With this entry being my first on Inside Out, I'd like to give a bit of background about myself to give this post some context. Up until about two years ago, I did the majority of my outdoor activities in Upstate Central New York. Upon moving to NC I met Cory, who has shown me around the great state of North Carolina. In my experience thus far, the hunting laws in North Carolina differ greatly from those of New York. For example, one can't hunt on Sundays in NC (with the exception of bow hunting on private land). This has greatly reduced the number of days I can hunt by half, due to holding a full time job Monday through Friday. In addition to the reduced number of allowed hunting days on weekends, there are many other differences that a hunter must understand to ensure they hunt within the set regulations of North Carolina.
I recently ran into another unique situation here in NC just a couple of weeks ago. I was invited to hunt coyote with a friend of mine, who is also from NY. With my friend saying he would get a spot light, we planned to hunt the evening and continue into the night (In NY, a hunter is allowed to spotlight certain wildlife during their open seasons as long as deer season is not active). I decided I had better look up the regulations in NC just to ensure that the laws in NC were the same as NY. To my disappointment, they are not! A hunter in NC can not use a spot light to take any wildlife at night. We had to change our hunting tactics to try and adapt to this, hunting as close to dusk as possible while still abiding by the local laws.
My experiences in the situations mentioned go to show that hunting laws differ greatly from state to state and a hunter must ensure that they understand all local laws in order to take game legally. Luckily we have the internet in this day and age that we can turn to in order to look up the game laws in each state. North Carolina has one of the nicest online hunting and fishing regulation websites I have seen. If you are ever unsure of a law in NC you should take a look at the posted materials posted here. From looking at the multiple online forums for hunting I have also found that there are many people who are petitioning their local Commissioners to try and change the laws in NC for night hunting and hunting on Sundays as well as other laws that would give local hunters more opportunities. To contact your local commissioner see the following link: Commissioner Contacts.
I hope this information helps anyone who is unsure of a hunting regulation, or who would like to see NC adapt regulations that are common in other states.
-Paul Nicolucci
I recently ran into another unique situation here in NC just a couple of weeks ago. I was invited to hunt coyote with a friend of mine, who is also from NY. With my friend saying he would get a spot light, we planned to hunt the evening and continue into the night (In NY, a hunter is allowed to spotlight certain wildlife during their open seasons as long as deer season is not active). I decided I had better look up the regulations in NC just to ensure that the laws in NC were the same as NY. To my disappointment, they are not! A hunter in NC can not use a spot light to take any wildlife at night. We had to change our hunting tactics to try and adapt to this, hunting as close to dusk as possible while still abiding by the local laws.
My experiences in the situations mentioned go to show that hunting laws differ greatly from state to state and a hunter must ensure that they understand all local laws in order to take game legally. Luckily we have the internet in this day and age that we can turn to in order to look up the game laws in each state. North Carolina has one of the nicest online hunting and fishing regulation websites I have seen. If you are ever unsure of a law in NC you should take a look at the posted materials posted here. From looking at the multiple online forums for hunting I have also found that there are many people who are petitioning their local Commissioners to try and change the laws in NC for night hunting and hunting on Sundays as well as other laws that would give local hunters more opportunities. To contact your local commissioner see the following link: Commissioner Contacts.
I hope this information helps anyone who is unsure of a hunting regulation, or who would like to see NC adapt regulations that are common in other states.
-Paul Nicolucci
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