Halifax and Northampton counties on the Roanoke River are North Carolina’s top two counties in terms of total harvest, but they’re producing more quality bucks because of local management techniques. Here’s how.
The two 6-pointers casually browsing beside the deer stand had no idea two hunters were watching them. As they found acorns along the edge of a shooting lane and worked their way out to the corn spread by an automatic feeder, they were doing exactly what the hunters wanted — growing up with nothing to fear.
Later, one of the hunters explained the 6-pointers were probably in their second winter and should grow into shooter bucks in another year. However, they were carrying “Get Out of Jail Free” cards unless they wandered to one of the other farms in the area that didn’t have the strict rules of the hunting club on Shields Farm outside Scotland Neck in Halifax County — a club with a statewide membership and a reputation as a top-notch place to take a trophy buck.
“Those probably weren’t brothers,” Jimmy Shields said later when the bucks’ antlers were described as one being tall and the other wide. “That sounds like they had different fathers and different genetics. They probably found each other when their mothers ran them away last year and have been hanging together since.
“One or the other, or even possibly both, might grow up to be the next dominant buck on some part of the farm. I really like watching these deer grow up and seeing some become so dominant — and that won’t happen unless we’re sure they get a head start.”
Buck Martin, Shields’ son-in-law, oversees hunting on the farm.
“We have two hunt clubs on the farm,” Martin said. “The farm includes a variety of terrain, from swamps to open fields, and has stands located and positioned for just about any hunter. There are food plots throughout the farm, and most of the stands also have feeders.
“Hunters see deer during most hunts, but (they) don’t always take a shot,” Martin said. “It’s a hard message to get across to let younger bucks walk, but most of the hunters have accepted it. We believe in thinning the does, and many hunters only shoot larger does so they don’t mistakenly shoot a button buck. That is a big part of the reasons nice deer are taken on the farm every year. We make allowances for ladies and kids to take a smaller deer but prefer they take does or bigger bucks — and most do.”
Only one hunter on the farm saw a shooter buck the day the two 6-pointers were spared. The big buck never presented itself at a good angle and was too far away across a large field with a gusting crosswind. The hunter admitted that he thought about attempting the shot, as the deer was one of the largest he had ever seen. He described it as a big-bodied 8-pointer that was both wide and tall — easily a high-130s class deer.
Most of the other hunters agreed he’d made the right decision, but all openly wondered if they might have been tempted to squeeze the trigger and hope to defy the odds. Martin said if the hunter had had any questions about the shot, he had made the right decision by passing on it, calling it a buck that was welcome to roam Shields Farm and pass its genes to future generations.
John Simeon, recreation director for the city of Roanoke Rapids, is a member of a hunting club near Jackson in Northampton County — a club with an 8-point minimum that also requires that bucks carry racks with a spread that extends past its ears. They believe in thinning does.
Halifax and Northampton Counties were the Nos. 1 and 2 counties for overall deer harvest during the 2009-2010 season and have swapped No. 1 and No. 2 over the past dozen years. The combination of terrain, food and management programs like these make it was easy to see why. Halifax County led the state with 5,443 total deer killed, including 2,502 antlered bucks, 2,503 does and 438 button bucks. Northampton County was only slightly behind with 5,183 deer, including 2,336 antlered bucks, 2,350 does and 497 button
bucks.
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