North Carolina Hunting

• It is now mandatory to submit at least one premolar tooth from your harvested bear by January 31st following the applicable bear hunting season. • After pulling both upper premolar teeth (see ad below and instructions at ncwildlife.org/ bear), place one of the teeth in the bear tooth envelope you received in the mail from the Commission. Save the other tooth as a backup until you have been notified by the Commission that we received your tooth. • If you lost the bear tooth envelope, call 919- 707-0050 to have a new envelope sent to you.

Any person hunting bear, feral swine, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant or quail with the use of firearms must wear a cap or hat made of hunter orange material or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides. Anyone hunting deer during a deer firearms season, regardless of weapon, must wear hunter orange visible from all sides. This includes archery hunters that hunt on Sunday during the deer firearms season and anyone hunting on Youth Deer Hunting Day. This requirement does not apply to a landholder, his or her spouse and children if they are hunting on the landholder’s property.

When used for hunting in North Carolina archery equipment is defined as any device that has a solid stationary handle with two limbs and a string that uses non-pneumatic means to propel a single arrow or bolt.

• Longbows, recurved bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal for hunting all spe- cies with an open hunting season.
• When used to hunt bear, deer, elk, wild tur- key, alligator and feral swine:
• Longbows and recurved bows must haveva minimum pull of 40 pounds
• Compound bows must have a minimum pull of 35 pounds.
• Crossbows must have a minimum pull of 100 pounds
• Only arrows and bolts with a fixed minimum broadhead width of seven-eighths of an inch or a mechanically opening broadhead with a width of at least seven-eighths of an inch in the open position shall be used.
• Slingbows having a minimum pull of 40 pounds may be used during legal hunting sea- sons for hunting deer, wild turkey, small game animals, nongame animals and nongame fish.
• Blunt-type arrow heads may be used in tak- ing small animals and birds, including rabbits, squirrels, quail and grouse.
• Poisonous, drugged, or explosive arrowheads shall not be used for taking any wildlife.

Fully automatic rifles are unlawful. All other rifles are legal except:

• Rifles are prohibited by federal law in hunting migratory game birds.
• Local laws prohibit or restrict rifles in some counties.
• It is unlawful to hunt or take wild turkeys with rifles.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge. • When hunting migratory game birds, shotguns must be plugged so as to limit their maximum capacity to three shells.

• During the open hunting season for rabbits, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, furbearing animals and legal nongame animals and birds, these species may be taken with a pistol. There are no restrictions on caliber and barrel length. • Deer and bear may be taken with a handgun during the established gun hunting season. There are no restrictions on barrel length or caliber. A hunter or trapper lawfully taking wildlife by another method may use a pistol to dispatch the animal or bird taken, except as noted below.
• It is unlawful to hunt or take wild turkeys with pistols.
• During established archery season only a .22-caliber rimfire pistol may be used to dispatch deer (see “Retrieval”).

30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset

Daily limit 1; Season limit 1

When used for hunting in North Carolina archery equipment is defined as any device that has a solid stationary handle with two limbs and a string that uses non-pneumatic means to propel a single arrow or bolt.

• Longbows, recurved bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal for hunting all spe- cies with an open hunting season.
• When used to hunt bear, deer, elk, wild tur- key, alligator and feral swine:
• Longbows and recurved bows must haveva minimum pull of 40 pounds
• Compound bows must have a minimum pull of 35 pounds.
• Crossbows must have a minimum pull of 100 pounds
• Only arrows and bolts with a fixed minimum broadhead width of seven-eighths of an inch or a mechanically opening broadhead with a width of at least seven-eighths of an inch in the open position shall be used.
• Slingbows having a minimum pull of 40 pounds may be used during legal hunting sea- sons for hunting deer, wild turkey, small game animals, nongame animals and nongame fish.
• Blunt-type arrow heads may be used in tak- ing small animals and birds, including rabbits, squirrels, quail and grouse.
• Poisonous, drugged, or explosive arrowheads shall not be used for taking any wildlife.

During the blackpowder deer season, the only lawful firearms are blackpowder shotguns, rifles and handguns. During the blackpowder season the following are also legal weapons: bows and arrows, crossbows, and slingbows.

