NC Game Lands deer forecast

Public lands offer good hunting throughout NC

Deer hunting doesn’t have to be big-game roulette. Hot tips from the NCWRC Deer Biologist combined with the hard harvest data give hunters the inside track to the best Game Lands.

North Carolina has great hunting for white-tailed deer. However, most deer are taken from private properties, simply because more deer hunting acreage is under private ownership than there is under public stewardship. Nevertheless, the WRC has more than 2 million acres of game lands, which is a sizeable chunk of the state. Moriah Boggess, WRC Deer Biologist, named many that are excellent places to bag a buck.

“From the coast to the mountains, North Carolina has a great variety of game lands opportunities available to hunters,” he said. “The larger game lands such as the national forests offer big woods hunting where you can get away from the crowds. But some of the smaller game lands offer tremendous opportunity if you are willing to share the woods a little.

Pee Dee River and Yadkin River game lands in the Piedmont have high harvest rates and plenty of room to spread out. But if you live in or near the Triangle, Jordan and Butner-Falls of the Neuse are great local opportunities. Sandy Mush, Needmore, and South Mountains game lands are great options in the mountains for hunters willing to hunt smaller game lands. The Croatan National Forest, Bladen Lakes State Forest and Chowan Swamp game lands have lots of room to roam in the coastal plain. But don’t overlook some of the smaller game lands like Columbus, Carteret, Van Swamp, and Lantern Acres. They also offer great deer hunting.”

Keeping in mind that past performance may actually be a great indicator of future results, barring Mother Nature throwing curveballs including diseases like CWD that impact deer carcass transportation, wildfires like the blaze that burned 16,000 acres of Green Swamp Game Land last summer and tropical flooding that typically occurs somewhere along the coast in summer and fall, here are the best game lands to hunt based on the 2022-23 season harvest stats.

The top 10 game lands for total harvest were Nantahala (603 harvests), Pisgah (568), Croatan (398), Butner-Falls of the Neuse (374), Uwharrie (373), Jordan (303), R. Wayne Bailey – Caswell (182), Sandhills (136), Upper Roanoke River Wetlands (123) and Pee Dee River (115).

Mountain Region

The biggest game lands nearly always have the highest deer harvests. Nantahala National Forest (No. 1) has 528,782 acres. Pisgah National Forest (No. 2) has 505,217 acres. Incorporating land spanning 18 counties, they provide the solid evidence.

“Hunt uphill and drag deer downhill” is the mountain region hunters’ axiom because of rugged terrain. Hunting is typically better in openings, such as logging roads and food plots planted with grasses and legumes that attract deer. Other places to scout include recently logged areas and areas charred by wildfires or controlled burns. Other deer food sources hunters should look for include soft mast, such as muscadines and persimmons, during the early days of the season and hard mast, especially acorns, that fall to the ground as soon the leaves begin to turn color. Both are 7-day game lands.

Pisgah produced 568 deer, including 412 antlered bucks, eight button bucks and 148 does. The Top 5 harvest counties that include Pisgah were Watauga with a harvest of 1,811 (with 7.27 antlered bucks harvested per square mile), Madison, 1,710 (2.39 abh/sm), Yancey, 1,613 (3.71 abh/sm) Burke, 1,596 (1.91abh/sm) and Mitchell 1.142 (4.55abh/sm).

Nantahala hunters reported harvesting 603 deer, including 507 antlered bucks, 5 button bucks and 91 does. The Top 5 harvest counties that include Nantahala were Macon, 920 (1.58 abh/sm), Cherokee, 907 (2.00 abh/sm), Transylvania, 551 (1.50 abh/sm), Clay, 489 (2.15 abh/sm) and Jackson, 429 (1.21 abh/.sm).

Other mountain game lands are worth mentioning due to their relatively high deer harvests and accessibility. Green River is open 6-days per week. With 14,188 acres in Henderson and Polk counties it produced a harvest of 85 deer including 57 bucks, 3 button bucks and 25 does. South Mountains, a 7-day game land, has 21,530 acres in Burke, Cleveland, McDowell and Rutherford counties, with a harvest of 45 deer including 27 antlered bucks, one button buck and 17 does. Johns River is a permit game land. With 3,870 acres in Burke County, it had a harvest of 41 deer, including 22 antlered bucks, 3 button bucks and 16 does.

Piedmont Region

Uwharrie National Forest (No. 5) sprawls across 50,189 acres in a patchwork of tracts across Davidson, Montgomery and Randolph counties. The terrain can be rugged in places, but is more amenable to foot and vehicle access than game lands in the Mountain Region. It is a 7-day game land.

Planted logging roads and managed food plots attract deer and provide hunter access. Another type of access is firebreaks that surround areas of prescribed burning that persist during several years of afforestation activities. They often follow contours and provide good foot travel as well as excellent places to look for deer tracks.

