The Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge offers quality deer hunting, but applicants need to sign up early, learn the rules and scout for a chance at a big whitetail.
It was a warm November morning in 2006, and hunters were starting to trickle in at the check station.
The sound of gunshots had issued from here and there throughout the surrounding hardwoods, pine forests and crop fields, indicating hunters had been having some luck.
It was the day before the regularly-scheduled WRC central deer firearms season, and the third day of this hunt would be the muzzle-loading firearms opener for the surrounding area. Yet the hunters at this particular location were mostly using center-fire rifles during one of the special permit gun hunts at Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge.
One of the hunters used a rifle chambered for the 7-mm Remington Magnum to down his deer.
At the check-station skinning rack, 16-year-old Matt Myrick of Seagrove was dressing out a spike buck. His father, Pete Myrick, was helping the young hunter.
“I hunt whenever I’m out of school,” the younger Myrick said. “So I won’t be able to hunt all three of my days.“
The youth had been hunting with his dad for 10 years and had killed a few deer. But like many hunters at the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, he would only be able to hunt a portion of the days he was allowed by his permit.
“We have hunters who hunt all of their allotted days,” said Darin Brandenburg, law enforcement officer for the Pee Dee and Carolina Sandhills national wildlife refuges. “But most of them might hunt one or two days. They might take off work for the first day or only get off to hunt a Saturday.
“Lots of them come and hunt the first day, then decide it’s not such an easy hunt as they thought it would be, then they go somewhere else.”
This particular hunt took place after the peak of the rut. The prior hunt had seen 43 antlered bucks harvested, along with plenty of yearlings and does.
For those familiar with the area, a high percentage of the harvest usually will be better-than-average antlered trophies, largely because of the controlled-access nature of the refuge hunts, as well as a landscape management plan that includes rotation of crop fields (planted with small grains, corn and soybeans), as well as prescribed burns and other dynamic forest-management practices that promote not only deer but attract waterfowl, other game animals and non-game wildlife.
“The hunting can get pretty crowded,” Brandenburg said. “But there’s room for hunters to spread out away from the roads. It pays to get to a spot early because there’ll be hunter’s vehicles parked at all the gated access trails and turnouts along the roads.”
J.D. Bricken, the Pee Dee NWR’s manager, said hunters such as Myrick can skin and dress deer using a gambrel and winched rack at the check station — as long as they don’t block access for other hunters.
“Most of the time, the hunters gather there after the morning and evening hunts,” he said. “They help each other dress deer and share stories. But the rack is there along with a scale for weighing deer. It’s a self-checking station; the harvest information is reported using the clipboard at the station.”
Hunts at Pee Dee NWR require much advance planning, or at least some forethought. The seasons are different from WRC seasons because of scheduling conflicts. For instance, while lottery permits are required for all firearms and muzzleloader hunts, bowhunting is allowed by anyone with only a free, self-policing permit available at the refuge headquarters. But the season opens after dove hunters have had a chance to hunt at the refuge.
To participate in the firearms hunts, hunters must obtain a permit application in June by calling the refuge headquarters and must return the completed form by the end of July. A pubic drawing is held during early August. Successful applicants must pay a $12.50 fee that’s due during September. Individuals can apply or parties of hunters up to a maximum of five. For party hunts, the applications must be stapled together.
“We allow 250 hunters per hunt and send out 2,500 applications,” Bricken said. “They are for three-day hunts and if I had to guess, I’d say 200 of each 250 selected actually pay their fee. Out of those hunters, on a Thursday through Saturday hunt, not more than 150 show up on any day. Thursday and Friday seem to be the peak, with hunters taking off from work. By Saturday, usually only 40 to 50 hunters are here.”
In 2006 Pee Dee NWR hunters bagged 93 bucks and 61 does at the refuge — with 43 of those bucks taken during the second scheduled gun hunt.
Gun hunts begin with a youth hunt the second week of October, followed by other hunts in mid-October, late-October and during the first week and second week of November. A disabled sportsman’s hunt will be held during mid-October.
The hunter success rate for 2006 was one deer for six hunters.
Of 1250 applicants, 902 hunters actually participated and harvested 154 deer. Approximately 50 percent of applicants who applied were drawn for gun deer hunts, except for the youth hunt.
“We usually only get 50 or 60 applicants for the youth hunt,” Bricken said. “There are 250 slots available, so obviously we’d like to see more participation. There’s no drawing because everyone who applies can come. We wish we had enough youth applicants to have a drawing.”
The hunting area covers 8,000 acres of the refuge, with 1,000 acres in Richmond County.
Bricken said hunting accomplishes two of the six objectives for public use, including habitat management to keep the deer herd healthy and prevent habitat destruction for other wildlife and to provide recreation. Other objectives include photography, wildlife observation, education and interpretation.