The Commission defines a blackpowder firearm as any firearm – including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system – manufactured in or before 1898, that cannot use fixed ammunition; any replica of this type of firearm if such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition; and any muzzle-loading rifle, muzzle-loading shotgun, or muzzle-loading or cylinder-loading handgun that is designed to use blackpowder, blackpowder substitute, or any other propellant loaded through the muzzle, cylinder, or breech and that cannot use fixed ammunition.

Fully automatic rifles are unlawful. All other rifles are legal except:

• Rifles are prohibited by federal law in hunting migratory game birds.
• Local laws prohibit or restrict rifles in some counties.
• It is unlawful to hunt or take wild turkeys with rifles.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge. • When hunting migratory game birds, shotguns must be plugged so as to limit their maximum capacity to three shells.

• During the open hunting season for rabbits, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, furbearing animals and legal nongame animals and birds, these species may be taken with a pistol. There are no restrictions on caliber and barrel length. • Deer and bear may be taken with a handgun during the established gun hunting season. There are no restrictions on barrel length or caliber. A hunter or trapper lawfully taking wildlife by another method may use a pistol to dispatch the animal or bird taken, except as noted below.
• It is unlawful to hunt or take wild turkeys with pistols.
• During established archery season only a .22-caliber rimfire pistol may be used to dispatch deer (see “Retrieval”).

30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset

The season and possession bag limit is six deer, two of which may be antlered, and four of which may be antlerless. • There is no daily bag limit.

Daily Limit 8

Daily Limit 3

Daily Limit 15 Gallinules and Moorhens either singly or in the aggregate

No limit

Daily Limit 15 King or Clapper Rails either singly or in the aggregate Daily Limit 25 Virginia Rails or Sora either singly or in the aggregate

Daily Limit: 15 Possession Limit: 45

Unless otherwise specified, shooting hours for all migratory game birds, including waterfowl, are ½ hour before sunrise to sunset. Hunting migratory game birds on Sundays is prohibited.

All licensed hunters hunt­ing migratory game birds (doves, rails, gallinules, moorhens, woodcock, snipe or waterfowl) in North Carolina are required to have certification of participation in the federal Harvest Information Program (HIP). Certification can be obtained free of charge by going online at ncwildlife.org, calling 888- 248-6834, or visiting a wildlife service agent.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge. • When hunting migratory game birds, shotguns must be plugged so as to limit their maximum capacity to three shells.

Daily limit 6; Possession 12; No season limit

Daily limit 3; Possession 6; Season 30

(male pheasant only)

Daily limit 3; Possession 6; Season 30

(Year Round – including Sundays)

• Must be taken with dogs only; no limits.
• Local laws may restrict hunting foxes with dogs. Visit ncwildlife.org/FoxSeasons for restrictions.

Nov. 19 – Jan. 1 Season:

• Daily limit 2; Season 10
• Some counties have differing season dates or no season at all. Check regulations prior to hunting Fox.

Beaver may be taken year-round with firearms or bow and arrow, provided that permission has been obtained from the owner or lessee of the land on which beaver is being taken.

There is no bag limit

There is no closed hunting season on private lands. See Game Lands Section for Game Lands regulations.

• Hunters may use electronic calls for coyotes and feral swine.
• Feral swine may be hunted at night with lights.
• Coyotes may be hunted at night with artificial lights except in the counties of Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington. In those five counties, the following apply:
• Hunting hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset in the above listed five counties
• All coyote hunting in the above listed five counties requires a permit
• Permits can be obtained at ncwildlife.org or by calling 888-248-6834
• All coyote harvests in the above listed five counties must be reported.

Opposum: No bag limits. Raccoon: Daily limit is 3 – No possession or season limits

Gray and Red Squirrel: Daily limit 8; No possession or season limits Fox Squirrel: Daily limit 1; Possession 2; Season 10

No limits.

This applies to domestically raised birds (mallard ducks, chukars, Hungarian partridges, and upland game birds) only.

No wild turkey may be taken.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge.

• During the open hunting season for rabbits, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, furbearing animals and legal nongame animals and birds, these species may be taken with a pistol. There are no restrictions on caliber and barrel length. A hunter or trapper lawfully taking wildlife by another method may use a pistol to dispatch the animal or bird taken, except as noted below.

30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset with the following exceptions: raccoons, feral swine and opossums may be taken at night. Coyotes may be taken at night in all counties except Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washing- ton.

