North Carolina game lands: hunting days, rules and deer harvest

These 87 game lands cover 2,104,445 acres, by NCWRC's acreage. The largest is Nantahala Game Land at 527,696 acres. The most deer reported in 2025-26 were on Nantahala Game Land (933), Pisgah Game Land (702) and Croatan Game Land (616).

Data updated October 2026. Rules: 15A NCAC 10D. Harvest: NCWRC's game land reports to 2025-26.

Map of the 87 North Carolina game lands with a FilledTag page — up to 2.3 deer per sq mi2.3 to 3.5 deer per sq mi3.5 to 4.5 deer per sq mi4.5 to 6 deer per sq miover 6 deer per sq miGame lands with a page

What do the hunting-day designations mean?

Designation	Hunting days	Game lands here
Three Days per Week Area	Hunting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, plus Thanksgiving, Christmas, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and New Year's Day, unless the game land's own rule allows other days.	9
Four Days per Week Area	Hunting on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus Labor Day, Veterans Day, Christmas, New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.	4
Six Days per Week Area	Hunting Monday through Saturday during the open seasons.	16
Seven Days per Week Area	Hunting every day of the open seasons.	40

Source: NCWRC game land rules, 15A NCAC 10D, 15A NCAC 10D .0103. Each game land's own rule can add days or limits.

Which game lands are in North Carolina?

