Where do I buy a North Carolina hunting license?

North Carolina hunting licenses and tags are sold by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.

When is North Carolina hunting season?

Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the North Carolina season dates change every year. Our North Carolina deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission regulations before you plan a hunt.

What can you hunt in North Carolina?

Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out North Carolina for black bear. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.

Where is public hunting land in North Carolina?

Good starting points include Pisgah Game Land / Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala Game Land / Nantahala National Forest, Uwharrie Game Land / Uwharrie National Forest. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.

Hunting · State by State

North Carolina Hunting Guide

What to hunt in North Carolina, what it costs, the laws that matter and where the public land is — with the official North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission links.

Three distinct deer seasons across Coastal, Piedmont, and Western regions, plus hundreds of thousands of acres of Game Lands open to any licensed hunter.

Terrain varies sharply by region: the Coastal Plain is flat farmland, pocosin, and bottomland hardwood with the state's highest deer densities, the Piedmont is rolling mixed farmland and hardwood forest, and the Western mountains inside Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are steep, rugged ridge-and-hollow terrain with a much sparser herd.

Agency: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
Region: Southeast
Deer rank: #27 of 50
Species guides: 2

North Carolina hunting license and tag costs

Deer license and tag prices as last reviewed. Other species' permits are listed in the agency fee schedule.

License / tag	Price
Resident hunting license (annual)	approx. $25
Resident big game hunting privilege	approx. $15-$25
Nonresident hunting license (annual)	approx. $80
Nonresident big game hunting privilege	approx. $80-$120
Game Lands hunting privilege	approx. $25 (often bundled in combo licenses)

North Carolina hunting laws to know

Rules that catch hunters out most often. Not a substitute for the regulations book.

Topic	Rule
Blaze orange	Required on Game Lands during open firearms deer season for most hunters; archers may be exempt during archery-only periods on some Game Lands, so check the individual Game Land rules.
Baiting/feeding	Baiting is illegal statewide for deer hunting in North Carolina, both on public and private land.
Crossbow legality	Crossbows are legal for any hunter during archery season and throughout gun seasons, with no special permit required.
Sunday hunting	Sunday hunting for deer is allowed on private land with landowner permission under state law, subject to some local restrictions; it remains prohibited on most Game Lands.
Legal firearms	Centerfire rifles, shotguns with slugs, muzzleloaders, and handguns meeting minimum caliber rules are legal during gun season; straight-wall cartridge rifles are also permitted in most areas.
Tagging/harvest reporting	Hunters must validate their harvest tag immediately and report the deer through the state's big game harvest reporting system, generally within 24 hours.
CWD carcass transport	Deer harvested inside a CWD Surveillance Area are subject to carcass movement restrictions; hunters must follow NCWRC rules on deboning or disposal before moving a carcass out of the surveillance counties.
Hunter education	Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1975 must complete a hunter education course before buying a North Carolina hunting license.

North Carolina deer season structure (2025-26)

North Carolina's deer seasons run on three separate regional calendars (Coastal, Piedmont, Western) that shift slightly year to year — always confirm exact dates and either-sex days on the current NCWRC Season Dates chart before you hunt.

Season	Weapon	Typical window
Archery (Coastal/Piedmont)	Bow / crossbow	Early Sept – early Oct, reopens after gun season in parts of the Piedmont
Archery (Western)	Bow / crossbow	Mid-Sept – early Oct
Blackpowder/Muzzleloader	Muzzleloader	About one week before gun season opens, region-specific
Gun season (Coastal)	Rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader	Mid-Oct – early Jan
Gun season (Piedmont)	Rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader	Mid-Nov – early Jan
Gun season (Western)	Rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader	Mid-to-late Nov, roughly 2 weeks

What you can hunt in North Carolina

Deer — White-tailed deer
Good · ranked #27 of 50 for deer.
Black Bear
Sleeper states with big bears and public national forest
Access: Over-the-counter with unit-specific seasons

Public hunting land in North Carolina

North Carolina's public deer hunting runs through its Game Lands system, which includes tracts inside national forests as well as state-managed properties open to any licensed hunter with a Game Lands privilege.

Pisgah Game Land / Pisgah National Forest
Game Land / National forest · Western North Carolina
Rugged Blue Ridge terrain with a lower deer density but classic mountain hunting inside a huge national forest tract.
Official page
Nantahala Game Land / Nantahala National Forest
Game Land / National forest · Far Western North Carolina
Extensive national forest acreage in the state's southwestern corner with steep ridges and a shorter, mountain-specific gun season.
Uwharrie Game Land / Uwharrie National Forest
Game Land / National forest · Central Piedmont
Rolling hardwood and pine forest close to the Charlotte/Triad metro areas, popular with archery hunters chasing a decent Piedmont deer density.
Sandhills Game Land
Game Land · South-central North Carolina
One of the state's largest Game Lands, with longleaf pine and turkey oak sandhill habitat and quota hunts for deer.
Suggs Mill Pond Game Land
Game Land · Coastal Plain
Bottomland hardwood and pocosin habitat in the Sandhills/Coastal transition zone, known for solid Coastal Plain deer numbers.
Angola Bay Game Land
Game Land · Southeastern Coastal Plain
Large pocosin wetland tract offering remote, lightly pressured Coastal Plain deer hunting.
Croatan National Forest
National forest · Coastal North Carolina
Coastal pine flatwoods and pocosin habitat open under state Game Land regulations, with a long Coastal season.

Official North Carolina links

Last reviewed 2026-09.

Nearby state hunting guides

Questions

Frequently asked

Where do I buy a North Carolina hunting license?: North Carolina hunting licenses and tags are sold by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.
When is North Carolina hunting season?: Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the North Carolina season dates change every year. Our North Carolina deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission regulations before you plan a hunt.
What can you hunt in North Carolina?: Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out North Carolina for black bear. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.
Where is public hunting land in North Carolina?: Good starting points include Pisgah Game Land / Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala Game Land / Nantahala National Forest, Uwharrie Game Land / Uwharrie National Forest. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.