Is it a bowhunter friendly state?
How is the hunting overall (quality/opportunity)?
What do you like/not like about the wildlife situation and management?
Where in the state would you choose to live?
If you could move out of state, would you and why?
Is skirt-wearin' mandatory, or is that just a southern coastal thing? :D
Overall it is a good place for a bowhunter.Long seasons in most places and ample public land.We lack the larger animals here but if shooting whitetails is ok we have them. :)We also have good turkey populations in a lot of places and record class black bear along the coast.Trophy racked deer are a lot harder to come by here than many other places but we have plenty of freezer fillers.Depending on where you hunt our deer can rival the Texas deer on being super spooky because of the long seasons and the use of baits.Use a quiet bow for best results. :)
Skirts and pom-poms are strickly a coastal thing.Stay to the middle of the state for your best chances of being around the more normal types of bowhunters. :biglaugh:
I'd say NC is a about as hunting / fishing friendly as it gets.
Where to live depends on what you want to do and/or what kind of scenery you like (mountains, piedmont, coastal).
As for moving ... the South has a special charm and there's nothing like being "down home". The "Old North State" suits me just fine (though I wish we had more walleye).
As for skirts ... it's don't ask don't tell.
Great deer numbers and long season here in N.C.. The main downside that I've found is that you aren't allowed to hunt over bait (corn is what most folks use) on public land.
I'd actually prefer to live/hunt out west somewhere where I could do more spot-n-stalk hunting. Though, I'm a rifleman at heart...
I beg your collective pardon! (That was really funny, Molson - unexpectedly cropping up where it did.) Let me say this - about that - "Only for a good cause" :goldtooth:
NC is pretty bow hunter friendly, though not a lot of trad stuff in all places in NC.
Deer hunting is definatley dependant upon area. With urbanization some of the old better areas are becoming not so much anymore (ask James Wrenn) but there are some great areas for hunting.
Pretty much the same all over for that.
Unfortunatley, NC passed NJ this last year in the list of most populated states! :eek: :confused:
Oh yeah, coastal areas during early deer season also occur during mosquito season - like anywhere in the South, get a themacell or bugtamer.
Thanks for all the replies. Kidding aside Bernie, what's your opinion of the area?
OK :) - I like NC a lot. It is our home of choice for many reasons - not the least of which is the friendly residents, both native and imported, in general. There are a lot of Deer in NC (mostly smaller) but every year there are some "Hosses" taken (by other folks :) ). We have long seasons and liberal limits. I hunt traditional bow all season - my choice (don't hardly ever even use a black powder any more and haven't for 3 or 4 years, as long as I can find a bow only area or private land to hunt during that week). It will help if you find a farm, lease, or club to hunt but I don't have any of those anymore. On the other hand there is an abundance of public lands, and military bases to hunt all over the state. There are places (states) I wouldn't mind being but I won't be moving again at my age. Hope that helps some for now.
Getting too crowded. Most of the land in North Central is dog club controlled or very wealthy folks pay a high lease for many good tracts that locals used to be able to hunt.
I know of clubs in my area that are from $550 to $10,000(not a typo)
Archery deer season in my area opens Sept. 8, I believe with about a month of archery only deer.
Then, a week of muzzle loader hunter and then they it's, "Who turned the dogs out!"....until first of Jan. when deer season is over.
Don't expect the dog clubs to let any deer go. If it's brown it's down. If a deer gets 3 years old, they are mighty smart.
Click on my 'home page' icon, above. That 'drop dead' buck is mighty nice but I've seen bigger.
North of here, up in south VA piedmont; I have seen some whoppers. There's a lot of land up there that has some good deer because they can't use rifles like around here. Most folks dog hunt with shotgun, there and a lot of land is not still hunted. Rifle hunters here can cover some big fields.
If you find a field around here that doesn't have a tower stand in it, I'd be surprised.
Where I'm at there is no public land less than two hours away. Private land is leased out. I'd like to hunt this coming season but don't have any place to go without pay 500-1,000 for a lease or $150 a day for an outfitter. I'm a poor serviceman and can't afford those prices.
