Deer for the Taking

Game lands in the state’s northeastern corner offer some of North Carolina’s best early-season hunting.

Joseph “Pork Chop” Wiles of Mayock was deer hunting at an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission game land in northeastern North Carolina last November.

Like many hunters, he was taking advantage of the abundance of deer, which places most of the game lands in that corner of the state in the maximum-length, either-sex season.

Unlike many initial nimrods, Wiles came prepared to bring home the venison. He and his father, Richard Wiles, were hauling out a fat doe from behind a locked gate, but they weren’t dragging her; the elder Wiles was peddling a bicycle, towing a 2-wheeled deer cart.

“I made the cart; it took less than three hours to build,” Joseph Wiles said. “There are so many closed roads at game lands and Pocosin Lakes (National Wildlife) refuge, you have to be creative when it comes to carrying in a tree stand and bringing back a deer.”

“We travel around a lot to hunt,” Richard Wiles said. “The cart has allowed us to haul out eight deer in Virginia and both Carolinas, sometimes two at one time.”

Dale Davis, the Commission’s management biologist for northeast North Carolina, said hunters overlook many game lands in the northeastern part of the state. Surprisingly, many who take advantage of the extended either-sex opportunities travel from the central and mountain regions.

“We have game lands where you can harvest antlerless deer as long as the eastern season is open,” he said. “Our firearms season is longer than in some other areas, and the muzzleloader season comes in earlier, drawing hunters from all over.”

Many hunters prefer hunting game lands during muzzleloader season because they’re less crowded than during firearms season, when dog-hunting is popular and more still hunters are in the field. But Davis said anytime a hunter can get out, it’s nice to be able to take antlerless deer.

“Some of our best maximum-length, either-sex season game lands are Alligator River, Buckridge, Chowan Swamp, Lantern Acres, Roanoke River and Van Swamp,” Davis said. “All have good vehicle and foot access. There are two reasons we close some roads to vehicles: gates restrict vehicle traffic where it would drastically reduce the quality of hunting at waterfowl impoundments, dove fields and fields planted for deer, and gates also protect roadbeds with soils that become unstable when wet.”

Davis said the 13,877-acre Alligator River Game Land has an extensive network of roads and trails that continues to expand. Dog hunters will find the hunting more difficult than at some other game lands because few roads surround blocks of habitat.

“We will be opening more trails to vehicle traffic as we get funds to improve the roads with gravel,” he said. “The entire southeast part has good trails with good access for bikes and carts because we mow all trails prior to hunting season. Like most of our game lands, the roads require 4-wheel drive when roads are wet.”

The habitat is mixed, with pine cutovers and bottomland hardwoods; the lowland forest is blackgum, but there is some pine-hardwood mixed forest on the drier areas. Davis said hunters should have no trouble finding a tree for an elevated stand. The game land surrounds J. Morgan Futch Game Land, which is primarily a waterfowl area that has lots of agriculture.

“Buckridge has 18,194 acres in Tyrrell County,” Davis said. “The deer population at Buckridge is similar to Alligator River’s, and there are many agricultural areas to west of the game land to keep the population high, but Buckridge is wetter, with bottomland hardwood areas that have been logged in the past.”

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management, which owns Buckridge, enrolled the property in the game lands program. Although it has lots of inaccessible areas, Buckridge has lots of vehicle roads. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of places in the game land’s northern section to get away from vehicles on the gated trails that have good foot or bike access.

The network of roads makes dog hunting popular at Buckridge, but still-hunters won’t have trouble finding a tree for a climbing stand on the 3-day-per-week game land.

“Chowan Swamp Game Land has 27,516 acres in Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties,” Davis said. “There are several tracts, with the Sandbanks tract one of the best. It has many roads and trails that provide excellent access.”

