I've been missing in action over the past couple of months as I've had a lot going on. Now that it is hunting season I plan to be writing more! This year I decided to try and get a hunting lease close to where I live to share with my Father who I have not deer hunted with in over 10 years. He currently lives in South Carolina. I found a lease in Nash county, NC and leased it through Base Camp Leasing. It is approximately 30 acres in size and I hope that it pays off for us. I still plan to hunt some public land alone and with Cory ( if we can every sync up our schedules ), however this lease gives me an easy place to take my Father and have a stand set up for him already since our hunting time will be limited.
Preparing for the season I was reviewing the specific section in the regulations guide pertaining to county specific laws. In Nash county the following law is listed:
"Hunt deer with a rifle, except from a stand at least six feet above
the ground."
Now my first thought was: does rifle mean only centerfire rifles, or does it also include muzzleloading rifles? So I did what any good sportsman who wants to abide by the law does...I contacted NCWildLife and asked them. I sent a comment to the email address listed on the website as well as found an email address that was listed on the site for one of the wildlife officers in Nash county. I was surprised when I got two contradicting answers:
1) The rifle restriction for Nash County would apply to all rifles including muzzleloaders (blackpowder rifles) when hunting deer. It would not, as of yet, apply to shotguns with slugs.
2) The height requirement refers to rifles only, not muzzleloaders or shotguns.
One person said yes it does include muzzleloaders, and the other said no it does not. So this all comes back to how you define "rifle". I see other counties specify which type of rifle such as Wake county:
"Take any animal with a centerfire rifle, unless the person is
positioned at least eight feet above the ground."
I've now sent another email to both of the wildlife officers to ask them to please clarify. If enforcement agents are confused on the law then most sportsmen would probably have the same question I did. Hopefully Nash county clarifies the law to remove this ambiguity. For now I'll play it safe and hunt from a stand with everything besides my bow!!
I'll let our readers know the final answer once I have it.
Happy hunting!!
-Paul Nicolucci
Preparing for the season I was reviewing the specific section in the regulations guide pertaining to county specific laws. In Nash county the following law is listed:
"Hunt deer with a rifle, except from a stand at least six feet above
the ground."
Now my first thought was: does rifle mean only centerfire rifles, or does it also include muzzleloading rifles? So I did what any good sportsman who wants to abide by the law does...I contacted NCWildLife and asked them. I sent a comment to the email address listed on the website as well as found an email address that was listed on the site for one of the wildlife officers in Nash county. I was surprised when I got two contradicting answers:
1) The rifle restriction for Nash County would apply to all rifles including muzzleloaders (blackpowder rifles) when hunting deer. It would not, as of yet, apply to shotguns with slugs.
2) The height requirement refers to rifles only, not muzzleloaders or shotguns.
One person said yes it does include muzzleloaders, and the other said no it does not. So this all comes back to how you define "rifle". I see other counties specify which type of rifle such as Wake county:
"Take any animal with a centerfire rifle, unless the person is
positioned at least eight feet above the ground."
I've now sent another email to both of the wildlife officers to ask them to please clarify. If enforcement agents are confused on the law then most sportsmen would probably have the same question I did. Hopefully Nash county clarifies the law to remove this ambiguity. For now I'll play it safe and hunt from a stand with everything besides my bow!!
I'll let our readers know the final answer once I have it.
Happy hunting!!
-Paul Nicolucci
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