About 1,100 acres of the refuge are farmed under a cooperative agreement that allows farmers to keep 80 percent of the crop. The refuge allows its 20 percent of the crops to remain standing.
“Standing crops are especially useful when we flood our waterfowl impoundments,” Bricken said. “But most crops are harvested at other nearby lands while ours remain for wildlife including for the deer to utilize through the winter.
“Nutrition helps body size and antler growth. Our typical trophy buck has a 14-inch, eight-point rack. Last year we had one with a 24-inch spread and a weird eight-point rack.
“We don’t see that many big deer (by weight) in the harvest, but I’ve seen one that weighed 226 pounds. There are always some left after the season because I see them. Those big ones are in remote areas and smart enough to avoid hunters.”
Scouting is allowed during daylight hours anytime except when the refuge is closed for a permit hunt. A long list of regulations and rules exist that vary from the usual WRC rules; they’re listed in the hunt brochure and map that is issued to every successful applicant.
“The most common violations include not having the weapon encased when you’re in your vehicle,” Bricken said. “You also have to be 100 feet off any road before you can load your weapon during deer hunts.
“For small game, you just have to be out of the 60-foot right of way. We always try to talk to people so we have few wildlife violations. We don’t allow deer driving because it’s not really safe on a public hunt. Also, we ask hunters not to block any roads. If we have a closed gate, we may still need to get through it for refuge work.
“Hunters should also learn the boundaries so we they don’t go on neighbors’ properties. We have 94,000 linear feet of boundary, and we just got done posting it.
“Another thing we want is for the hunters to put their deer guts back in the woods and away from trails. Other people use the refuge following the hunts, so hunters should be courteous about where they clean their deer. Most people who clean their deer at the check station take the entrails out into the woods behind the check station.”
There are no camping facilities at Pee Dee NWR, so hunters must stay at home, drive to the refuge or utilize local motels.
Despite the 50-50 odds, some lucky people continue to be selected year after year. Several came to the check station after Myrick finished weighing and cleaning his deer.
One was John Flame, a 40-year-old custom call-maker who has hunted at Pee Dee NWR for years.
“I’ve hunted here for 10 or 11 years,” he said, “and killed 10 deer here and several of them were taken with a bow. I think using grunt calls and anything else you can do to get the deer close is the key. I use my own a custom grunt call with a tunable reed and an oversized tube and it works well.”
Other hunters attested the success of Flame’s WoodButcher calls. Most of the hunters used tree stands, scents and grunt calls since there was rutting buck sign everywhere. While a previous hunt was astoundingly successful in terms of antlered bucks, hunters still steadily were checking in antlered deer.
Brandon Mosteller, a 22-year-old college student from Lincolnton, had seen a buck chasing three does at 6:40 a.m. He shot the nine-pointer from a tree stand with a 7-mm. Remington magnum rifle.
“I came here last year and didn’t get a deer,” he said. “I did kill a doe during a youth hunt when I came with my dad several years ago.
“It’s an opportunity to hunt somewhere different. This is my fourth-biggest deer. I think I was successful because of scouting. I came here last Sunday and looked around and found a place where no other hunter had set up before.”
Lee Howell, also a 22-year-old student, had come along for his second deer hunt in his life. He didn’t harvest a deer, but killed a doe during his first hunt.
“It’s been a blast, being here with my friend,” he said. “I want to come back again as soon as I can and give it another try.”
John Hicks III of Claremont was hunting with his father, John Hicks Jr., when he shot a nice eight-point buck using a .30-06 rifle. He also hunted from a tree stand.
“I started hunting with my dad when I was very young,” he said. “It’s just a great place to hunt and be out here with him again. With the management they do here at the refuge and the crops they plant, you have a chance to get a shot at a deer like this one. It’s something that’s not available at other public lands.”
Besides deer firearms hunts, quota permits are required for turkey hunts. Hunters must possess a valid government issued ID and all applicable licenses while in the field. All deer must be checked at the refuge check station on the date of the kill prior to removing it from the refuge and follow self-checking procedures if no refuge employee is present at the check station.
Deer killed during the archery seasons must be self-checked at the refuge check station. Baiting is prohibited. Only portable tree stand are permitted and placing stands at the refuge more than three days prior to hunting is prohibited. Stands must be removed after a hunter’s last hunt day.
Hunters also must wear safety belts or harnesses while using tree stands and may not enter the refuge before 4 a.m. Plastic flagging of trees isn’t allowed, but painted reflective clothes pins and thumb tacks are allowed if removed by the end of the hunt. Refuge areas open to hunting are shown in leaflets issued to all hunters.
But these are only a partial list of the rules and regulations for Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge hunts. For more information, hunters should write or visit the refuge office or visit the web site.
Because Pee Dee NWR rules and hunting season dates are different from the usual N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission hunting regulations, hunters should study them thoroughly before arriving at the refuge.
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