Possible move to NC

[blackpenny]

Wife is interviewing next week in Winston Salem. I see there's no NC forum but I'm sure plenty of guys from the area. Any idea what to expect as far as deer, turkey and bear? I'm currently in NJ and look forward to owning my own huntable land. Any input will be appreciated.

[PaulDeadringer29]

I'm 20 minutes north of Winston-Salem. PM me if you make the move  

[Greg Clark]

I grew up in NC and spent up to the time I was 30 in the Raleigh / Durham area.  It use to be really nice back when I was a kid but much of the piedmont area has just gotten too populated for my tastes (same can be said for where I am  currently stuck north of ATL but hope to move to "fly over country" in the next few years where there is still a little elbow room to be had).  Lots of ground is being chewed up by development.  you can still find land to hunt but as with other states in the area, it has become a lease / hunt club situation in many areas.  Land prices in many areas are also really high, which is great if you own some as my parents do, but might make it hard to buy any decent size acreage.

You may find it is a veritable paradise, so take my somewhat jaded critique with the understanding that I have seen the area I grew up "ruined" (in my opinion) by too many people  and too much development.  If you move their I hope things work out well for you.

Plenty of deer, turkey and used to be some great bear hunting on the coastal plain years ago.  Even starting to be some hogs on the coastal plain.  I remember reading about some huge black bears in some major hunting magazines that were being killed in NC.  Also looks like they might get Sunday hunting passed soon.

Good Luck!

[blackpenny]

Im in northern NJ where 500-600 pound bears are killed every year, but no bow hunting for bears yet. The state record 829 pound bear was shot about 10 minutes from my home. I'm traveling to Quebec next week for my first bow bear hunt. I've been finding great deals and low taxes (compared to NJ) on 10-20 acre homes. Fingers are crossed.

[blackpenny]

Paul, what town?

[The Night Stalker]

Many counties to the west of Winston got hit by EHD in 2012. Certain ares are still on the rebound.

[Bud B.]

Near the NC Zoo here. 40 minutes from Winston.

Deer are plentiful in many areas. Getting permission to hunt private land is difficult. There is plenty of public land, but that's another story in itself.

[mangonboat]

What Bud said. You cant drive several of the Piedmont highways at night without dodging deer, but getting permission to hunt private land is hard, to the point that the NC Wildlife Resource Commission has developed special urban hunting season and regs to  thin the herd in suburbs where the deer population is out of control. But the deer are definitely there, and the turkey population has done well ,especially in western NC.

[blackpenny]

Are lease hard to come by? What about cost per acre? The prices here in NJ are outrageous for land.

[NC BowBender]

You can hunt with a bow on private land on Sundays already.
The surrounding counties of Davidson, Davie and Stokes have a lot of farmland and leases are available for a lot less than you pay in NJ.
I talked to a gentleman who let us hunt on his 50 acre farm - no charge. It was an organic farm and the deer were hitting his crops hard.
Forget Yadkin county for leases if you're not from around here.
Davie county has 2 state game lands. On the 1 near the river, I have never seen another hunter.
Davidson County has Alcoa State Game lands along the river, and in southern Davidson and several counties south is the 51,000 acre Uwharrie National Forest.

[blackpenny]

Thank you.

[PaulDeadringer29]

King, NC

[Jeff D. Holchin]

One good thing about where you might move to, is that much better bowhunting (in terms of opportunities for deer, turkey and bear as well as the quality/quantity of public land) is a short drive to the north, when you cross the border into VA!

[JohnV]

I lived in Greensboro from 1988 to 2001 and hunted primarily on leased property in Stokes and Alleghany counties.  Lots of deer in Alleghany County, much less in Stokes (although friends tell me that the deer population on my old lease is much better now).  In general, you can find good deer and turkey hunting in the Winston-Salem area.  Don't expect much with regards to decent antler size.  In 12 years of hunting in NC the biggest buck I saw scored a little of 110".  I had lots of problems with tresspassers, stolen tree stands, and ATV traffic on leased properties.  Hunting land prices in the Piedmont area of NC are pretty darn high.  The going price in 2000 was about $4000 per acre and up.  Hunting land can be purchased much cheaper in southern Virginia.  Bear hunting is very tough as the regulations favor dog hunters and when bear season opens there will be hounds running all over.

[PaulDeadringer29]

$4000 per acre? That must be a typo.

[Burnsie]

Prime (and some times not so prime) farm ground here in central Illinois is going for well over $10,000 an acre

[PaulDeadringer29]

Seriously?  I had no idea, lucky me I guess.

[blackpenny]

As far as trespassers, stolen stands etc, NJ is tough to beat in ahole per square mile. I'm used to all of that. Lol. I'm looking at homes in King, Advance and similar areas. Generally within a half hour of Winston.

[Bud B.]

I know of 20 acres for sale that's eaten up with deer. $44k is the asking price. Tax value is 22K. It's about 45 min from Winston near Wentworth. Oh to have my mortgage paid off. Three more years.

[J-dog]

You go north a little towards Roxboro or West of Roxboro and you will find some big deer! just got to find land to hunt on. Great hunting up there.
Course you could come towards the coast such great hunting on the Croatan -- much sarcasm meant --