The North Carolina Wildlife is reviewing regulatory changes that would lengthen bear and deer hunting seasons in North Carolina. The NCWRC says the goal is to better control the populations of bear and deer.
Right now, gun hunting for deer currently starts the Monday before Thanksgiving and runs through the third Saturday after Thanksgiving week. The proposed change would start deer hunting the Saturday after Thanksgiving and end it on Jan. 1.
The Wildlife Commission wants to add nine days to the bear hunting season. Currently, bear hunting is allowed from mid-October to the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and then again from December to Jan. 1 for Surry, Wilkes, Caldwell, Burke and Cleveland Counties. The hunting season would remain two weeks in November before Thanksgiving, and another two-week starting in mid- to late-December for most of ENC.
The Commission is also looking to extend the hunting season for ring-necked pheasants on the barrier islands. The start date would remain the same, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, under the new rule, but would change the end date from Feb. 1 to the last day of the month. In other areas, the season would extend further from Labor Day until the end of February.
