WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Coast Guard rescued two duck hunters and their dogs Saturday after their boat ran out of fuel near Merrimon.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Hobucken received a call from Pamlico County 911 dispatchers at about 4:28 p.m. reporting two men in a 17-foot, brown skiff, low on fuel in the vicinity of Turnagain Bay.Station Hobucken watchstanders notified watchstanders in the Sector North Carolina Command Center in Wilmington, who then issued an urgent marine information broadcast.A 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew from Station Hobucken launched at approximately 4:45 p.m.The crew located the duck hunters on a beach in Turnagain Bay at at about 5:41 p.m., who had grounded their boat after running out of fuel. The crew spotted one of the men waving a paddle with a sweater tied to the end.The Coast Guard took aboard both men and their two dogs and brought them to the Cedar Island Ferry Terminal on Cedar Island at about 7:51 p.m."The two men were smart to use their cell phone to call 911 and were able to indicate their location before their phone ran out of battery life," said Petty Officer 2nd Class JC Tyus, response boat coxswain for the case. "All mariners are reminded to conduct checks of their vessels prior to heading out. Double checking is an easy way to avoid problems out on the water."