New Hunter - Game Land Question

Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
Soooooooo....all hunting advice is to go to the public land you're going to hunt and scope it out. Well, we attempted to do that today, driving over an hour to get to the Shocco Creek Game land only to find the gates locked!!! It was after 11:30 in the morning.

So, are the gamenlands only open during the hunting season? Why would the gates be locked?
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
bwfarms said:
Depends on what side of it you were. You don't need a parking lot to park. Have you ever seen a truck parked in a ditch?
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Like, I said...new to hunting., this will be our first deer season. We did hunt it during turkey season but this is a huge game land and walking to where we were going to scout would take hours (the drive is already over an hour). We were not expecting it to be gated off so we took the dogs with us. There was no place to safely park on the roadside.

This is what I found.

Shocco Creek Game Land – Franklin, Halifax, Nash and Warren counties
  • Six-day-per-week area.
  • Gun Either-Sex Deer Season: Oct. 12 – Oct. 25 (moderate season).
  • Horseback riding, including all equine species, is prohibited.
  • Camping is restricted to Sept. 1 – Feb. 28 and March 31 – May 14 in areas both designated and posted as camping areas.
  • Target shooting is prohibited.
Does this mean it is only open from Sept 1st-Feb 28th & May 31st-May 14th? I never considered a game land would be closed to the public outside of hunting season. Hmmm :unsure: Like I said....new to hunting...
 
bwfarms

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
6 day per week means hunting Monday through Saturday during open seasons (No Sunday hunting).

The gun season is the restriction for gun hunting that specific species which supercedes regional seasons. Unless there is a rule prohibiting archery, archery equipment may be used all season.

The camping rule applies to camping only.
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
bwfarms said:
6 day per week means hunting Monday through Saturday during open seasons (No Sunday hunting).

The gun season is the restriction for gun hunting that specific species which supercedes regional seasons. Unless there is a rule prohibiting archery, archery equipment may be used all season.

The camping rule applies to camping only.
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Thank you BWFarms. The reason I asked about Archery season is there are other game lands that specifically state Archery. Shocco does not.

This is what caught my attention:
South Mountains Game Land – Burke, Cleveland, McDowell and Rutherford counties
  • Six-day-per-week area.
  • Gun Deer Season: Nov. 25 – Dec. 14 in all portions of the game land.
  • Gun Either-Sex Deer Season: Nov. 30 (introductory season) in all portions of the game land.
  • Blackpowder Season: Sept. 30 – Oct. 12 in all portions of the game land.
  • Archery Season: Sept. 7 – Sept. 28, Oct. 14 – Nov. 23, and antlered deer only from Dec. 16 – Jan. 1 in all portions of the game land.
  • Horseback riding is prohibited, except on designated trails May 16 – Aug. 31, and all horseback riding is prohibited from Sept. 1 – May 15. This rule includes all equine species.
 
KrisB

KrisB

Ten Pointer
I've gone to different game lands to scout on different days outside of hunting season and have seen joggers and people fishing. Even a guy riding a horse once. The game lands are always open to the public unless it says otherwise in the hunting regulations, however, the 6-day or 3-day per week open days only refer to during hunting season. So if you were going to Shocco Creek to hunt during a hunting season, you could only go Monday-Saturday since it's a 6-day-per-week area. But if you are going there to scout in the pre-season, you can go there whenever you like.

The only time I've seen a gate is in places on the game lands where it is foot traffic only. You can usually park on the side of roads going through the game land or at or near the gate. If it's a really small area in front of the gate, I believe it's ok to park in front of the gate. I have done that at access points at Sandhills GL where all there is is a small area just off a highway and a gate and a sign that says vehicles prohibited.

Also, it could just be you need to go to another spot on the game land where you'd have more room to park and the access is easier. I don't know if you've seen this already, but if you go to the NC WRC website and click Hunting, there will be a drop down menu and in it is Where to Hunt and Shoot. Click that. Then click Game Lands Hunting. Then click Interactive Game Lands Map with Dove Fields. Then you can look up Shocco Creek by either clicking it on the map of NC or click the 3 stripes in the top left corner and then click Select a Game Land or Dove Field. Then choose Shocco Creek from the drop down menu and you will see a map of it which shows hunter access points and also I see a few parking areas marked P.

Also, here's the NC WRC's detailed PDF map of Shocco Creek Game Land which also shows the parking areas and hunter access places and places where there is no public access:


I learned a lot about accessing game lands through asking hunters and through some trial and error. You guys are on the right track. Hope this helps.
 
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bwfarms

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Amazonchick54 said:
Thank you BWFarms. The reason I asked about Archery season is there are other game lands that specifically state Archery. Shocco does not.

This is what caught my attention:
South Mountains Game Land – Burke, Cleveland, McDowell and Rutherford counties
  • Six-day-per-week area.
  • Gun Deer Season: Nov. 25 – Dec. 14 in all portions of the game land.
  • Gun Either-Sex Deer Season: Nov. 30 (introductory season) in all portions of the game land.
  • Blackpowder Season: Sept. 30 – Oct. 12 in all portions of the game land.
  • Archery Season: Sept. 7 – Sept. 28, Oct. 14 – Nov. 23, and antlered deer only from Dec. 16 – Jan. 1 in all portions of the game land.
  • Horseback riding is prohibited, except on designated trails May 16 – Aug. 31, and all horseback riding is prohibited from Sept. 1 – May 15. This rule includes all equine species.
Click to expand...

Game lands follow statewide regulations followed by regional rules. The only time statewide regulations do not apply is when specific game lands have explicitly stated rules that restrict access for a specific purpose. If the purpose is not restricted it's open.
 
turkeyfoot

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Many gameland and ntnl forest have gates that are only open seasonal by that I mean some gates will be open during deer season but closed during turkey. Some gates will be closed outside of hunting season they have to do that for few reasons one to protect land and wildlife another is to keep roads from getting torn up from joy riding 12 months a year. Before you visit a public piece always pull up map it will show you all gates on property and when they are open as well as campgrounds and restricted areas. the maps for each are on NC website they used to put out book but its all online. If your gonna scout out of season you'll be walking lot which is preferred you'll find lot more about land than driving it
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
KrisB said:
I've gone to different game lands to scout on different days outside of hunting season and have seen joggers and people fishing. Even a guy riding a horse once. The game lands are always open to the public unless it says otherwise in the hunting regulations, however, the 6-day or 3-day per week open days only refer to during hunting season. So if you were going to Shocco Creek to hunt during a hunting season, you could only go Monday-Saturday since it's a 6-day-per-week area. But if you are going there to scout in the pre-season, you can go there whenever you like.

The only time I've seen a gate is in places on the game lands where it is foot traffic only. You can usually park on the side of roads going through the game land or at or near the gate. If it's a really small area in front of the gate, I believe it's ok to park in front of the gate. I have done that at access points at Sandhills GL where all there is is a small area just off a highway and a gate and a sign that says vehicles prohibited.

Also, it could just be you need to go to another spot on the game land where you'd have more room to park and the access is easier. I don't know if you've seen this already, but if you go to the NC WRC website and click Hunting, there will be a drop down menu and in it is Where to Hunt and Shoot. Click that. Then click Game Lands Hunting. Then click Interactive Game Lands Map with Dove Fields. Then you can look up Shocco Creek by either clicking it on the map of NC or click the 3 stripes in the top left corner and then click Select a Game Land or Dove Field. Then choose Shocco Creek from the drop down menu and you will see a map of it which shows hunter access points and also I see a few parking areas marked P.

Also, here's the NC WRC's detailed PDF map of Shocco Creek Game Land which also shows the parking areas and hunter access places and places where there is no public access:


I learned a lot about accessing game lands through asking hunters and through some trial and error. You guys are on the right track. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, KrisB. You taught me a little about the map possibilities on NC Wildlife but the parking lots we knew of were blocked with a gate. I will just chalk this up as a learning experience and loss of a 1/4 tank of gas. The spot we were looking to scout is miles from the entrance and we weren't prepared to walk the road before the area we were looking to scout as well. Not enough water or snacks and the dogs weren't up for it either. (they barely managed the 3/4 mile trek we ended up taking them on)

Thank you all for helping out with advice. We will use what is helpful! The things you learn along the way...right?!
 
timekiller13

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
Amazonchick54 said:
Like, I said...new to hunting., this will be our first deer season. We did hunt it during turkey season but this is a huge game land and walking to where we were going to scout would take hours (the drive is already over an hour). We were not expecting it to be gated off so we took the dogs with us. There was no place to safely park on the roadside.

This is what I found.

Shocco Creek Game Land – Franklin, Halifax, Nash and Warren counties
  • Six-day-per-week area.
  • Gun Either-Sex Deer Season: Oct. 12 – Oct. 25 (moderate season).
  • Horseback riding, including all equine species, is prohibited.
  • Camping is restricted to Sept. 1 – Feb. 28 and March 31 – May 14 in areas both designated and posted as camping areas.
  • Target shooting is prohibited.
Does this mean it is only open from Sept 1st-Feb 28th & May 31st-May 14th? I never considered a game land would be closed to the public outside of hunting season. Hmmm :unsure: Like I said....new to hunting...
Click to expand...
Its not closed to the public. The gate is locked to keep the roads in decent condition. If the gate was open year round, most of those roads would be so rutted out by mudslingers it would be impasseble come hunting season.
 
Moose

Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Always ride a bike in.... As far as gates go make sure you know whether it is opened or closed. You might find a closed gate open because a farmer has permission to go in that is temporarily open that he'll close and lock when he was done.
 
KrisB

KrisB

Ten Pointer
timekiller13 said:
Its not closed to the public. The gate is locked to keep the roads in decent condition. If the gate was open year roa und, most of those roads would be so rutted out by mudslingers it would be impasseble come hunting season.
Click to expand...

True that. Was at a game land a good while back to do some scouting and there was a sign saying the gate is only open during turkey and deer seasons. The gate was wide open and it wasn't either season. Saw some guys on ATVs tearing up the game land roads. Called it in. The roads/trails I walked were all screwed up for a long time after.
 
Soilman

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Be advised, Warren and Halifax are "dog hunting" counties. When I lived up there, those game lands were heavily used by dog hunters. They won't bother you until gun season opens, and even then it will be too warm to run the dogs often. By November, they will be using it heavily. Not trying to discourage you, just letting you know what to expect.

Gates on game lands are locked for several reasons, but you can always walk or ride a bike to access. (No motorized transport)
Just park in front of the "hinge" end of the gate, leaving enough room for WRC folks to access the gate. But, if the gate is locked, they should also be walking too, unless an emergency or maintenance.
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
Thank you, all! You have filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge!!!

Soilman said:
Be advised, Warren and Halifax are "dog hunting" counties. When I lived up there, those game lands were heavily used by dog hunters. They won't bother you until gun season opens, and even then it will be too warm to run the dogs often. By November, they will be using it heavily. Not trying to discourage you, just letting you know what to expect.
Click to expand...

Thankfully where we are looking to go is in Nash & Franklin Counties. Not sure about dog hunting there but I guess we will be finding out. We're mostly looking at Archery and rut hunting. I'm not too good with the cold so we'll see how the weather goes for hunting further out.


KrisB said:
True that. Was at a game land a good while back to do some scouting and there was a sign saying the gate is only open during turkey and deer seasons. The gate was wide open and it wasn't either season. Saw some guys on ATVs tearing up the game land roads. Called it in. The roads/trails I walked were all screwed up for a long time after.
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You've been really helpful KrisB. Thank you. Got your link. I'll be reading up on that some more!
 
SamCo89

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
https://www.ncwildlife.org/Hunting/Where-To-Hunt-Shoot/Public-Places

Always a good idea to reach out to the depot that operates that area & double check.Had a similar experience this weekend with a tract that is kind of in limbo right now, the managing depot had told me that they were opening gates & would have full access starting Saturday/yesterday. two of the areas were, but the last tract wasn't.

Wound up speaking to the area Sgt & got clearance to enter, but walked futher than planned. But hey, needed the exercise anyway ....
 

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Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
SamCo89 said:
https://www.ncwildlife.org/Hunting/Where-To-Hunt-Shoot/Public-Places

Always a good idea to reach out to the depot that operates that area & double check.Had a similar experience this weekend with a tract that is kind of in limbo right now, the managing depot had told me that they were opening gates & would have full access starting Saturday/yesterday. two of the areas were, but the last tract wasn't.

Wound up speaking to the area Sgt & got clearance to enter, but walked further than planned. But hey, needed the exercise anyway ....
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I actually had that map but not on me at the time. I had no cell service out there either! :eek:
 
sky hawk

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
This is a pretty good lesson on having a plan B... and C and D. If you drive an hour and a gate is locked, it should not be a "wasted" trip. Scout other areas, scout spots close to the road. The general consensus is go 100 yards in or a mile+. You could have quick scouted close spots around the game land that looked promising. In general, you will find that on public land you will get surprises. You might have a sweet spot picked out and you show up opening morning to find 5 trucks at the gate. Or someone sitting in your best spot and your second best spot. Always have a backup plan.

Also, learn how to park on the right of way. If you only park on flat, graveled spots, you will bounce around afraid to park anywhere. Sometimes, you gotta make your own spots.
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
sky hawk said:
This is a pretty good lesson on having a plan B... and C and D. If you drive an hour and a gate is locked, it should not be a "wasted" trip. Scout other areas, scout spots close to the road. The general consensus is go 100 yards in or a mile+. You could have quick scouted close spots around the game land that looked promising. In general, you will find that on public land you will get surprises. You might have a sweet spot picked out and you show up opening morning to find 5 trucks at the gate. Or someone sitting in your best spot and your second best spot. Always have a backup plan.

Also, learn how to park on the right of way. If you only park on flat, graveled spots, you will bounce around afraid to park anywhere. Sometimes, you gotta make your own spots.
Click to expand...

Very good points! We did however have our dogs with us and were hoping to scout a certain area that would only involve so much walking because one of them is having some issues. Definitely not leaving them in the car while we scout. Had we not brought the dogs, we definitely would have considered making a treck into the woods.

And since everyone is talking about just parking on the side of the road, what is the police activity usually like? Will your car get towed? Do you need to leave a note on the window? Does that leave you open to people breaking into your car because they know you're going to be gone awhile? Again, new Hunter with new Hunter questions.
 
Soilman

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Out in the country, so long as you are off the white line on the side of the road, the Law won't typically bother you. No need to leave a note. There is always some risk of someone breaking into your vehicle, but the odds are pretty low, especially away from urban areas. I've never had any trouble, myself.
 
NCbowjunkie

NCbowjunkie

Ten Pointer
I have parked on the side of the road my self while hunting game land. What I do is always leave a hunter orange cap up on the dash. If I have a gun case I make sure it is open so if any body looks in the window that can see the gun is gone. The orange cap hopefully will make someone think I might be coming out any time to get it or a game warden may think I didn wear any orange and will hang around hopefully to give me a ticket. Nothing better than a law person hanging around to protect break in. I actually did this and came out of woods wearing my orange vest and they were waiting to see me with out orange They checked my license and I told them what I had done ,one that I knew called me a smart a$$
 
KrisB

KrisB

Ten Pointer
Amazonchick54 said:
Very good points! We did however have our dogs with us and were hoping to scout a certain area that would only involve so much walking because one of them is having some issues. Definitely not leaving them in the car while we scout. Had we not brought the dogs, we definitely would have considered making a treck into the woods.

And since everyone is talking about just parking on the side of the road, what is the police activity usually like? Will your car get towed? Do you need to leave a note on the window? Does that leave you open to people breaking into your car because they know you're going to be gone awhile? Again, new Hunter with new Hunter questions.
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No need to leave a note. Just park on the side of the road or to the side at the gate so you don't block it. I've parked all over the place and so far have not had a problem. The only rule I have seen about it is don't block a road or a gate. And just don't drive on foot traffic only trails, which are sometimes blocked by a gate, sometimes not, but which are marked by a small white sign on a tree that says something like Vehicles Prohibited for Wildlife, Foot Traffic Welcome. Or there could be a brown sign that says that on the gate itself. Depends where you are. You guys will get used to it the more you go. I felt like an idiot when I first started going just trying to find the entry ways to some of the game lands. Now I feel like a pro. LOL I also use OnX, which is super helpful, but you can figure out access points with just a game lands map.
 
Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
KrisB said:
No need to leave a note. Just park on the side of the road or to the side at the gate so you don't block it. I've parked all over the place and so far have not had a problem. The only rule I have seen about it is don't block a road or a gate. And just don't drive on foot traffic only trails, which are sometimes blocked by a gate, sometimes not, but which are marked by a small white sign on a tree that says something like Vehicles Prohibited for Wildlife, Foot Traffic Welcome. Or there could be a brown sign that says that on the gate itself. Depends where you are. You guys will get used to it the more you go. I felt like an idiot when I first started going just trying to find the entry ways to some of the game lands. Now I feel like a pro. LOL I also use OnX, which is super helpful, but you can figure out access points with just a game lands map.
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We scouted out a great spot today. I use HuntStand. I didn't like how OnX was set up. User preference but I think they do the same stuff. We GPS'd our location and trek out of the "bush". We are excited about the spot. No trouble parking today but after walking the car trail in, I will drive in much farther next time. We are getting super excited for the season to begin. We have a HUGE doe on our property but unaware of her continued appearance so we are planning ahead.

Thank you for all of your help!
 
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Amazonchick54

Amazonchick54

Spike
lasttombstone said:
Glad you got out and had some success. The more you get out the more you will see and learn.
Click to expand...

We found what we think is going to be a sweet spot. Not even where we initially were thinking, either. I got us into an area and John found a SWEET spot. At least it looked like it had potential, that of course, remains to be seen.

Fingers crossed!!!
 
Part-time hunter

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
I can't tell you how many times my buddy and I had to call the Wildlife Officer in an area because they hadn't opened a gate on opening day. They are always apologetic and they get it open once we've called. And as for bicycles, horses, dog walkers, etc. showing up on game lands during hunting season, welcome to public hunting lands in NC.
 
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