Davis said hunting at Sandbanks will surprise hunters from the lower piedmont or Fort Bragg area because it has lots of upland, sandy habitat with bluejack, blackjack and turkey oaks. It is a longleaf pine restoration site and was acquired along with other tracts during the last round of International Paper Co. purchases.

“The Mapleton tract on the Meherrin River also has lots of roads that don’t show up on older game lands maps,” Davis said. “The 2009-10 maps show the road network. It has pine uplands in various growth stages and also has an excellent road network. The Wiccacon Tract also has pine plantation in various stages and excellent access. Other parts of Chowan Swamp Game Land are extremely wet, with very limited access.”

Dog hunting for deer is very popular on the 6-day-per-week game land, but the sandy soils don’t yield the high deer densities of some other game lands.

“Lantern Acres has 1,825 acres, in two tracts in Tyrrell County,” Davis said. “(There is) no dog hunting on 250-acre Godley tract, and both tracts are surrounded by agricultural areas and there are lots of deer.”

The Commission acquired Lantern Acres through a FMHA foreclosure. Because it was farmed, it has excellent habitat.

“We’ve done some timber thinning, controlled burning and planted the old fields for dove, deer and waterfowl,” Davis said. “It has plantings of oats, chickory, milo, wheat and peanuts. Walks can be long, but we plant deer openings near the gate. It’s great for still hunting, but not so good for dog hunting because of limited access roads and its small size. It also abuts the Pocosin Lakes refuge, where dog hunting is not allowed.”

Davis said the 35,457-acre Roanoke River Game Land has tracts in Bertie, Halifax, Martin and Northampton counties. Gun hunts are only allowed through the special hunt-lottery permit program. Bow season and muzzleloader season permits are sold over the counter.

“You can apply for up to five permit gun hunts each for the upper and lower Roanoke River hunts,” Davis said. “The dividing line is NC 11/42. For most tracts owned by the state, there are 11 3-day hunts, and for the (Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge) tracts, there are five 5-day hunts. The application deadline is Sept. 1. All hunts allow the harvest of deer of either sex.”

Camping is allowed within 100 yards of the Roanoke River at any time on Commission game lands tracts, but only during hunts and the day before and day after on the refuge tracts. Some tracts have only water access, while others have good road access. Dog hunting for deer is not allowed.

“Roanoke River Game Land has diverse habitat that translates into some of our finest deer hunting,” Davis said. “There are lots of deer, and it’s the best game land for producing nice bucks.”

Habitats include everything from bottomland hardwoods to pine forest uplands, with agriculture as well on the Conoho and Deveraux tracts. The fields on the Conoho and Deveraux tracts are farmed under contract, with the farmer leaving a portion of the crops in the field to benefit wildlife. Four designated campgrounds are on those two tracts.

“Van Swamp Game Land in Washington and Beaufort counties covers 5,482 acres,” Davis said. “We’ve done lots of work at Van Swamp, so there’s good access and a good deer population.”

The excellent road system, which includes many gravel roads, allows good access throughout the property. There are also many gated trails. Because of the excellent access, hunting with dogs for deer is very popular.

Most of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is open to the public for deer hunting, including the Pungo Unit. The refuge, in Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington Counties, is managed by Howard Phillips.

“Pocosin Lakes has in excess of 100,000 acres open for deer hunting, including the 12,500-acre Pungo Unit,” Phillips said. “Gun hunts at Pungo are only through a lottery permit, which began to be administered by the (Commission) two years ago. The rest of the refuge is open during the regular deer hunting seasons.”

The refuge has a high deer population, along with 30 miles of improved roads and 150 miles of unimproved roads for good access. The use of dogs for deer hunting is prohibited. Controlled burns help improve the habitat, which has peat soils and thick vegetation. The Pungo Unit has many acres of agriculture, and nearby farm fields also boost the deer population.

“We always caution deer hunters about bears,” Phillips said. “Pocosin Lakes has an extremely high bear population, and bears are protected. Hunters must get their deer off the property as soon as possible to avoid bear interactions.”