Game land	Acres	Counties	Hunting days	Deer, 2025-26
Alligator River Game Land	24,439	Tyrrell	Seven Days per Week	40
Angola Bay Game Land	34,148	Pender and Duplin	Seven Days per Week	79
Bachelor Bay Game Land	2,786	Bertie and Washington	Seven Days per Week	1
Bertie County Game Land	4,238	Bertie	Six Days per Week	63
Bladen Lakes State Forest Game Land	33,672	Bladen	Three Days per Week	132
Brinkleyville Game Land	3,341	Halifax	Seven Days per Week	18
Buckhorn Game Land	491	Orange	Permit Only	8
Buckridge Game Land	17,966	Tyrrell	Three Days per Week	4
Buffalo Cove Game Land	7,030	Caldwell and Wilkes	Seven Days per Week	14
Bullard and Branch Game Land	256	Robeson	Four Days per Week	2
Butner-Falls of Neuse Game Land	37,480	Wake, Durham and Granville	Six Days per Week	450
Buxton Woods Game Land	975	Dare	Six Days per Week	2
Cape Fear River Wetlands Game Land	7,548	Pender and New Hanover	Seven Days per Week	45
Carteret County Game Land	7,144	Carteret	Seven Days per Week	98
Chatham Game Land	2,671	Chatham	Seven Days per Week	68
Chowan Swamp Game Land	33,769	Gates, Hertford, Bertie and Chowan	Six Days per Week	103
Cold Mountain Game Land	3,630	Haywood	Seven Days per Week	20
Columbus County Game Land	10,744	Columbus and Brunswick	Four Days per Week	55
Croatan Game Land	166,267	Craven, Carteret and Jones	Seven Days per Week	616
Currituck Banks Game Land	235	Currituck	Seven Days per Week	9
Dan River Game Land	1,705	Rockingham	Three Days per Week	30
Dare Game Land	46,055	Dare and Hyde	Seven Days per Week	20
Dover Bay Game Land	2,898	Craven	Six Days per Week	7
Dupont State Forest Game Land	11,949	Transylvania and Henderson	Permit Only	45
Elk Knob Game Land	721	Watauga	Seven Days per Week	11
Embro Game Land	9,381	Warren and Halifax	Seven Days per Week	21
Goose Creek Game Land	10,376	Beaufort and Pamlico	Seven Days per Week	32
Green River Game Land	15,224	Polk and Henderson	Six Days per Week	61
Green Swamp Game Land	18,577	Brunswick	Six Days per Week	92
Gull Rock Game Land	31,336	Hyde	Seven Days per Week	18
Harris Game Land	11,527	Wake, Chatham and Harnett	Seven Days per Week	123
Headwaters State Forest Game Land	6,208	Transylvania	Six Days per Week	13
Hill Farm Game Land	157	Stokes	Permit Only	22
Holly Shelter Game Land	65,139	Pender	Six Days per Week	204
Hyco Game Land	2,382	Person	Seven Days per Week	36
Johns River Game Land	6,483	Burke	Permit Only	53
Jordan Game Land	40,462	Chatham, Durham, Wake and Orange	Six Days per Week	283
Juniper Creek Game Land	20,481	Brunswick and Columbus	Seven Days per Week	81
Kerr Scott Game Land	521	Wilkes	Six Days per Week	8
Lantern Acres Game Land	1,831	Tyrrell and Washington	Six Days per Week	40
Lee Game Land	1,441	Lee and Chatham	Seven Days per Week	14
Light Ground Pocosin Game Land	942	Pamlico	Seven Days per Week	1
Linwood Game Land	169	Davidson	Seven Days per Week	10
Little Fork State Forest Game Land	1,270	Wilkes	Six Days per Week	1
Lower Fishing Creek Game Land	1,291	Edgecombe and Halifax	Seven Days per Week	23
Lower Roanoke River Wetlands Game Land	31,620	Bertie and Martin	Permit Only	133
Mayo Game Land	5,101	Person	Seven Days per Week	67
Mitchell River Game Land	2,432	Surry and Alleghany	Four Days per Week	21
Nantahala Game Land	527,696	Macon, Graham, Cherokee, Jackson, Clay, Swain and Transylvania	Seven Days per Week	933
Needmore Game Land	5,237	Swain and Macon	Seven Days per Week	86
Neuse River Game Land	5,965	Craven	Six Days per Week	51
New Lake Game Land	1,417	Tyrrell and Hyde	Seven Days per Week	29
Nicholson Creek Game Land	1,021	Hoke	Three Days per Week	14
North River Game Land	26,654	Camden and Currituck	Seven Days per Week	19
Pee Dee River Game Land	8,938	Richmond, Anson, Montgomery and Stanly	Seven Days per Week	142
Perkins Game Land	1,696	Davie	Four Days per Week	16
Pisgah Game Land	517,774	Transylvania, McDowell, Haywood, Madison, Burke, Caldwell, Yancey, Avery, Buncombe, Henderson, Mitchell, Watauga and Jackson	Seven Days per Week	702
Pond Mountain Game Land	3,701	Ashe	Seven Days per Week	37
Pungo River Game Land	350	Hyde	Six Days per Week	7
R. Wayne Bailey - Caswell Game Land	18,014	Caswell	Three Days per Week	219
Rhodes Pond Game Land	471	Cumberland	Permit Only	6
Rockfish Creek Game Land	2,689	Hoke	Three Days per Week	25
Rocky Run Game Land	390	Onslow	Permit Only	6
Sandhills Game Land	65,235	Richmond, Scotland, Moore and Hoke	Three Days per Week	228
Sandy Creek Game Land	923	Nash and Franklin	Seven Days per Week	8
Sandy Mush Game Land	2,862	Buncombe and Madison	Three Days per Week	96
Second Creek Game Land	1,106	Rowan	Permit Only	16
Shocco Creek Game Land	8,113	Warren, Franklin, Halifax and Nash	Seven Days per Week	24
South Mountains Game Land	22,583	Rutherford, Burke, Cleveland and McDowell	Seven Days per Week	64
Stones Creek Game Land	4,136	Onslow	Six Days per Week	64
Suggs Mill Pond Game Land	11,117	Bladen and Cumberland	Permit Only	17
Sutton Lake Game Land	1,357	New Hanover	Seven Days per Week	1
Tar River Game Land	154	Edgecombe	Permit Only	5
Texas Plantation Game Land	1,503	Tyrrell	Permit Only	8
Three Top Mountain Game Land	3,460	Ashe	Seven Days per Week	14
Thurmond Chatham Game Land	6,542	Wilkes and Alleghany	Seven Days per Week	17
Tillery Game Land	5,253	Halifax	Seven Days per Week	88
Toxaway Game Land	5,633	Transylvania	Seven Days per Week	19
Upper Roanoke River Wetlands Game Land	11,065	Northampton, Halifax and Bertie	Permit Only	154
Uwharrie Game Land	52,709	Montgomery, Randolph and Davidson	Seven Days per Week	379
Van Swamp Game Land	5,504	Washington and Beaufort	Seven Days per Week	113
Vance Game Land	853	Vance	Six Days per Week	82
Voice of America Game Land	2,818	Beaufort	Permit Only	4
White Oak River Game Land	2,597	Onslow	Three Days per Week	40
Whitehall Plantation Game Land	6,734	Bladen and Pender	Permit Only	26
William H. Silver Game Land	2,030	Haywood	Seven Days per Week	3
Yadkin River Game Land	11,636	Rowan, Davidson, Stanly, Davie and Montgomery	Seven Days per Week	203

Acres: NCWRC game land boundaries. Harvest: NCWRC reported deer harvest by game land, 2023-24 to 2025-26. 8 more game lands are not listed yet because their data is too thin for a page of their own.

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Sources: NCWRC game land rules, 15A NCAC 10D; NCWRC game land tracts; NCWRC reported deer harvest by game land, 2023-24 to 2025-26. FilledTag is not part of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.

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