Creswell native Jones Alan “Jay” Spencer Jr., is a proud lifelong resident of the rural Eastern North Carolina town, having built his livelihood on the foundations of a deep connection to the region’s natural landscape. A woodcutter and hunting guide by trade, Spencer prides himself on making his living where he’s most at home, in the great outdoors.

The son of Alan and Donna Spencer, Jay grew up like a lot of his Creswell peers, being steeped in hunting, fishing and athletics. A talented student athlete, Spencer excelled at football and at one point hoped to play college ball while quietly hoping that fortune would bring him a little more.

“I love football. I would give anything to go back and play one more game,” Spencer says wistfully. “Now, was I ever going to go all the way and become a pro? No, but I probably could’ve played pretty well at the college level.”

A lifelong fan of the East Carolina University Pirates, Jay had hoped to graduate from Lawrence Academy and play under the purple and gold banner.

“What I really wanted to do was go and play for ECU. I always liked the Pirates. I grew up liking them,” he says. “I used to go to the games when I was a kid so that was always a dream of mine.”

Unfortunately, a serious hunting accident not only jeopardized his dream to be a star athlete but very nearly ended his life altogether.

“In 2005, when I was 16, I was in a hunting accident at the turf grass farm. I got shot through the back and through my arm with a 300 Magnum and I spent a month in the hospital in Greenville,” he recalls. “I’m lucky to be alive. The shot was in just the right spot that it cauterized my radial artery in my arm. That’s the only reason I didn’t bleed out.”

As he tells it, Spencer was on site with a younger inexperienced hunter who inadvertently shot him while attempting to switch on the safety following deer hunt.

“The shot also nicked my colon and took the top part of my pelvis off,” he continues. “He was using an older gun. The boy was young and he had just shot his first deer so he was very excited. When he went to hit the safety, his finger was on the trigger too. I could’ve touched him with my hand, that’s how close we were when it happened...”