Public land waterfowl preview

Paul Sasser bagged a ring-necked duck and a blue-winged teal during a permit hunt at J. Morgan Futch Game Land. (Photo by Mike Marsh)

Check out these public Carolina waterfowl areas

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission offers hunting at high-use Game Land waterfowl areas by draw permit only, but has many other areas that are open to hunting on specified days to hunters with point-of-sale or no special permits required. Hunters should visit the website (ncwildlife.org) for details including permit application dates for early and late season hunts and other special opportunity hunts. 

David Turner, the NCWRC Northern Coast Game Land Management Biologist, said hunters have been expressing interest in waterfowl hunting schedules that would result in better quality hunts.

This season, the J. Morgan Futch and Texas Plantation impoundments will have hunts one day per week. Previously, they were open two days per week and were not able to hold birds very well. This should result in less disturbance for a better hunt.

Find your spot

Futch has 20 blinds and a disabled sportsman blind in 15 impoundments, six of which were formerly catfish ponds. Hunters draw for specific blinds. The impoundments are planted with corn, soybeans, chiwapa millet and rice. Two impoundments are timber units and the disabled sportsman blind is in a timber unit. 

Texas Plantation has two zones, with three parties allowed in the Zone 1 impoundment and two parties in Zone 2 impoundments. The other five impoundments feature 9 blinds, and hunters draw for the blinds. The new impoundments are the ones that do not have blinds. Hunters who like to move around to where the birds might be may prefer them. Setting up a portable blind is helpful. No islands are present, so hunters will be standing in moist soils and plants such as reeds, willow trees and grasses.

Lantern Acres is one of the better waterfowl game lands, but it can get crowded if all four parties drawn show up and want to hunt in the same place. It is primarily managed for moist soils, but has rice planted in one unit. Two impoundments have visual barriers in the form of overgrown ditches and wooded sections to prevent ducks from being disturbed.

Currituck Banks has 11 blinds available by drawing. The hunt area is tidal and difficult to access at times. Hunters should check out the area prior to hunting.

Mike Marsh bagged this pintail at Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. (Photo by Mike Marsh)

Gull Rock is a good place to try for a swan. It doesn’t hold many ducks, but hunters take a few black ducks, wigeon, gadwall and teal, and no draw permit is required. The new Willow Point Tract will open next season as a draw permit area.

Richie Clark, NCWRC Central Coast Management Biologist, said Goose Creek is a great permit-only Game Land. Pamlico Point, Smith Creek, Campbells Creek, Hunting Creek and Hobucken are accessible by boat. Spring Creek is accessible by walk-in and has a disabled sportsman blind. They are managed for moist soils vegetation.

Parker farm is a wetland mitigation site that can be hunted by permit-only until January. Then it is open for the two-day-per-week regime. It has moist soils vegetation and forested wetlands and is essentially a big, flooded swamp holding pintail, gadwall, wood ducks and wigeon.

Holly Shelter has a green tree impoundment and a moist soils impoundment. They are open without draw permits. Wood ducks are the dominant waterfowl species.

At Croatan Game Land, Catfish Lake Impoundment, Great Lake and Catfish Lake are open to hunting without draw permits. Great Lake Road and the ramp are open again, after being closed due to wildfire damage for several seasons.  

Take a walk

White Oak River impoundment, a draw permit area, is now open only to hunters willing to walk a long way from the parking area. The private ramp at Stella is no longer open to the general public, and it’s a long ride upriver from the public ramp at Cape Carteret.

Chesley Ward, NCWRC Southern Coast Game Land Management Biologist said a new tract of Whitehall Plantation Game Land is open on NC 87. It requires a draw permit for waterfowl.

Accessing White Oak River Game Land impoundment now requires a long walk from the parking area since the ramp at Stella is now closed to the general public. (Photo by Mike Marsh)

“It has around 300 acres and is located at East Arcadia,” he said. “It has some opportunities for waterfowl. Like the other Whitehall tracts, it is primarily a flooded timber floodplain forest. Wood ducks are the main attraction, but hunters might see mallards or other ducks.”

