Game Land with dogs

coonhuntincowboy

Button Buck
Hey im interested in learning about dog hunting some public land this year to give my club land a break. Looking at the land in the eastern section of Nc and maybe some more north. How is the hunting there, are any of the public game lands better, any tips on it, anybody hunt there regular, how are the deer and crowds?? Really appreciate all the advice and tips you could give me. Thanks!
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I'll be honest with you just about every piece of GL I know that allows dog hunting there are plenty of people that already do exactly what you are thinking. Many do it religiously to the season ends for the ones that close earlier than the adjacent seasons on private land. Or they run GL during the week and hunt club land on Saturday when the crowd is heavier on GL. That isn't to say that there isn't room for more, it is first come first served.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Most GL are being hunted by the local clubs. I wouldn't plan on taking a pack of hounds and hunting any game land on the either sex days. I'm pretty sure somebody is going to be there. Now, on the flip side it could be a good time to take up a stand. I hunted game land quite often during the week with guys from the club. There usually was very little traffic outside of the either-sex season. Sometimes, there would be some new guys come in and hunt we usually wound up hunting together. Now, when the same guys came into the area every week and abused the hospitality of being able to retrieve dogs on the adjoining leased land, that got to be a little aggravating.
 
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Combat Diver

Eight Pointer
Not true to first come first served. I've set up my ground blind while before dawn then later in the morning have dogs/hunters roam thru the area spoiling my hunt.


CD
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
^ I bet they would not have cared if you would have shot a deer in front of the hounds. I know I would not have. Share and share alike, it is public land. I would not have cast dogs in the area you were hunting, but they could have went that way during the hunt.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We are full up down on the Sandhills gameland. There are at least 6 clubs that hunt that gameland that I know of. Woodmoose may know of more.
 
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coonhuntincowboy

Button Buck
I was lookin at some of the game lands toward the coast more like Van Swamp, Alligator River, croatan Forest, Holly Shelter, angola bay some of the lands in that area. How are they on weekdays. Is it hard to jump deer there or hard to cut em off?
 
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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Some say deer are behind every tree and to kill them with a dog takes as much skill as shooting ducks on water. Personally I have never witnessed this phenomenon. You may have to go seek it out for yourself.
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I've looked at the same places but never ran there.

Van Swamp looked good and it is likely that the dogs would stay on the 5000 acres. There is a road system there but some of the gates stay closed.

Alligator River, can you still hunt deer with dogs there. I know you could at one time and it was the only national wildlife refuge where you could.

Croatan and Holly Shelter would probably be my pick a road system and large.

Angola Bay, looks fine but if them hounds got into that Carolina bay it could be tough to get them out. There is a big area with no access, other than walking and walking in a Carolina bay, well maybe crawl.

That was just some of my aspects I was looking at when I was thinking of running some where different, just to have some change.
 

bertienchunter

Twelve Pointer
I would say Vann Swamp is loaded with hunters. We have a small gameland around my house in Bertie and it is loaded with dog hunters and still hunters all the time. Its about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of Vann Swamp.

Alligator River Refuge is big and the blocks are big. The roads are great and you could still dog hunt in there last year I know. I rode through there on the way back from the beach and picked up a brochure. I think you got to get a permit though or something.

Chowan swamp off of Hwy 13 and sandbanks road may be a good option in Gates Co. That used to be part of sandbanks hunting club so that probably gets hunted regularly as well.

I wouldn't go to any of them for the first time on a Friday or Saturday.
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I bear hunted on Van Swamp a time or two a couple of years after it was turned into a game land and found out that if the bear didn't tree within an hour he would head for the hi way and private land I would suspect the deer would do the same thing of course I don't know how much you are into hounds but the Howell boys are producing some killer fox and deer hounds they are not that far from Van Swamp it would be easy to swing by and pick up a pup or two.
 
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Ldsoldier

Old Mossy Horns
Holly Shelter and Angola Bay are already hunted pretty heavily with dogs. There's a number of clubs that run both.
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
Alligator River Refuge and Alligator River Gameland are two different places, on opposite sides of Alligator River. You can run dogs on both but I don't know how in the world you would ever do it on Alligator Gameland. They have the roads gated where you can't drive through and if you turned out, your dogs will end up on the other side or on the adjacent club and it will take you at least 20 to 30 minutes to go out and around to the other side.

On the refuge, you wouldn't have to worry about your dogs getting on land you can't access but the blocks are huge, some of the roads in the front are part of the wildlife drive and can't be hunted on, the roads in the back are bad in places and there's a bunch of locals that run it most every day. The only permit you have to have is the little pamphlet that they have in the boxes at the beginning of pretty much every road. It has all the rules and has to be signed and dated.
 

treestock

Four Pointer
We Run on bladen lakes in a smallish group. Roads are pretty good blocks are easy to cut off most 1000 acre squares except for the bays. Deer pop sucks as compared to the surrounding area. Wall to wall with hunters until the excitement dies down. I go to watch the dogs work and get the kids out the house. One upside is I run into less buttholes out there than I have on private clubs because nobodies got alot invested

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treestock

Four Pointer
^ I bet they would not have cared if you would have shot a deer in front of the hounds. I know I would not have. Share and share alike, it is public land. I would not have cast dogs in the area you were hunting, but they could have went that way during the hunt.
Yup i had a few shot off my dogs and none of them by my little crowd. Couldn't have been happier my standers would get a little ill that they weren't killing the deer lol I'd just jab at them and tell them to learn to course the dogs better

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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Yup i had a few shot off my dogs and none of them by my little crowd. Couldn't have been happier my standers would get a little ill that they weren't killing the deer lol I'd just jab at them and tell them to learn to course the dogs better

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Sounds like something I would say. LOL
 

Southside

Ten Pointer
Thought I would check here too about GL. Does anyone have any info or input on Juniper Creek GL in Green Swamp area?
To stay on topic of this thread I have no knowledge of Alligator rive GL or the refuge. I do k ow that Van Swamp can get very crowded. Ran bear there one year and other hunters had the roads lined pretty good. There were no issues but I had no idea who they were.

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Combat Diver

Eight Pointer
Juniper Creek GL is my primary hunting area. Not hunting it this year as I leave for Afghanistan tomorrow. There's lots of game there and if you put your effort in, you'll tag a few. Dog hunters are there also but I hunt solo.


CD
 

Southside

Ten Pointer
Juniper Creek GL is my primary hunting area. Not hunting it this year as I leave for Afghanistan tomorrow. There's lots of game there and if you put your effort in, you'll tag a few. Dog hunters are there also but I hunt solo.


CD
Thanks for the info as well as for your trip out tomorrow. Be safe

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buckshot32182

Eight Pointer
Van Swamp is right in my front yard. I hunt there from time to time. I go there in the afternoon's after work and dump dogs and run a few hours. Really good running there but you are going to be playing with the highway. Main road off the Hollis road is the best road to hunt from. Dogs will run them across the roads up there but you have to be driving them. Those deer are run everyday and know how to do it. Very seldom do dogs cross the highway but not saying they WONT. Weekdays up there not to crowded. Weekends been told it's packed. I'm a member of Northern Dismal so I don't hunt there on Saturday's. Message me if you have any questions. Heck, I'm going up there today for the first time this year.
 
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