Hunting News and Information

	Greenville man wins North Carolina Sportsman Bag-A-Buck grand prize J.O. Teel of Greenville killed a great 10-point buck last Nov. 10 on an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission permit hunt on the Roanoke River Game Lands. He entered his buck in North Carolina Sportsman’s Bag-A-Buck contest under the title “Happy Hunter, Happy Hunter.” He was happy then, but boy, is he happy now, after his entry was drawn as the grand-prize winner for the 2012 contest. His prizes include a .223 Designated Marksman Rifle from Barnes Precision Machinery in Apex and an optics package from Leupold featuring a scope, binoculars and rangefinder. The prizes will be presented at the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh March 1-3. MORE ...

	Farmers Manage Deer will try to put hunters together with landowners who have deer problems Many farmers in Southeastern North Carolina have trouble with high deer numbers, and many hunters in this same region have trouble finding places to hunt deer. Thanks to a new program, Farmers Manage Deer, that has changed dramatically for the better. The program, which will attempt to match landowners who need their deer herds thinned with hunters who need a place to hunt, was introduced on Jan. 22 to interested farmers at the Powell Melvin Agriculture Extension Center in Elizabethtown, and other meetings are scheduled for Jacksonville, Rocky Mount and Raleigh — at the Dixie Deer Classic. MORE ...

	Pour the feed to ’em Being well below the Mason-Dixon Line, the Carolinas are definitely in the South, but these southern paradises usually experience a winter with freezing temperatures and icy precipitation. The winter affects nature’s kitchen, eliminating many of the staple food sources deer and other wildlife require for nourishment. MORE ...

	Provide supplemental feed to sustain body mass Deer and other wildlife are tested in late winter because few natural foods are readily available. Wild animals become less wild, slipping into neighborhood flowerbeds and making daily appearances along road shoulders covered in tender green grasses. MORE ...

	Interpret pond-water chemistry analysis Good fishing ponds are the result of a wide variety of factors, ranging from the grass, water depth and bottom composition to the fish that call these waters home. All these factors are important, but the greatest variable that affects quality the most is the chemical balance. But what do these parameters mean for the pond owner that lacks a chemistry degree? MORE ...

	North Carolina hunters tagged some giant bucks during 2012 season The 2012 season showed that North Carolina continues to produce outstanding whitetail deer, with a tremendous number of trophy bucks reportedly taken from across the state, even though the number of bucks on the extreme high end of the spectrum appeared to dip slightly. No bucks that will threaten the Boone & Crockett Club’s standards for entry into its all-time record book have been reported to North Carolina Sportsman; two bucks made the grade in 2011, and overall, the number of 160-inch bucks from that season was missing in 2012. MORE ...

	Moore County monster taken by teen Casey Smith, 15, admits he doesn’t have much deer-hunting experience. Before Nov. 10, 2012, he’d killed exactly one deer, a cow-horn buck. But at a Moore County field that day, he bagged a deer that would rank near the top for any hunter. MORE ...

	Hunter’s prayers answered in Mecklenburg church yard Most people attend church for spiritual reasons, and 42-year-old Charlotte landscaper Octavius Williams is no different. But last Nov. 14, he offered thanks to friends at a church in eastern Mecklenburg County because their permission to hunt allowed him to arrow one of 2012’s top whitetails. MORE ...

	Hunt-club guest takes big Anson whitetail Anson County continues to produce large white-tailed bucks, and last November featured offered another impressive buck. “He’s a main-frame 10-pointer that’s been green scored at 158 1/8 inches that a lot of people had been after for three years, but they only got trail-camera photos,” said Anthony Nance of Indian Trail. MORE ...

	Rockingham 8-pointer breaks 150-inch mark Rockingham County in the northern Piedmont has a reputation for producing quality bucks, including a Boone & Crockett specimen in 2011. MORE ...

	High-school senior bags Rockingham trophy At 18 years of age, Will Croker of Randolph County doesn’t have worlds of deer-hunting experience. MORE ...

	Swamp Busters: Running raccoons is some of the most fun North Carolina hunters can have after dark The meeting took place at a travel center in Rocky Point, located just off I-40 at the NC 210 exit. Pickups parked side by side, David MacCallum, Vernon Eakins and Mike Milam walked to the counter in hip booats to buy snacks and soft drinks. Wearing a white helmet with a headlamp, MacCallum looked like a coal miner, but the black footprints of a raccoon stenciled on his hard hat told a different story. Darkness had fallen a few minutes earlie, and it was time to hunt raccoons. “This is one of our prime gathering spots,” said MacCallum, a 36-year-old landscaper who lives in Rocky Point. “We travel extensively to hunt, but this spot has plenty of parking, so we meet here when we are hunting close to home.” MORE ...