Suggs Mill Pond’s impoundments survived flooding from Hurricane Debby. However, summer drought was hard for the row crops. Nevertheless, the moist soils units did well at producing natural food like beggar ticks. Unlike the past two years, there is plenty of water to fill the impoundments from Horseshoe Lake. It is a draw permit area.

At Rhodes Pond Game Land, the dam restoration work has finally been completed. This season, hunting will be by point-of-sale permits. Wood ducks are the main waterfowl species. Hunters will have to deal with Alligator Weed and creeping primrose that can impede progress for small paddle craft, but these weeds are being addressed.

South Carolina WMAs

South Carolina DNR offers hunting at 11 Category I Waterfowl areas by means of special, draw permits. Hunting on Category II Waterfowl Areas is allowed only during specific dates and times. The application period for Category I hunts is Sept. 1 – Oct. 15 and hunters can check the SCDNR website (dnr.sc.gov) for details on obtaining and submitting permit applications.

Molly Kneece is the SCDNR Waterfowl Biologist. She said some changes to the SCDNR-Waterfowl Management Areas – Waterfowl Season Summary may confuse hunters who check the harvest statistics for last season’s Category I areas.

“We changed some Category 1 areas, including the Clemson site and Donnelly site which were previously shown under youth results,” she said. “We have decided to roll them into general hunting Category I areas. So now, anyone can apply for them. Chattahoochee, a brand-new property, will not be included in the Category I areas because it is not huntable this year. It took a considerable amount of flooding. Coosawhatchie is not open and Bonneau Ferry is still a youth-only site.”

This hunter used a small watercraft and a dolly to access the Holly Shelter green tree impoundment. (Photo by Mike Marsh)

Some WMAs have been combined in regards to the harvest statistics report. But the important thing for hunters to know is that the overall harvest changes very little season-to-season, with a total annual harvest of about 2500 ducks.

“Santee Coastal and Bear Island are in excellent condition,” she said. “The aquatic vegetation offers some excellent habitat. Hunters like them because they have good hunting for black ducks and mottled ducks as well as other species that do not occur in other areas. Santee East and West are in full Category I this year and they did well through Hurricane Debby.”

On Category I hunts, hunters show up and SCDNR staff have diligently scouted the area the day before. They provide instructions on going the last couple of hundred yards and the hunters go out to set up their decoys and hunt. After the hunt, they return to where they were dropped off. On average, a hunter will get drawn about every three years. They can apply as a group of one to four people.

The Category II areas also offer good hunting, especially for wood ducks. Kneece said the secret to success is scouting.

“Hunters should be scouting paths that wood ducks like to cross in October and November,” she said. “They should also look for oak trees overhanging the water. Wee Tee has some new property and extends to the east side of Highway 41. The green tree reservoir at Hickory Top was dry last year, but it is flooded this year. Category II areas can get crowded, so hunters should always have a couple of backup spots in mind.” 

Canoes or other small boats are great to bring along to some public waterfowl impoundments. (Photo by Mike Marsh)

Small boats are an asset

This hunter used a canoe to access Catfish Lake Game Land impoundment. At many WMAs and Game Lands, a small boat of some type is a great asset. This canoe is a means of carrying shotguns, blind materials, decoys and keeping a dog out of the water where no dry spots are present. 

While paddling a canoe is easier than wading on muddy bottoms, it is also something to grab onto when the hunter is wading in water that is too shallow to paddle to avoid stumbling and filling waders with water. Standing beside it allows the hunter a safe spot to lay his shotgun, place his gloves, hats and gear bag where they won’t get dropped in the water. Small boats are also great for taking shortcuts across deep ditches where foot access crossing points and bridges are far between. 

About Mike Marsh 358 Articles
Mike Marsh is a freelance outdoor writer in Wilmington, N.C. His latest book, Fishing North Carolina, and other titles, are available at www.mikemarshoutdoors.com.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply