What Animals Can You Hunt in North Carolina? Species and Rules

In North Carolina you can hunt three big game species (white-tailed deer, black bear, and wild turkey), a set of small game species that includes rabbits, squirrels, quail, grouse, and pheasant, a group of furbearers such as beaver, mink, muskrat, otter, skunk, and weasel, migratory game birds like ducks, geese, doves, woodcock, and snipe, and a nongame list that includes coyotes, groundhogs, feral swine, nutria, armadillos, starlings, English sparrows, and pigeons. Bobcat, raccoon, and opossum belong to both the game and furbearer lists depending on whether you shoot or trap them. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) sets the seasons, bag limits, and permit rules for each category.

Big Game: Deer, Bear, and Turkey

State statute names only three big game species: white-tailed deer, black bear, and wild turkey.¹ Every big game harvest must be registered with the NCWRC.²

Deer are the most widely pursued. The season is split into archery, blackpowder, and gun segments, and dates shift across five geographic zones. Northeastern and Southeastern zones open archery in mid-September and run gun season from mid-October through January 1. The Western zone starts later, with gun season not opening until late November.

Black bear hunting is divided into three management units with their own seasons and boundaries. The daily and season bag limit is one bear. Coastal zones open at various points in November and December depending on county, while the Mountain unit runs from early October through portions of November and December. A Bear Management E-Stamp is required on top of your hunting license.³

Wild turkey is split into fall and spring seasons with separate bag limits. The spring season focuses on gobblers and typically runs from April into May.⁴

Small Game

Small game seasons generally run from mid-October through late February, with exact dates varying by species.

Eastern cottontail and marsh rabbit, with a daily limit of 5 and no season limit. Rabbits can also be box-trapped with a hunting license.
Gray and red squirrels share a daily limit of 8 during the October through February season. Fox squirrels have a daily limit of 1 and a season cap of 10.
Northern bobwhite quail: late November through February, daily limit of 6.
Ruffed grouse: mid-October through February, daily limit of 3 and a season limit of 30.
Pheasant: on the Barrier Islands of Carteret, Dare, and Hyde Counties, only males may be taken from late November through February. Elsewhere in the state, either sex may be taken September through February with no bag limit.⁵

Furbearers and a Classification Quirk

Under N.C.G.S. 113-129, game animals include bear, fox, rabbit, squirrel, white-tailed deer, and, when hunted rather than trapped, bobcat, opossum, and raccoon. Fur-bearing animals are a separate statutory list: beaver, mink, muskrat, nutria, otter, skunk, and weasel, along with bobcat, opossum, and raccoon when taken with traps.⁶

So the method of take decides the rulebook for bobcat, raccoon, and opossum. Shoot a raccoon while small game hunting and game animal regulations apply. Catch one in a trap and furbearer trapping rules take over.⁷

One oddity worth noting: red and gray foxes are classified only as game animals in North Carolina, not as furbearers, so fox hunting follows game animal rules. The pure furbearers (beaver, mink, muskrat, otter, skunk, and weasel) are primarily taken by trappers under separate trapping seasons and require a trapping license.

Migratory Game Birds

Because migratory birds cross state lines, their seasons sit inside a federal framework set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with North Carolina choosing its specific dates within those windows. The category covers ducks, geese (Canada, snow, and brant), mourning doves, white-winged doves, woodcock, snipe, rails, gallinules, and coots.

Migratory bird hunters face extra paperwork. Every waterfowl hunter 16 or older must carry a signed Federal Duck Stamp, valid July 1 through the following June 30 and good in every state.⁸ Anyone hunting any migratory bird (doves, rails, woodcock, snipe, or waterfowl) must also obtain a free Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification.⁹

Nongame Species You Can Hunt Year-Round

State law defines nongame animals as all wild animals not classified as game or fur-bearing.⁶ Several nongame species can be taken year-round with no bag limits and no closed season:

Coyotes
Groundhogs
Feral swine
Nutria
Nine-banded armadillos
Starlings, English sparrows, and pigeons²

You still need a valid hunting license to take any of them. The open rules reflect the fact that many are non-native or cause significant agricultural and ecological damage. Feral swine are classified by USDA as a dangerous invasive species, and the federal Wildlife Services program works with landowners on trapping and removal.¹⁰

What You Can’t Hunt

Any wild animal that doesn’t appear on the game, furbearer, or nongame lists is generally protected and off-limits. North Carolina has its own protections on top of federal law. Under N.C.G.S. 113-331, the Wildlife Resources Commission can designate species as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. An “endangered species” under state law means a native or once-native wild animal whose continued existence as a viable part of the state’s wildlife has been determined by the NCWRC to be in jeopardy.¹¹

The federal Endangered Species Act layers on top, covering species listed nationally and adding federal penalties to any state consequences for a violation.¹²

License and Hunter Education

Anyone 16 or older needs a valid hunting license before heading afield. Youth under 16 are exempt from the license requirement, but a youth who hasn’t completed a hunter safety course must be accompanied by a licensed adult within sight and hearing distance at all times. A youth with a Certificate of Competency can hunt alone, carries no license requirement until turning 16, and must keep the certificate on them while hunting.⁹

Since July 1, 2013, a hunter education certificate of competency has been required before you can buy a hunting license. The exceptions: people who already held a North Carolina hunting license before that date, certain disabled hunters accompanied by a licensed adult, and holders of a Hunting Heritage Apprentice Permit.¹³

A resident Comprehensive Hunting license costs $47 and covers statewide hunting including big game, game lands access, and waterfowl privileges. Nonresidents can buy annual or 10-day hunting licenses but must add a Nonresident Big Game Privilege separately. Beyond the base license, specific activities trigger extra stamps or permits: a Bear Management E-Stamp for bear hunters, a Federal Duck Stamp for waterfowl hunters, and HIP certification for anyone hunting migratory birds.¹⁴

Hunter Orange Rules Tied to These Species

North Carolina requires hunter orange in several situations, and this is one of the rules that catches people off guard. Anyone hunting bear, feral swine, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant, or quail with firearms must wear either a hunter orange cap or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides. During any deer firearms season, everyone in the field must wear hunter orange regardless of what weapon they’re carrying, including archery hunters out on Sundays during gun season. The only exemption is for landowners, their spouses, and their children when hunting on the landowner’s own property.¹⁵

1
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Definition of Terms
2
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. What to Hunt
3
eRegulations. Bear Hunting Seasons
4
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Wild Turkey
5
eRegulations. Small Game and Other Seasons
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 113 – Conservation and Development
7
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. What to Trap
8
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Federal Duck Stamp
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North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Hunting Licenses
10
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Feral Swine: Managing an Invasive Species
11
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 1531 – Congressional Findings and Declaration of Purposes and Policy
13
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 113-270.1A – Hunter Safety Course Required
14
eRegulations. Hunting and Trapping Licenses
15
eRegulations. General Hunting Regulations