I'm told there is some good hunting around Goldsboro and there are a lot of trad shooters up there. Try to get up with a Buzz Gillis (civillian worker on base) who is starting up a trad archery club. Nice guy. Keep trying to meet folks that share the interest and before you know it you'll have somewhere to go. If they don't hunt on the base there (?), there are other bases available to you. Thanks for your active service and don't give up - it takes time to meet the right people arond bases but is well worth it, and you must work at it.
In N.C. you either belong to a club or own your land. It is hard to find a place to hunt or fish. All the hunting land is posted and you can't hardly get to the beach to fish for all the condos.
Matt!!! ;) It certainly isn't easy (and I could do with a decent place or two, since I lost my best - a farm) but it certainly is out there (I mostly hunt Lejeune now) and I know if you still hunted, and had a "place", you would invite me.
(Wouldn't you, ol' buddy, ol' friend??? :wavey: )
Dave,
I was born in Goldsboro and live in Wilson now. You're right, it's difficult to find somewhere to hunt around these parts. Like Bernie said, your ticket is probably to find another trad. hunter that has some connections.
I have a place to hunt, but my permission is so vault-tight that I have to carry a written statement on my person saying I have permission to hunt their farm, (this is the beginning of my second year hunting there, so I'm not going to broach bringing a guest yet).
Church is a great place to meet folks that will allow you to hunt. Hang out with the men on "men's day" and before you know it, you'll have an invite.
If you get really desperate this year, let me know and I'll put you in touch with some folks in a club in LaGrange that may, just possibly, be able to accomodate an archer on occasion without charging you a membership fee. (My brother is a member)
The public land is mostly edge hunted meaning that 80% of the hunters are hunting the edges because they won't make the effort to get to the middle. There are lots of public land around the state and if you are creative and don't mind the hike there are some really good places to hunt. There are a lot of clubs around that have leased up most of the farms and timber company land and getting into one of them is going to take a lot of work and effort. Mostly they are good ole boy clubs and you have to know someone in the club, have lots of money and don't mind spending it to get a spot in the club or have something unique to offer a club to get a spot.
There are 2 really good trad clubs in the central piedmont the CTA and Sissipahaw. And both put on really good shoots about once a month or so.
The two counties I either hunt now or have hunted that have the biggest deer are Anson and Montgomery counties.
If I were to ever leave NC I would head west to a state that offers more variety of big game, maybe Montana.
Pom Poms, skirts, and ah , mainly 1st place winners. LOL . Just kidding. I find good folks from the coast to the mountains. Hunting is ok but I do belong to two clubs and have access to alot of private land. I'd be better off to save and go on one big hunt a year. my 2 cts Don
Kind offer from Tom there (Native Craft) and you couldn't meet a nicer guy (They used to live down here but actually I just say that cause I like his wife, his dog, and his new daughter - we won't tell him that though.) ;)
For the fella at Seymour Johnson ... there's a couple thousand acres of public land near Roseboro south of you in Sampson county.
Dogs running deer??? Didn't see that one coming. Would not have guessed you guys would have land access issues. Everything seems to be so spread out down there compared to up here. We have little to no land access issues here.
Not every county allows dogs to run deer. I have been on a couple hunts where dogs were used and the hunts weren't really hunts it more like just standing around and killing. To each his own I guess.
Using dogs to hunt deer is more prevalent in the eastern part of the state (usually in swampy areas). Whether you're on the "it's a tradition" or "it's terrible" side depends on your point of view.
I've been on a couple of hunts where dogs were used also and its been more get out of the house, chew the fat, look for lost dogs event. But it was also with family who've lived in that area for a few hundred years so it's a bit different.
I don't see any access problems, but there's a lot of public land around me. There's also a lot of public land around the state, you just have to find it or go to it. The more friends you make and the more folks you talk to ... the more opportunities you'll have, just like anywhere.
As for being crowded? There's a whole lot'a nothing between those crowded areas. But you have to remember this is (and has been) a big farming state so all that land is owned by someone. Make friends, ask nice, bring that farmer a gallon of ice cream and he'll probably let you hunt (especially with a bow). Maybe even ask if you can do something for him!
If I had a thousand acres, I'd be pretty choosy about who I let hunt too.
