RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 3, 2010) – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is alerting hunters that bow-and-arrow season opens Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Sandhills, Rockfish Creek and Nicholson Creek game lands.

Pages 68 and 69 of the current North Carolina Inland Fishing, Hunting, & Trapping Regulations digest incorrectly states the season opens on these game lands on Sept. 13.

For a complete list of rules and regulations, download The 2010-11 North Carolina Inland Fishing, Hunting, & Trapping Regulations.

RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 13, 2011) – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will facilitate a workshop on native reptiles, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the Cool Springs Environmental Education Center near New Bern.

Through hands-on fieldwork and classroom presentations, participants will learn basic biology and habitat requirements for snakes, turtles and lizards. This free workshop, conducted in conjunction with Weyerhaeuser, is open to educators, landowners or anyone, 16 and older, who has an interest in reptiles.

“Reptiles play a critical role in wildlife habitats, are fascinating to learn about and sometimes not valued to the extent they should be,” said Jeff Hall, a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “Snakes, in particular, are often misunderstood or feared. I was once asked ‘Do they sting with their tails’ in reference to a cottonmouth, a venomous species found in the easternmost region of the sta

RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 2, 2010) – Despite North Carolina’s current state of emergency, dove season will open as scheduled at noon on Sept. 4.

After Gov. Perdue declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Earl, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission received numerous calls from the public asking if dove hunting will be allowed beginning this weekend. The Governor’s Office has informed the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission that nothing in the current emergency declaration, Executive Order 62,  invokes any provision of law that would prohibit lawful hunting activities, including transporting a firearm to and from a hunting location (subject to local emergency ordinances to the contrary).  Hunters in coastal areas should stay tuned to local media for the latest updates on Hurricane Earl and related emergency conditions that could affect the safety of themselves or others. 

For more info

RALEIGH, N.C. (September 1, 2010) – The N.C Wildlife Resources Commission has set season dates, bag limits and applicable regulations for the 2010-11 season. Working within mandatory frameworks established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Commission set the following regulations:

Conventional bag limits:
Six ducks with no more than four scoters
Four mallards with no more than two hen mallards,
Three wood ducks
Two redheads
Two scaup
Two pintails
One black or mottled duck (season closed until Dec. 1)
One canvasback
One fulvous whistling duck.
The season on harlequin ducks is closed.

Other limits:
Twenty five light geese (Includes snow and blue geese & Ross’ geese), no possession limit
Two brant
Five mergansers (two hooded mergansers)
Seven sea ducks (in special sea duck area only). In other areas, sea ducks are part of the regular duck bag limit. No more than four scoters per day may be taken in either season

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (Nov. 23, 2010) – New regulations for spotted seatrout will go into effect Nov. 30 for recreational and commercial fishermen in North Carolina coastal waters.

The recreational bag limit for spotted seatrout will decrease from 10 fish to six fish per person per day. No more than two of the six fish may be greater than 24 inches in length. The current 14-inch minimum size limit will remain in effect.

Commercial harvest of spotted seatrout (possession and sale) will be prohibited year-round from midnight on Friday to midnight on Sunday each week. The current 14-inch minimum size limit will remain in effect.

The coastal regulations are required to meet harvest reductions needed for the recovery of an overfished spotted seatrout stock.

In inland waters, under the jurisdiction of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the minimum size limit will remain at 12-inches and the bag limit at 10 fish per person per day for the 2010-2011 fishing season. The m

RALEIGH, N.C. (Nov. 16, 2010) – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is seeking nominations through Jan. 30 for the sixth annual Thomas L. Quay Award.  

The award, the Commission’s most prestigious, recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to wildlife diversity in North Carolina and who are considered leaders in wildlife resources conservation. 

Anyone interested in nominating someone for the award must submit a nomination form and a detailed explanation of the nominee’s contributions to wildlife conservation. The explanation is limited to two pages (8 ½ x 11-inch paper, with 1-inch margins, single spaced and 12-point font.) Submissions that exceed the 2-page limit will be disqualified and returned to the nominator.