Hunters bagged 373 deer including 210 antlered bucks, 17 button bucks and 146 does at Uwharrie. Davidson County produced 4.11 antlered bucks per square mile, Montgomery, 3.56 and Randolph, 3.34.

Sandhills (No. 8) is a 3-day game land that has 61,526 acres in Hoke, Moore, Richmond and Scotland counties. Hunters bagged 136 deer including 112 bucks, 3 button bucks and 21 does. Hoke county produced 1.23 antlered bucks per square mile, Moore, 2.63, Richmond, 2.79, and Scotland, 1.81.

As the name implies, Sandhills consists of sandy ridges with longleaf pines and scrub oaks. However, deer seek security in the thickets of low elevation drainages and come out of them to feed on the ridges. Areas subjected to prescribed burns are everywhere and deer utilize them. Food plots also attract deer. Vehicle roads and foot trails are excellent. It is a 3-day game land where hound hunting is popular. Yet, it also has plenty of places where still hunters find antler rubs and scrapes to hunt over.

Coastal Region

Like the other large national forests, it is not surprising that Croatan (No. 3) is a top deer producer. It has 160,724 acres in Carteret, Craven and Jones Counties and produced 398 deer including 171 antlered bucks, 30 button bucks and 197 does. Carteret county had 0.87 antlered bucks per square mile, Craven, 2.15 and Jones, 1.70. It is a 7-day game land.

Thick pocosin habitat is hallmark of Croatan. Therefore, hound hunting is extremely popular. However, still hunters find success on the wiregrass ridges and in the hardwood forests along the creeks. It has food plots throughout that attract deer, and a vigorous forest management and prescribed burning regime that results in excellent deer habitat.

Many areas of Croatan are devoid of roads, making keeping in front of a pack of hounds and gathering them following a hunt challenging. Tracking them with E-collars is universal so that all dogs are accounted for at the end of a chase.

Mosquitoes can be troublesome, especially if a tropical event has resulted in heavy rainfall. Hunters use ThermaCell repellent devices, chemical repellents and mesh bug suits to protect themselves from these pests.

Roanoke River Game Land encompasses 35,772 acres in Bertie, Halifax, Martin and Northampton counties. It consists of hardwood lowlands and scant uplands with the best access by boat. A permit game land, it is divided into Upper and Lower Roanoke River Wetlands for permitting and harvest reporting. Hunters should become familiar with the various tracts when applying for permits. Some tracts have vehicle access, but most don’t. All are flood prone.

While Upper Roanoke River Wetlands made it into ninth place in deer harvest with 123, combining it with the Lower Roanoke River Wetlands harvest of 108 for a total of 231 would have moved the entire game land complex from No. 9 to No. 7.

Upper Roanoke River Wetlands produced 123 deer, including 65 antlered bucks, 5 button bucks and 53 does. Lower Roanoke River Wetlands produced 108 deer, including 63 antlered bucks, 6 button bucks, and 39 does. Bertie county yielded 1.70 antlered bucks per square mile, Halifax, 2.37, Martin, 1.82 and Northampton, 2.87.

Game Lands under CWD regulations

Game Lands falling completely or partially under the deer carcass transport rule in CWD surveillance areas include Bladen Lakes State Forest, Buffalo Cove, Bullard and Branch Hunting Preserve, Dan River, Harris, Hill Farm, Kerr Scott, Mitchell River, Nicholson Creek, Perkins, Pond Mountain, Rendezvous Mountain State Forest, Rhodes Pond, Rockfish Creek, Robeson, Sampson, Sandhills, Suggs Mill Pond, Three Top Mountain, Thurmond Chatham, Whitehall Plantation and Yadkin River. Hunters need to observe the rules because they could affect how they transport their deer home if they live outside of the surveillance area where the Game Land is located.

Carcass Transport Restrictions: The transportation of a deer carcass or carcass parts out of a primary or secondary surveillance area is prohibited except for the following, or as otherwise permitted by the Wildlife Commission:

• Carcasses or carcass parts that originate in a secondary surveillance area may be transported into or through an adjacent primary surveillance area.
• Carcasses or carcass parts that originate in a non-surveillance area county may be transported into or through a primary or secondary surveillance area.
• Meat that has been boned out such that no pieces or fragments of bone remain.
• Caped hides with no part of the skull or spinal column attached.
• Antlers, antlers attached to cleaned skull plates, or skulls free from meat or brain tissue.
• Cleaned lower jawbones with teeth or cleaned teeth.
• Finished taxidermy products and tanned hides.
• From September 9 – January 1 skinning racks and carcass disposal dumpsters will be available at these locations:
• East Stokes Community Building – 4441 NC-772, Walnut Cove, NC 27052
• Wilkes Wildlife Depot – 14095 Traphill Road, Traphill, NC 28685
• John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center – 7489 Raeford Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28304
• Suggs Mill Pond Game Land – 5274 Live Oak Methodist Church Rd, White Oak, NC 28399.