Volume 19 Number 2 - February 2012

FEATURES:

	Barking up the right tree Bladen County squirrel hunters have let their sport go to the dogs. It didn’t take long for Terry Nance and his brother Cody to hit paydirt. Minutes after they opened the doors of the kennel in the back of a pickup truck and released several dogs into the woods in rural Bladen County, the were rewarded with excited ... Mike Marsh

	Deer of Year 2011 The string of fabulous whitetails shows that North Carolina is capable of producing trophy racks from almost every corner of the state. As a magazine that tries to discover and present to its readers the most-impressive deer killed in the Tarheel State each year, North Carolina Sportsman closely monitors the annual white-tail harvest. ... Craig Holt

	Freshwater Series: Falls of Neuse Lake It’s never too ‘early’ to sample this Triangle-area lake’s fine crappie fishing. Ask most crappie fishermen when they’d rather be targeting slabs, and most all of them will say spring: March, April or May. ... Craig Holt

	Hot reds in the cold surf zone Fish the beachfront off Onslow County’s shoreline and do battle with big schools of wintering red drum. The bone-chilling conditions of February offer some of the best light-tackle angling of the year in the surf of Onslow Bay. Between the shores of Topsail Beach and Bogue Inlet to the north, huge schools of red drum pack into the surf in just a few ... Jeff Burleson

	Stripers on Stage Lower Roanoke River, western Albemarle Sound hold hungry, winter striped bass waiting to start their spring spawning runs. February delivers bone-chilling conditions across much of North Carolina and, surprising to some, sizzling striped bass angling on the lower section of the Roanoke River, near its confluence with the Albemarle Sound. ... Jeff Burleson