At least many of us did as the North Carolina lawmakers failed to pass laws to overturn the addition of crossbows as archery equipment, the addition of a second week of muzzle loader season, opening up Sunday’s to hunting on private land and a number of other rules that were delayed. I think it was a good choice by our lawmakers to leave the rule making and wildlife management to the Wildlife Commission. I would also like to thank many of my readers who contacted law makers and urged them to let these bills die and not given into the special interest groups that hired lobbyists to get these rules blocked.
The new regulation digest will come out in August but NCWRC in anticipation of the interest in this did a press release listing all the delayed rules that will go into effect next month.

• Require persons harvesting deer through the Deer Management Assistance Program to use tags provided by the Commission and report their harvests, whether those deer are antlerless or antlered. Allow harvest of deer on DMAP areas under the big game harvest report card and the bonus antlerless deer harvest report card, where applicable.
• Change the description of where bonus antlerless deer harvest report cards may be used from “private lands” to “lands other than those enrolled in the Commission’s Game Land Program” in order to permit the use of these cards on military installations, national wildlife refuges, and other public lands that are NOT game lands.
• Remove the daily bag limit for deer.
• Allow hunters to use archery equipment to harvest deer during the muzzleloading firearms season on game lands.
• Shorten the bow season by one week and open the muzzleloader season one week earlier to create a two week muzzleloader season.
• Deer seasons in the Northwestern deer season will be changed so that the regular gun season is extended through January 1. Deer seasons in the Eastern, Central, and Western deer season structures will remain unchanged.
• Deer seasons on game lands in the Northwestern deer season will be changed so that the regular gun season is extended through January 1. Deer seasons on game lands in the Eastern, Central, and Western deer season structures will remain unchanged.
• Open all private lands in the Eastern, Central, and Northwestern deer seasons to the maximum either-sex deer season.
• Assign all of Moore County to the Eastern deer season.
• Allow falconry on Sundays, except for migratory game birds.
• Allow bow hunting on Sundays on private lands only, except for migratory game birds.
• Allow the use of crossbows anytime bow and arrows are legal weapons.
• Disallow the selling of live foxes and coyotes taken under a depredation permit to controlled hunting preserves.
• Allow a landowner with a valid depredation permit to give away the edible portions of deer to anyone. Require the recipient to retain a copy of the depredation permit.
• Eliminate the requirement that a landholder must get a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit for the taking of migratory birds before getting a Commission permit to do so.

This is great news for all of us who supported these changes but let’s remember there were a number of sportsmen for whatever reason opposed these rules. I hope that we can move on and find our common ground and mend fences because I’m sure there will be attacks on our traditions by anti hunting groups.

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