South Mountains Game Lands

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Small game and deer

I'll shoot a predator if I get a chance though

Not kidding about more predators and predator sign at SMGL than deer sign.

I'm sure thats not true of other game lands
 

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Small game and deer

I'll shoot a predator if I get a chance though

Not kidding about more predators and predator sign at SMGL than deer sign.

I'm sure thats not true of other game lands
That's one of the reasons I only hunted that area just a few times. More work than I wanted to do. There's some really awesome areas where you can walk the rublines and see tons of scrapes but dragging a Deer out from that area would take 3-4 hours, or more. Too much work 😁 but an awesome place to hike and trail run.
 
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Papa_Smurf

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
That's one of the reasons I only hunted that area just a few times. More work than I wanted to do. There's some really awesome areas where you can walk the rublines and see tons of scrapes but dragging a Deer out from that area would take 3-4 hours, or more. Too much work 😁 but an awesome place to hike and trail run.

Haha, to much work to drag a deer out but let's go run for fun :ROFLMAO:



Just busting your balls, man!
 

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Haha, to much work to drag a deer out but let's go run for fun :ROFLMAO:



Just busting your balls, man!
Up until this past February both my wife and I only made fun runs to the beer cooler 😁 unless we were drunk hiking...
Fortunately those Frat days are over 🤪😜 but it was fun while it lasted 😇
 

YanceyGreenhorn

Still Not a Moderator
Small game and deer

I'll shoot a predator if I get a chance though

Not kidding about more predators and predator sign at SMGL than deer sign.

I'm sure thats not true of other game lands
Sandy Mush is ate up with coyotes and fox.
 
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JONOV

Twelve Pointer
So basically I had to go to six or ten different LINKS to get all the regulations that apply.....kind of silly but......

I visited the NCWRC website a few years ago when I first moved here. The first thing I found was that I had to take a hunter's safety course since I had never had a license in NC before. I then closed the door and said forget it....not at 53 years old and hunted all my life. I then just hunted in SC with my dad and nephew for a few years. Since my brother-n-law passed and they lost the hunting rights, I decided to take a look at NC once more. With Covid, I noticed the on-line course and took it.

Then I went back to the NCWRC website and clicked on the "Hunting" tab again. Scrolled down to the Seasons and Limits tab...first noticing the "2021-22 Deer Season Dates" PDF. Clicked on that and saw the "different locations" dates. Then figured out where I would be hunting. From there I searched around and found the game land maps. With the map names different from the hunting ranges, I had to once again do some figuring...central, mountain, piedmont, coastal, north this and western that!

Went to the Mountain Region maps and found the south mountains....now I think I know where I want to go...I said to myself!

Then I had to find out where that placed on times and dates. That is when it got stupid jumping around trying to find information.

So I found the county in which that part of the lands was located and saw it would be Rutherford county. Then saw that county was in yellow and considered central deer zone. Ah yes, I thought......Dec 20th to Dec 3rd. Unfortunately by then, with all the jumping around....I missed other important information. I soon discovered that the game lands had additional regulations thus gun season was not the 20th, but the 22nd...how stupid! Then forgetting I was on a special regulation page...an addition to.....I saw only Nov 27th. My brain exploded while thinking only one day of hunting!!!! Then to top it all off, yet hidden in another link was the Sunday issues.

FWIW...
The County you want to hunt will be in a zone with a published season...
An individual gameland itself might have a season that's more restricted than the season of the county that it's in...
Within that the gameland is likely to have a more restricted doe season.
 

Winchester 73'

Six Pointer
Back to being confused again. So the South Mountains is open from Nov 22 to Dec 11th? We talked about this but I copied down Dec 3rd!
I hope to be off work tomorrow but certainly Sunday. I may not get another chance till sometime between Dec 5th and Dec 11th. Next year I will be putting in for vacation!!

SOUTH MOUNTAINS GAME LAND – BURKE, CLEVELAND, MCDOWELL AND RUTHERFORD COUNTIES​

  • Seven-day-per-week area.
  • Gun Deer Season: Nov. 22 – Dec. 11 in all portions of the game land.
  • Gun Either-Sex Deer Season: Nov. 27 (introductory season) in all portions of the game land.
  • Blackpowder Season: Oct. 4 – Oct. 16 in all portions of the game land.
  • Archery Season: Sept. 11 – Oct. 2, Oct. 18 – Nov. 20, and antlered deer only from Dec. 13 – Jan. 1 in all portions of the game land.
  • Horseback riding is prohibited, except on designated trails Jan. 2 – March 31 and May 16 – Aug. 31 and on Sundays April 1 – May 15 and Sept. 1 – Jan. 1. This rule includes all equine species.
 
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lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
So let me ask a question that may confuse Brian even more. I think that South Mountain is in the Northwestern Zone, but can't he still hunt black power and archery till Jan. 1?
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
Guess I had better clean my glasses before i look at the map next time............ But the question still remains. Can't he use black powder or archery till Jan. 1?
 

Winchester 73'

Six Pointer
So let me ask a question that may confuse Brian even more. I think that South Mountain is in the Northwestern Zone, but can't he still hunt black power and archery till Jan. 1?

I don't hunt with bows or muzzle loaders, so that confusion does not apply to me...LOLOLOL
However, if they ever change it to Black Powder Cartridge, then it's GAME ON!!!!
 

Winchester 73'

Six Pointer
How far do most of you guy like to walk? I am 55 and I think a mile will be good enough for me. I don't plan on shooting anything this trip BUT I won't let that big guy get away if I see him. I will actually be limited on time (I am on-call for work) so I don't plan on shooting anything on purpose. I may have to walk in and out before 2pm. My apologies if I walk up on anyone!!!
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
But it looks like you could extend your season if you grabbed a muzzle loader. Just saying.
In west after rifle goes out its archery only till Jan 1st and buck only. That Is a relatively new reg used be you get 3 weeks gun then it was just done. But lot rut activity gets hot in mid Dec in mtns so they gave us the buck only archery.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
How far do most of you guy like to walk? I am 55 and I think a mile will be good enough for me. I don't plan on shooting anything this trip BUT I won't let that big guy get away if I see him. I will actually be limited on time (I am on-call for work) so I don't plan on shooting anything on purpose. I may have to walk in and out before 2pm. My apologies if I walk up on anyone!!!
No certain distance or time I walk till I find fresh sign then sit on it could be hour could be 5 minutes
 

Winchester 73'

Six Pointer
Well, I at least showed up. It was short lived since I was on-call and no cell service. I will be back!
 
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