 

 Drummond and casts an eerie silhouette 

 against a full Dismal Swamp moon. 



The hunters are strangely serious as they 

 talk of the dangers of the great swamp and the 

 deadly, deceiving trap it lays. 



Dick, 75, has been hunting the swamp 

 since he was 6. He recalls an era when hunting lodges surrounded 

 Lake Drummond like charms on a watery necklace. At night, when 

 the lanterns in those crude structures were blown out, darkness 

 engulfed the lake and all who were brave enough to spend the night. 



"I've seen it so dark out there you could cut it with a knife," 

 Dick says. "You felt like you could push the darkness away from 

 your face, it was so thick." 



Continued 



Ray Jenkins (center) 

 talks to hunters. 



COASTWATCH 7 



