Moving to NC!

[BerettaBones]

Hi All,

Been a long time duck hunter in Nevada most of my adult life. Moving to Sanford NC in a month. Wondering what the duck hunting is like in the area and see if any of you guys are from that general area? Going to try to get settled in enough to get a few hunts in before the season is over. From the online posts it looks like NC has a good spread of waterfowl species as out west there's mainly just mallard and widgeons.

Also, I may need to take this up with the department of wildlife but do you know if hunters education sprotsman number can cross state lines without needing to re-take the class?

Cheers!

[BerettaBones]

As a follow up to my previous post I am NOT trying to cyber scout as I will do my own scouting and people asking about my honey holes irks me more than anything. That's where all the work is done anyways.

Just looking for potential future hunting buddies as I'm leaving my NV gang. =]

[livin2hunt]

Welcome. Your hunter education is good in North Carolina as well as every state in the US. Hope you get settled in well and are able to find someone to link up with in your area. Scout hard and know the county laws if your going to hunt near the coast. Some of the laws blew my mine when I first read them and they still do. I came from louisiana where public water was public water. That's not the case in some areas around the coast. Good luck this season.

[DuckMauler]

Hi All,

Been a long time duck hunter in Nevada most of my adult life. Moving to Sanford NC in a month. Wondering what the duck hunting is like in the area and see if any of you guys are from that general area? Going to try to get settled in enough to get a few hunts in before the season is over. From the online posts it looks like NC has a good spread of waterfowl species as out west there's mainly just mallard and widgeons.

Also, I may need to take this up with the department of wildlife but do you know if hunters education sprotsman number can cross state lines without needing to re-take the class?

Cheers!

Welcome, to answer er your final question, I've never once been asked to show my hunter safety card in NC. You can buy your license online and nowhere has it ever asked for a hunter safety card for me. First question is do you have a boat.....if you don't, you need to buy one or find a buddy that has one. You moved to a tough area to hunt, but there are some lakes within an hr drive of you that are huntable but I wouldn't say productive. Look around your area for private areas. Most will likely be tied up with deer land or owned by tree huggers. Idk what you were used to in Nevada but I would venture to say it was better than here. There are good areas down east on the coast, but be prepared to work your self to death for any success. Good luck. Read the regs of any area good before you decide to go hunt it as NC has some of the most ridiculous laws in the world and by and far the most ignorant game wardens on the planet. Also, although I don't condone joining DU to anyone, you might could join your local DU chapter and meet some people and make friends. And I apologize if my post seems a little negative but that's just the way it is in NC.

[Raging Woodie]

Hi All,

Been a long time duck hunter in Nevada most of my adult life. Moving to Sanford NC in a month. Wondering what the duck hunting is like in the area and see if any of you guys are from that general area? Going to try to get settled in enough to get a few hunts in before the season is over. From the online posts it looks like NC has a good spread of waterfowl species as out west there's mainly just mallard and widgeons.

Also, I may need to take this up with the department of wildlife but do you know if hunters education sprotsman number can cross state lines without needing to re-take the class?

Cheers!

Welcome, to answer er your final question, I've never once been asked to show my hunter safety card in NC. You can buy your license online and nowhere has it ever asked for a hunter safety card for me. First question is do you have a boat.....if you don't, you need to buy one or find a buddy that has one. You moved to a tough area to hunt, but there are some lakes within an hr drive of you that are huntable but I wouldn't say productive. Look around your area for private areas. Most will likely be tied up with deer land or owned by tree huggers. Idk what you were used to in Nevada but I would venture to say it was better than here. There are good areas down east on the coast, but be prepared to work your self to death for any success. Good luck. Read the regs of any area good before you decide to go hunt it as NC has some of the most ridiculous laws in the world and by and far the most ignorant game wardens on the planet. Also, although I don't condone joining DU to anyone, you might could join your local DU chapter and meet some people and make friends. And I apologize if my post seems a little negative but that's just the way it is in NC.

DuckMauler hit the nail on the head with info.

[HydeMarsh]

I will try to give some useful input. To consistently kill ducks you might consider joining a waterfowl club in one of the coastal counties. There are some really expensive ones and some that are not as expensive. Send me a PM and I will provide you with price ranges and potential spots. You will have a 3 to 4 hour drive to the good coastal counties.

The following info is not proprietary, available from the NC WRC wildlife biologist,have never hunted in Sampson county but for some reason it is in the top 6 counties in the state for waterfowl harvest. It may be adjacent county to you. Regardless of where you try to hunt locally it is my opinion you need to become real familiar with the county GIS systems. you can get aerial photos as well as the name and address of property owners. Find a swamp, find the owner, offer to lease it for waterfowl hunting. You may have to ask 50 owners before you get a place or you may score right away. My experience has been that a free place is usually worth nothing. A lease will give you control and the authority to keep others off plus provide some value to the owner so that you can keep the place.

