ASHEVILLE — The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is proposing changes to wildlife management, inland fisheries and game lands ― including the hunting of bears and deer ― that would take effect for the 2024-2025 season. The proposed regulations are open for public comment through Jan. 30.
The commission is suggesting a total of 36 changes to regulations. Some of the most notable include adjustments to the bear and deer season, as well as a reclassification of what it means to be hunting under the influence.
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Changes to bear season
Since the 1970s, over 500,000 acres of land have been designated as bear sanctuaries by the wildlife commission, according to its website.
Today bears are thriving, with the bear population in the mountains growing by 7% each year, according to District 9 Commissioner Brad Stanback with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which encompasses a large part of Western North Carolina.
“The bear population in the N.C. mountains has fully recovered from the dismal state it was in when the Bear Sanctuaries were originally established,” Stanback told the Citizen Times by email, noting the terminology change made last year from “Bear Sanctuaries” to “Designated Bear Management Areas.”
But bear populations are doing so well that it’s causing some problems, Stanback said. He listed roadkill as a major source of bear mortality, which he called “not only a significant waste but also a problem for human safety and property damage.
“We would prefer that more bears get killed by licensed hunters rather than by motor vehicles,” Stanback said.
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To allow for a higher legal take of bears, the wildlife commission wants to extend bear hunting season in October by nine days. Bear season, which is traditionally divided into two segments separated by deer season, would have Sunday openers for each segment.
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During the second segment of mountain bear season, hunters would be allowed to use unprocessed bait, unlike before. The wildlife commission says this reduces the complexity of regulations “without any biological impacts.”
Starting hunting season earlier, according to the wildlife commission, would stabilize and “slow down bear population growth, and help meet the population objective, while providing additional bear hunting opportunities.”
Changes to deer season
The wildlife commission is also proposing changes to when deer season in the mountain region begins, which is traditionally the Monday before Thanksgiving.
According to Stanback, it’s ideal to have deer gun season coincide with the biological peak of the rut, which varies across the state, but tends to happen a little later than the traditional opening day in the North Carolina mountains.
To align hunting start dates more closely with peak breeding, the commission is suggesting gun season begin the Saturday after Thanksgiving and run through Jan. 1. Black powder season would begin two Saturdays before Thanksgiving and run until gun season.
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The shift will reduce the vulnerability of yearling bucks, reduce the harvest of bucks before breeding and provide more hunting opportunities during the rut, according to the commission.
“This change was designed to be a compromise between the ideal biological opening while still providing the hunting opportunities that people have come to expect,” Stanback said. “They can hunt deer with black powder firearms the weekends before Thanksgiving as well as have a traditional opening day firearm hunt on Thanksgiving weekend.”
The wildlife commission is also suggesting antlerless gun season increase from one day to one week on private lands and antlerless black powder season increase from one week to two weeks in Buncombe and Henderson counties.
Hunting under the influence
The wildlife commission is looking to impose a language change regarding hunting under the influence. Instead of “under the influence of alcohol or any narcotic drug,” the rule would now read “under the influence of an impairing substance.”
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Stanback compared this change to that of the shift from driving under the influence to driving while impaired in motor vehicle laws.
“We periodically review our rules to make sure they are consistent with current statutes,” Stanback said. “If our Wildlife Enforcement Officers feel they need to issue a citation, we need to be sure that their actions won’t be challenged on a technicality like being slightly different from the language in the law.”
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The proposed regulation change states that Wildlife Law Enforcement Officers routinely encounter people hunting on game lands while under the influence of an impairing substance other than those categorized as alcohol or narcotic drugs, such as marijuana.
Because these substances are not defined as narcotic drugs or alcohol, officers are currently unable to charge these people for hunting under the influence, according to the wildlife commission. Changing the language to “impairing substance” will allow officers to enforce this rule more effectively.
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How to submit comment
During the open comment period running through Jan. 30, comments on the proposed rule changes may be submitted online or emailed to [email protected] (must include name, county and state of residence in e-mail).
Comments can be mailed and addressed to Rulemaking Coordinator, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission at 1701 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1700.
The public may also comment during any of NCWRC’s January public hearings. There will be three public hearings, each held at 7 p.m., and one held virtually.
- Jan. 9, 2024, at Southwest Randolph High School’s auditorium in Asheboro, located at 1641 Hopewell Friends Road.
- Jan. 11, 2024, at Haywood Community College’s auditorium in Clyde, located at 185 Freedlander Drive.
- Jan. 17, 2024, at the Craven County Courthouse in New Bern, located at 302 Broad St.
- Jan. 18, 2024 – Virtual (pre-registration required)
To review the proposed regulation changes, submit a comment, or obtain information on the public hearings, please visit ncwildlife.org/proposed-regulations.
Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
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