hunting land

[cyclops]

thought that i would pass this along...
Just read an email from the nc dept of agriculture and consumer services that the animal population has done about 29 billion dollars worth of damages to crops this year. they are going to post a web site that you can log onto to hunt their land. you will have to register and sign in to look at the land that they offer. deer ferial hogs, small game and birds. this is just starting up, so it will be a while i guess before anything is listed here. the website will have to be googled instead of bing. here it is www.ncagr.gov/hunt maybe this will open up some more land in all of our areas to hunt.

[Cutter]

thanks for the heads up!

[buckhunter]

be interesting to see what they post.thanks for the info though

[fmrleatherneck]

Thanks for the post, cyclops! Be interesting to see how far this gets, for sure! Sounds like a good idea; we'll have to wait and see. I have to think it could be beneficial to both groups.

Some of you know I've been talking to a few landowners over here by me in Duplin County. They have been complaining of hog damage (and one of deer damage to strawberry plants...) around here, but when I talk to them about going in and helping them out they are resistant. I have been hoping that as I become more familiar to them I can get them to loosen up a bit... I have also been thinking that as crops start to come in and start to be even more appealing to the hogs, I may be more persuasive... The same kind of thing may work for this site! (I'd hope!)

Anyone have any idea how much the Ag Dept may be compensating farmers for crop damage, if they are getting compensated at all?

[usmcretmsgt]

I just went to the page from your link, and it seems from the wording that this will be LEASE offers as opposed to no pay hunting access. I just gave the main page a cursory glance and will check back later to see what winds up getting posted. If the rates are reasonable as set by the landowner, it could be beneficial for a small group of hunters to band together & lease a farm, especially if it hadn't been hunted in a while......

Semper Fi

[RenegadeRN]

I truly hope you guys find what you are looking for. I've been doing this for over 20 years. I thought that Onslow County residents were big on deer hunting, but after working in Duplin County for the last 8 months I can tell you they run at least neck and neck on their big game hunting. I know people in Duplin County who can call someone, get a wrong number and STILL know the person on the end of the line. It's tight knit and closed mouth. Everyone will tell you of their hunting, youngsters will tell you of their exploits with their father, but you mention you hunt (even if you have your own lease) and the conversation changes! All I am going to say is that if it is in Duplin or Onslow County? If it is farm land? It is leased and it is hunted by a hunting club! Hunting deer is a passion, a way of life in this area. If you want to hunt? You are going to have to find a hunting club! You are going to have to pay a lease fee! Plain and simple. And while I truly hope you find a wonderful lease area that has not been hunted in ages? I would suggest you find someone who is in a club and ask them if they have openings or find where they have the Duplin-Onslow Hunting Association Meetings and attend one.

[bubba2001]

so true renegadern
around here if you want to hunt you are in a huntin club or a guest of somebody in a club

[RenegadeRN]

Bubba...I'm not trying to be negative or stifle anyone here. I want to see hunting expanded and men AND women come post their wonderful exploits. I want to see more pictures of huge deer racks. I wish it were wide open spaces like in Colorado where you are picked from a hat based on a point system and you pick the area you want to hunt. I wish you could hunt military bases like Ford Ord in California was 30 years ago with game every where and not a hunter in site. BUT, I think hunters and forum members are starting to see that like LOTS of other things in life you are gonna have to make decisions about where to spend your hard earned dollars. Money is tight! Instead of the $1.49 soda everyday you save it, drink water, and spend it on a lease. Howz this for a novelty. Instead of buying bottled water use tap water! Spend it on the lease. EVERY SINGLE business wants YOUR hard earned dollar and will do most anything to get it bordering on illegal. Some banks, some companies, some people will do what it takes to get their portion. Our interest rates go up, but our pay does not. Our light bill goes up and our consumption goes down. Do you really need the big data plan on your cell phone so you can text? Or could you just dial a number and call them? Or better yet, after 10 years I got rid of my cell phone. $70 a month saved! $800 a year pays my lease and gives me enuff for some bullets to boot. Folks who own the land see a way to pay taxes, pay things they need. Just as we need to have part time jobs to make ends meet, this is the way others supplement their income. Hows this for changes in a few months? I found a place in Smithfield area with guided hog hunts for $250 a day. Not too bad. I went back to the website two months later and it had almost DOUBLED in price to $450 a day.

As I am sure others on here can attest to, there are hunting opportunities that are out there if you do not have access to a hunting club or lease. All you have to do is try game lands. Drive a little. For three years I hunted a smallish couple hundred acre place up by Pollocksville on the river that was game lands at the time AND NEVER SAW but one person in the three years. I was afraid it wasn't game lands a couple times, but checked with NCWildlife and was attested to that it was. I took a deer and squirrel. Uh...how about going in on the back side of some hunting lands, walk into it where it is hard to access and no one else will go and hunt? I did down south by Holly Ridge area. Found nice coveys of quail 20 years ago, walked around and only saw a couple trucks. SEARCH, RESEARCH, SCOUT, DIG, PLOT, DRIVE, SEEK, and FIND!!! Or you know the alternative?

And never underestimate the power of the deer....I will never forget the day a friend of mine took me to a ONE ACRE PLOT of woods near a housing development with noises, etc. Could see houses on ALL sides! Roads and highways on all sides. I was almost laughing in tears just KNOWING there would not be deer. Guess what? I became a believer that day. You can take a deer with a bow, one acre, in the middle of urban areas. If you are a hunter and seek to HUNT, not be given to you, but hunt you can find it!

[bubba2001]

i was just agreeing that around here its pretty much a lease or highly populated public land
as far as hunting for free or wanting to i have put my hard earned dollar into 2 leases for the last 15 yrs
and i wasnt trying to be negative either i was agreeing with the obvious that we will have to pay for the land we hunt

[SongDoghunter]

This topic has been discussed on here before. The predator hunting in particular is the one that will almost certainly necessitate being a member of a lease. Regardless of how many people try to make coyotes out to be the big bad predator in North Carolina, most landowners are getting wise to the fact that the coyotes and feral hogs enable them to demand money to access their property. When a true depredation problem occurs, landowners won't be worried about how much money they can charge, they'll be happy to pay someone to come kill their coyotes etc. Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever see those kinds of numbers in this state that will bring this about. Until then, we'll have to pay to play or someone else will!

[RenegadeRN]

No, no Bubba....you misunderstood me! I was not pointing a finger at you. I TRULY apologize if you thought so. That was not my intent of this post at all. I typically just answer to the general forum members as a whole in like a third person type thing. I was the one trying not to be negative or stifling of members....but I wanted to point out what we know to be true. Every so often there are numbers of hunters who come to eastern NC, move here, live here, or are stationed here and post ads or questions about places to hunt, shoot, bowhunt, etc. Some in the posts above my original answer mentioned finding farms that haven't been hunted in awhile. Or find a lease that has ran out or some such thing. I was trying to point out that ones hunting opportunities, while waiting for a spot to open on a club, should not stop because of this. I was trying to point out that there are all sorts and manners of ways of paying for a lease if one wanted to hunt that badly. Conservation of resources is the key in wildlife and it carries over into our finances. It all comes down to priorities. As far as other big game opportunities? I hope people find what they are looking for. People around here are very protective of their land, their hunting opportunities, and are very close to the hip about a lot of things.

Lastly, I wanted to help people who might want to hunt in the area get on the right path by pointing out other hunting opportunities that abound. I was hoping they were not waiting for something to show up on NCWF website.

[bubba2001]

everything good on this end