You may find a good swamp but it is leased to deer hunters, usually you can join the club and waterfowl hunt (best to make sure up front) - In your area it will be mostly wood ducks, some mallards but not many, hooded merganzers, a few ring necks on ponds.
good luck,

I know Pat Simmons at Mattamuskeet has a couple of memberships left at $40,000 per blind per year.

[BerettaBones]

Thanks all for the great info.

I'll be sure to thoroughly read all the NC regs, but my scanning so far has concluded to be somewhat vague. I'll continue to do some research. I'll admit yall's posts did bum me out a bit. In NV we have a lot of public land and public water that is relatively uncrowded. The problem is, we don't have much waterfowl in the area. Most fowl migrates FROM West NV not TO West NV. So you'll have 20 hunters on a small lake fighting over 4 duck. haha

Honestly haven't been to Sanford, NC specifically just yet but it seems like a lot of places with property have their own land and rarely a small pond on the land. Not sure how huntable this land may be. At $40k a blind, it looks like my best bet is to buy property that has water and hunt it myself. Is NC regs still 1000 feet from civilization for shot? No cut and dried answer so far in my research. How well do birds migrate in NC? Is it reasonable to think that if I had a property in Sanford area with a pond that I'd have good luck with bird traffic?

I'm certainly no expert hunter I go out for the enjoyment of the wilderness more than anything. I do not have a boat but sounds like a good investment. I just have a labrador. I was getting my hopes up a bit too much as people say duck hunting in NC is world class, of course those people have never actually hunted NC just heard stories.

[Bluesky2012]

NC is really good in the NE on the coast. Further down the coast, the slower it gets. Further inland, the slower it gets too. Just head to the coast..:


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[P-RO]

Welcome man,
I live in Pinehurst so literally 30 mins from you. PM me if you have any questions about the area or hunting on Bragg. Otherwise best of luck for whats left of the season.

[mitchalo]

Well, hello. I live in Sanford.....

[Paul26]

I agree: I have been checked at the ramp many times and have never been asked to show a hunter safety/education card. To be honest I do not even know what it looks like.

BUT: I went to the NCWRC duck hunting seminar in JVille a few weeks back and they passed out a handout titled "HUNTER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS TO PURCHASE A HUNTING LICENSE". So there apparently is in fact a requirement. The basics from this handout:

1. Lifetime lic holders: no hunter Ed cert req'd to PURCHASE A LICENSE....HOWEVER: quoting this as it is confusing to me: TO HUNT WITH A LIFETIME LICENASE THE HOLDER MUST COMPLY WITH AT LEAST ONE OF THESE REQMENTS:
A. Complete an approved hunter Ed course and hold a cert card
B. Be accompanied by properly licensed adult who is within sight and hearing distance
2. If you hold a HUNTING HERITAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT ( I have never heard of this) you do not need hunter Ed certification
3. Under 16- not needed if with a properly licenses adult
4. If you held a NC hunters lic prior to 1 July 2013 you do not need hunter Ed certification
5. Any hunter Ed cert from another state which is accredited by the INTERNATIONAL HUNTER ED ASSOC

so, in summary: I guess that I, a lifetime lie holder, is supposed to have taken a course and have my hunter cert "card", if I am reading A. correctly.
The

[ncbufflehead]

I agree: I have been checked at the ramp many times and have never been asked to show a hunter safety/education card. To be honest I do not even know what it looks like.

BUT: I went to the NCWRC duck hunting seminar in JVille a few weeks back and they passed out a handout titled "HUNTER EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS TO PURCHASE A HUNTING LICENSE". So there apparently is in fact a requirement. The basics from this handout:

1. Lifetime lic holders: no hunter Ed cert req'd to PURCHASE A LICENSE....HOWEVER: quoting this as it is confusing to me: TO HUNT WITH A LIFETIME LICENASE THE HOLDER MUST COMPLY WITH AT LEAST ONE OF THESE REQMENTS:
A. Complete an approved hunter Ed course and hold a cert card
B. Be accompanied by properly licensed adult who is within sight and hearing distance
2. If you hold a HUNTING HERITAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT ( I have never heard of this) you do not need hunter Ed certification
3. Under 16- not needed if with a properly licenses adult
4. If you held a NC hunters lic prior to 1 July 2013 you do not need hunter Ed certification
5. Any hunter Ed cert from another state which is accredited by the INTERNATIONAL HUNTER ED ASSOC

so, in summary: I guess that I, a lifetime lie holder, is supposed to have taken a course and have my hunter cert "card", if I am reading A. correctly.
The

Unless(according to that) you held a nc hunting license prior to 1 July 2013.


If you show them a license, they don't ask for hunter safety card. I passed the nc hunter saftey course and had the card but have no idea where it is now and haven't been asked by a GW to see it since I was about 14 or 15 years old.

[Paul26]

Yes...correct! Got mine in 2005 so now that I think about it I am in good shape!