"These new areas don't have a lot of bears and we don't expect a significant harvest increase," Jones said. "All of Alexander, Wilkes, part of Surry, part of Iredell, part of Catawba, all of Yadkin, and Caldwell, Burke and Cleveland counties are included. The only significant bear numbers are in Wilkes and Surry counties. The official justification that was used in taking it to the public is that there has been an increase in bear range and a request from sportsmen to open these areas."

Jones said there have been bears in those counties for a little while and there is probably a population along the Virginia border in the Piedmont. But other than that, there doesn't appear to be a Piedmont population other than dispersing young males.

"There are a few bears harvested at South Mountains," Jones said. "But most of the harvest will come from Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. Ninety percent of the harvest will come from traditional counties. Cherokee, Graham, Macon and McDowell counties are the top producers. There is a combination of lots of access and lots of traditional bear hunters in those counties. Hound hunting probably accounts for better than 95 percent of mountain bears. At the coast, we get more still-hunting. There are more agricultural areas at the coast to concentrate the bears.

At the coast, the 2004 game land coastal harvest was 55 or 5.2 percent, which is about normal. The main reason is that most of the bears are on private land and most of the public lands are designated or undesignated bear sanctuaries. Lots of national wildlife refuge lands in Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Dare counties are closed to bear hunting, including Alligator River NWR, Pocosin Lakes NWR and Great Dismal Swamp NWR. Gull Rock Game Land in Washington County is an official bear sanctuary. Green Swamp Game Land in Brunswick County is a bear sanctuary. North River Game Land and parts of Croatan National Forest are bear sanctuaries. Roanoke River Game Land is a bear sanctuary.

Most of the coastal bears are taken within 10 miles of an official or undesignated sanctuary, not only because the sanctuaries help increase bear populations, but because they are core areas in terms of habitat. They tend to be marginal forested areas free of human disturbance and include undeveloped swamps and pocosins with lots of mature hardwood forests, which produce both hard mast and soft mast like blackgum berries.

Where these good bear habitats occur next to agriculture, the best bear hunting occurs. In the upper Coastal Plain, agricultural areas alone do not produce high bear harvests. For maximum bear density and hunter success, an area must have a combination of agriculture and forests, such as in the central and southern Coastal Plain.

The highest bear harvests on coastal game lands occur at Croatan National Forest in Craven, Jones and Carteret counties, Holly Shelter and Angola Bay game lands in Pender County, Bladen Lakes State Forest in Bladen County, Chowan Swamp Game Land in Gates County, Lantern Acres in Tyrrell County, Vann Swamp Game Land in Washington and Beaufort counties, Bachelor Bay Game Land in Washington and Bertie counties, Alligator River Game Land in Tyrrell County, Buckridge Game Land in Tyrrell County, Goose Creek Game Land in Beaufort and Pamlico counties.

Hunting clubs lease land at Hoffman Forest in Jones County and on other timber company lands owned by Weyerhaeuser, Canal Woods, Corbett and International. These hunting club lands generally offer the best bear hunting in the Coastal Plain.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Outback Outfitters has guided still-hunts for bears in Washington and Hyde counties. Contact Willie Allen at (252) 975-2549 or (252) 944-7928.

The N.C. Wildlife Commission has produced an excellent video, "The Bear Facts, The Story of a North Carolina Treasure." To obtain a copy, contact the NCWRC at (919) 733-7291 or visit the Web site at www.ncwidlife.org.