Throughout the public hearing process, the Commission received passionate, well-articulated concerns from constituents regarding the cultural and traditional impacts of proposed deer season changes. Commissioners carefully weighed those comments along with biological information and decided to only adopt the following:
- Implement a statewide bag limit of two antlered and four anterless deer.
- Bonus Anterless Deer Harvest Report Card are restricted to the Urban Archery Season only.
- Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) participants would retain harvest flexibility.
- Shift either-sex days to the beginning of the Introductory, Conservative and Moderate Gun Either-Sex Seasons.
- Move Polk, Rutherford and Cleveland Counties to the Northwestern Deer Season, and retain the Moderate Gun Either-Sex Season.
The Commission adopted rules to align bear hunting seasons in the Coastal Bear Management Unit (CBMU) with the five bear hunting zones with one modification, moving Pamlico County into Zone 5 of the CBMU. Additionally, the Commission disapproved the proposal to add two weeks to bear hunting season in the Mountain Bear Management Unit.
The table of upcoming season dates, approved by the Commission, may be found on the agency’s website.
