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Hunting services
Guides and Preserves in North Carolina
A statewide list of 25 guides and preserves, mountains to coast, with a filter and a map of every listing we could place.
Photo: btrentler (CC BY 2.0)
Preserves, guides and licenses
Controlled hunting preserves
Oct. 1-March 31, domestically raised birds, no limits; Sunday 9:30-12:30 restriction does not apply. A Controlled Hunting Preserve Hunting license costs $28.
Guide license
Hunting guides in North Carolina buy a Hunting/Inland Fishing Guide license: $20 resident, $196 nonresident.
Wild quail areas
500+ acre private areas under agreement (225 acres or 15% in year-round quail habitat); no released birds; quail only during the regular season; supplemental feeding rules (15A NCAC 10B.0227).
No private access program
North Carolina has no walk-in or leased private land program; the game lands are the public option.
Sources: small game seasons; NCWRC preserve rules; 15A NCAC 10B .0227, compared with the NCWRC wording on October 25, 2026.
Mountain Region: 8 guides and preserves
Piedmont Region: 1 guides and preserves
Coastal Region: 16 guides and preserves
NCWRC’s controlled hunting preserve page gives rules but no list, so these are Yellow Pages guide, preserve and game farm listings with a hunting word in the name, checked October 25, 2026.
Mapping North Carolina guides and preserves
Pins from street addresses and source layers: 22. Town-centre pins stand in for 2 listings the geocoder missed.
North Carolina guides and preserves, answered
How many guides versus preserves are listed?
The list holds 14 preserve or game farm listings and 11 guide services, a thin count because no state list exists.
When are controlled hunting preserves open?
Oct. 1-March 31, domestically raised birds, no limits; Sunday 9:30-12:30 restriction does not apply.
How many guides and preserves are on this list?
25 across 21 counties.
What county has the most guides and preserves?
Bertie County (2), Bladen County (2) and Iredell County (2).
How are guides and preserves spread between mountains, Piedmont and coast?
16 in the Coastal Region, 8 in the Mountain Region and 1 in the Piedmont Region.
What sources list these guides and preserves?
NCWRC’s controlled hunting preserve page gives rules but no list, so these are Yellow Pages guide, preserve and game farm listings with a hunting word in the name, checked October 25, 2026.
Are all guides and preserves on the map?
22 of 25 have their own coordinates, 2 are pinned at their town centre, and 1 sit under their county with no pin.
Do all 100 counties have guides and preserves?
79 counties have none listed; look under a neighbouring county instead.
Other lists besides guides and preserves
Other photos on this page: ncwetlands.org (CC0 1.0); kdwood2 (CC BY-SA 2.0); Sarah and Jason (CC BY-SA 2.0); NPS Photo (Public domain); Ryan Hodnett (CC BY-SA 2.0).