(hunting and box-trapping*)

Daily limit 5; No possession or season limits

* A trapping license is not required to box-trap rabbits, but a valid hunting license is necessary. The sale of live rabbits is prohibited.

When used for hunting in North Carolina archery equipment is defined as any device that has a solid stationary handle with two limbs and a string that uses non-pneumatic means to propel a single arrow or bolt.

• Longbows, recurved bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal for hunting all spe- cies with an open hunting season.
• When used to hunt bear, deer, elk, wild tur- key, alligator and feral swine:
• Longbows and recurved bows must haveva minimum pull of 40 pounds
• Compound bows must have a minimum pull of 35 pounds.
• Crossbows must have a minimum pull of 100 pounds
• Only arrows and bolts with a fixed minimum broadhead width of seven-eighths of an inch or a mechanically opening broadhead with a width of at least seven-eighths of an inch in the open position shall be used.
• Slingbows having a minimum pull of 40 pounds may be used during legal hunting sea- sons for hunting deer, wild turkey, small game animals, nongame animals and nongame fish.
• Blunt-type arrow heads may be used in tak- ing small animals and birds, including rabbits, squirrels, quail and grouse.
• Poisonous, drugged, or explosive arrowheads shall not be used for taking any wildlife.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge. • When hunting migratory game birds, shotguns must be plugged so as to limit their maximum capacity to three shells.

Male or Bearded Turkeys Only.

Daily limit 1; Possession and season limit 2, only one of which may be taken during the youth season. Note: For information on permit hunts for select Game Lands, refer to the “Game Lands” section.

Daily Limit 15 coots

Daily Limit 5 with no more than 2 hooded mergansers

Daily Limit 4 total sea ducks with no more than 3 scoters, 3 eiders (only 1 hen eider) or 3 long-tailed ducks.

• All sea ducks taken, whether inside or outside of the Sea Duck Area, count toward the general daily limit of 6 ducks.

Daily Limits are the same in each duck hunting zone. Daily Limit 6 with the following restrictions: 4 total sea ducks including no more than 3 scoters, 3 eiders (only 1 hen eider), or 3 long-tailed ducks, 3 wood ducks, 2 mallards (only 1 hen mallard), 2 black ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasbacks, 1 pintail, 1 mottled duck, and 1 fulvous whistling duck. Prior to Jan. 9 the scaup bag limit is 1, on Jan. 9 and after the scaup bag limit is 2. The season on harlequin ducks is closed. The season on black and mottled ducks is closed until Nov. 19.

Daily Limit 6. The September Teal Season is open only in that area east of U.S. Highway 17.

Daily Limit 1

No daily limit; no possession limit

• During the Conservation Order Season for light geese, expanded hunting methods are allowed. These include the use of unplugged guns and electronic calls. In addition, shooting hours are extended until ½ hour past sunset.

Daily Limit 25; no possession limit

By Permit Only. 1 per season with special permit

Daily Limit 15.

In that area west of U.S. Highway 17 only, expanded hunting methods are allowed for Canada geese. These include: shooting hours are extended to ½ hour after sunset, unplugged guns are allowed, electronic calls are permitted. This applies to this area only during the month of September.

Daily Limit 1 Canada goose or white-fronted goose

Daily Limit 5 Canada geese or whitefronted geese either singly or in the

aggregate.

All licensed hunters hunt­ing migratory game birds (doves, rails, gallinules, moorhens, woodcock, snipe or waterfowl) in North Carolina are required to have certification of participation in the federal Harvest Information Program (HIP). Certification can be obtained free of charge by going online at ncwildlife.org, calling 888- 248-6834, or visiting a wildlife service agent.

Unless otherwise specified, shooting hours for all migratory game birds, including waterfowl, are ½ hour before sunrise to sunset. Hunting migratory game birds on Sundays is prohibited.

Shotguns must be no larger than 10-gauge. • When hunting migratory game birds, shotguns must be plugged so as to limit their maximum capacity to three shells.

In North Carolina, no person shall take waterfowl while possessing shells loaded with any shot other than steel or other approved nontoxic materials. On posted waterfowl impoundments on game lands, it is unlawful to hunt with or have in possession any shotgun shell containing lead or toxic shot while hunting; except shotgun shells containing lead buckshot may be used while deer hunting. Nontoxic shot is required for the taking of captive-reared mallards on shooting preserves, in field trials and during bona fide dog-training activities.