Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game North Carolina Hunting

Wow, I thought that they'd be much more expensive than that (not that I have 2K+ lying around). Thanks for the information tbear.

NC Game and Fish has bear biologists, of course, and they are very helpful. I talked several times to them when I was hunting there. Can't remember what the eastern guy's name is. I would strongly recommend asking them about any outfitter, as they will have the skinny. They saved me some trouble.

There are huge areas of eastern NC where bears cannot be hunted. Bowhunters regularly loose deer to bears there. There is also land adjacent to these areas that can be hunted. Much of the hunt depends on the harvest of soybeans and corn crops -- some farmers leave a bit of crop, for obvious reasons. The place is thick with them, and they are tough to hunt because it is incredibly thick. Most are taken with dogs, and, after braving the thickets they live in, one emerges with the idea that that is quite fair

A great thing about bear season if you are stillhunting is that it is near the rut and bucks are chasing heavily. Too fun.

POP,

Got a buddy stationed with me that is from W. NC. Some of the biggest deer I have seen are in the pictures he has shown me of hunting there. I know it would be different than WY, but I always here him mention the deer and turkey hunting is great there. Congrats on the retirement as well. 10 more for me.

Hudge

The biggest deer in NC are in the piedmont region, but there are big ones everywhere. It's not a trophy whitetail state though. If I had the biggest buck in the Raleigh or Greensboro city limits on my wall, I would stop hunting deer ...

At the opening of bear season in eastern NC, the roads are thick with hunters from Asheville!

Bit of couple of funny stories on bear in NC. Two years ago I had a knee replacement & wasn't to hunt. So of course I was in a tree stand during ML. I pulled my ATV under this low wooden stand & climbed up. At dark a doe came into the trail fed on corn & continued to look over her shoulder. Thinking a big buck might be in the woods I scanned with my binocs. Just at dark a 225 bear walked out, fed on the corn,& walked toward my stand. Now there are no bear in my area of NC but there is a 3 day season later in the year. I could only guess due to timber being cut in a near by swamp that the bear was displaced. Now after dark the bear walks to the back of my stand, steps up, & is one leap from being in my lap. I have pointed my ML at him(boar)now point my flashlight & tell him what a pretty bear he is & to please leave. I have done a good deal of black bear hunting in Canada, assisted in tracking wounded bears, & filmed a lot of bears. I believed this bear was simply courous & not dangerous so I didn't shoot. He finally moved about 20' away & continued to stare at me. I called the camp on my 2 way radio & was told to stop taking so many pain pills & had I seen a pink elephant too. So much for hunting buddies. I finally got on my ATV & the noise scared the bear away. Afterward, the bear was seen many times, but of course not during bear season. At my present club near Lake Gaston there is no bear hunting. So of course we are simple over run with bears. During archery one of my friends had 2 bears under his stand & had to scare them away at night.He was scared as hell & needed to change his drawers. When members see these bears all are 300-350 pounds, of course. I guess this area doesn't have cubs or small bears. Looking at tracks most appears to me to be 125-150 pound but I stay quite. One of my present stands was secured because the owner saw a bear & was scared to return. My feeder was destroyed when I checked at the end of the season.

There are bears near lake Gaston??

One little note on the NC guided bear hunt. That price does include two deer a day as a bonus. Try adding that to one of your Canadian hunts and see how hard it hits you in the wallet.

Yes,our hunt club is nearby in Warren Co. & many bears are seen but no season. We bait with corn & this attracts the bears. This is timber land & visibility is about 25 yards if you are lucky. Stands are put up on fire trails & you either bait & stand hunt or hunt elsewhere. When the lake was first impounded I saw a bear when fishing a cove about 25 years ago. I don't expect a bear season in the near future. Good hunting.

Someone said "Whitetails are like rats in NC!", That true. They are also about the size of rats. There are a lot of deer here, but they don't have a lot of size. A lot of the deer hunting is also done with dogs, so that is something that might be a little different for you. The bear hunting is very good. There are a lot of HUGE black bears, you just have to find a place to hunt. A lot of hunters and little land.

There are bears on the public land in the east. But, as usual, the better hunting is private. There's room for the guy who is willing to walk ... or wade ... or boat.

A 150 lb. buck in NC is a nice one, but they get bigger sometimes. They make up in numbers what they lack in size, and those soybean-fed tenderloins are sweet!

Anyone know where I can bag a pig in the Craven County NC area?

JONDEVLDOG , they are here in Craven County , although spotty.
The problem is they all seem to be on private land.I have been chasing some leads though.

Mike