Download the nomination form and submit nominations by:
E-mail to martha.homovec@ncwildlife.org;
Mail to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Division of Wildlife Manageme

BURLINGTON, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2011) – Carissa Shelton has joined the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission as the hunter education specialist for the upper Piedmont region. Her duties include providing instruction in hunter ethics and responsibility, conservation and wildlife management, firearms, wildlife identification, survival and first aid, specialty hunting and tree stand safety.

Shelton will serve in District 5, which is made up of Alamance, Rockingham, Orange, Granville, Durham, Person, Caswell, Randolph, Chatham, Lee and Guilford counties.

“I look forward to getting out and working in this community,” Shelton said. “I will work to promote hunting and hunting safety. There are so many misconceptions about what hunting really is, and I think it is important for conservationists to communicate truths and reflect an accurate portrait of hunters and 21st century hunting.”

Shelton, a Clay County native, enjoys deer, duck and smal

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 17, 2011) – A second  introduction-to-turkey-hunting clinic is now scheduled for March 22, 6-8 p.m. at the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education, located at 1751 Varsity Drive, Raleigh.

The center’s first clinic, scheduled for March 15, quickly filled to capacity prompting the National Wild Turkey Federation, in cooperation with the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission, to offer this second free turkey-hunting clinic.

“This turkey hunting clinic offers an excellent prerequisite for preparing new hunters, youth or adult, for the upcoming spring turkey season in April,” said Walter “Deet” James, the Hunting Heritage biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “Seasoned turkey hunters know that experience is the best teacher and sharing that experience is a great way for the new turkey hunter to get started.”

Topics to be covered in the clinic include:

Ca

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 17, 2011) – The 2011-12 N.C. Coastal Boating Guide is now available from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The newly designed, free guide features a map of the state’s coastline, along with information about boating safety, museums and parks, boating access areas, recreation, licenses and fishing piers. It also offers a guide to the Town of Oak Island, along with facts on the Intracoastal Waterway and other coastal resources.

For more information on boating in North Carolina or to order a copy of the guide, visit Boating Publications. Guides also can be ordered by calling the Division of Engineering Services at (919) 707-0150.

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 17, 2011) – Delaware artist Richard Clifton’s painting of a pair of Canada geese standing in a pasture was selected as the 2011 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print.

The painting, “Canadas in Pasture,” was unveiled at the 16th Annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and the N.C. Decoy Carving Championships in Beaufort County during an evening preview reception on Feb. 11.

Representing the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission at the unveiling were Deputy Director Mallory Martin; Wildlife Commissioners Wes Seegars, Ray White and Mitch St. Clair; former Wildlife Commissioner Arthur Williams and Sen. Stan White, who succeeded Marc Basnight in the N.C. State Legislature earlier this year.

The unveiling of “Canadas in Pasture” marks the first time Clifton has won North Carolina’s waterfowl conservation stamp and print competition. He placed second in last year’s co

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 18, 2011) – A camera mounted above a nest in a pine tree along the shore of Jordan Lake is giving viewers a birds-eye view of a bald eagle couple as they raise their two chicks.

The eagle camera streams constant footage of the eagle family’s activities. Citizen scientists can submit logs of what they observe on camera to N.C. State University, which coordinated the project through its Cooperative Fish and Widlife Research Unit. The Wildlife Resources Commission is one of several partners that on the project. For more information, visit http://www.basic.ncsu.edu/eaglecam/.

Biologists hope that giving people a chance to view the nest – located on the N.C. Widlife Resources Commission’s Jordan Lake Game Lands – from the comfort of their desks at home, school or work will pique interest in this once-endangered species.

The Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund, through the North Carolina income tax check off, hel

RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 22, 2011) – The March 23 program in the Fisheries and Wildlife Seminars at the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education will examine the effects of forest harvesting on amphibians.

Dr. Jessica Homyack, a wildlife scientist with the Weyerhaeuser Company, will present research from a 15-year field experiment examining the effects of a wide range of oak regeneration practices on terrestrial salamanders.

The seminar begins at 4 p.m. immediately following a 3:30 p.m. networking session with free refreshments.

Although researchers consistently detect negative effects of clear-cut harvesting on relative abundances of amphibians, the long-term responses of populations, the mechanisms of declines, and community responses across a range of forestry techniques have not been well-described. Dr. Homyack will also discuss emerging issues related to forest management and biodiversity.

The program is part of an open-to-the-public series in partnership wi