QuoteOriginally posted by ber643:
I'm told there is some good hunting around Goldsboro and there are a lot of trad shooters up there. Try to get up with a Buzz Gillis (civillian worker on base) who is starting up a trad archery club. Nice guy. Keep trying to meet folks that share the interest and before you know it you'll have somewhere to go. If they don't hunt on the base there (?), there are other bases available to you. Thanks for your active service and don't give up - it takes time to meet the right people arond bases but is well worth it, and you must work at it.
Actually, Bernie. I'm the Vice President of the Shady J Archers. It the new Archery (all types)club we are forming on the base. Buzz nominated me. We've got 20 members at the moment but no range yet. Very little wooded land on base (no hunting) but I've found about 29 acres just outside the fence but on federal land that we are woking on getting for a 3-D course. We are in the networking phase right now. President and I shot at Cherry Point last weekend and got to know those folks and got to meet President of the Camp Legeune Club. We plan to join the Downeast Coalition.
Thanks for the offer and the other tips guys. I'll be exploring them.
That's great, Dave - good start. Matt E is a friend of Buzz's also. I'm on Buzz's mailing list - I forget if as a member or a "Person of Interest," LOL I've been up to GB and shot with Buzz, Matt and some other trad guys and am in the DownEast Coalition right now - Hubert Archers (we may loose our range next year though).
I lived in Greensboro from 1988-2001. I hunted in Stokes, Caswell, and Alleghany counties. While the season was long and bag limits are liberal, the overall quality is somewhat lacking. NC deer are picked over and very few survive their first season of antlers, except on very large leases or areas close to cities that are closed to gun hunting. Dog hunting runs amok in the east central and coastal areas. Don't expect deer to behave normally in areas with dog running. My experience with public lands in the Piedmont area was that it was pretty crowded and I had problems with interference from other hunters. Leasing is becoming more and more common for private lands. While living in NC, I only hunted for freezer deer and traveled out of state to hunt bucks that were older than 1.5 years. NC is growing rapidly. Roads are congested and finding places to hunted becomes increasingly difficult in some areas. I moved to Iowa in 2001 with the opportunities for better quality hunting and less crowded conditions being a significant factor.
I live right on the coast here in Morehead, I have the Croatan forest to hunt, which is one of the two places considered a wilderness area in NC. People run dogs there and I still hunt it. Do not jump on the dog hunters till you have tried to walk through a NC swamp! you who have been there know what I mean. We do not have the pretty oak woods, I can see for 200 yards woods, NOPE we have the tickled to death I can see 20 yards woods. THICK! does not begin to describe it. It takes dogs to bring them out, and personally I can kill more deer still setting then you ever will using dogs(if I used a rifle), still setting is alot easier as far as killing goes. I have nothing against the dog runners for the most part as it is tradition but now a days you see the slobs who will dump their dogs in a spot so they may run across private land :banghead: that they do not have permission on, and they give the rest a bad name.
Key to public land is finding where it runs close to a farmers fields. deer will be there and you will be legal.
If I could pull the wife from the ocean I would haul my butt to AK or CO. The hunting here is good lots of small deer some nice bucks. I have fished the ocean all my life till it is a bore, unless the sea kicks up and trys to kill me. Think I would like to try open spot and stalk hunting elk or mule deer. But then the wife aint leaving Carteret county and her ocean. Think I would enjoy trout or salmon with a fly rod, here it is false albacore and spanish with a fly.
Oh yeah and Bears we do havethe bears, will try to get one this year with my recurve but am not shootin unless he is 400 lbs or better. Got corn in the fields near the public land I hunt so should be a good bear year, 600-650 is not totally uncommon for a blackie here.
Other than all that, it is a good quiet county/area to raise a family and if I never make AK or CO then it is cool.
Later
Jason
I live in centeral N.C. and just about everyone I know hunts or fish . If you are thinking of moving to N.C. for hunting / fishing the best place for a sportsman would be in Hyde or Washington county . It is in the eastern part of the state near the coast and it is full of big black bear ,medium size deer,turkeys ,and pleanty of fishing . For hunting on game lands check out Pongo Wildlife refuge and Pocosion game lands also Conmans guide services. Some of the bigest black bears in the US have been killed in thoese countys .
Mike Britt
As an aside, talk to the old timers about deer in NC. Not too many decades ago, no one hunted deer since there weren't any.