NC mountain backcountry rifle deer hunting

freshta

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Anyone on here do any backcountry, game land deer hunting in NC w/a rifle? If so, what kind of shots do you get? Are most of them close or do you have a spot where you can really reach out a fair distance?
 
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I will be this year both bow and gun. Turkey hunted in some rugged game lands and I could see some lengthy shots with the leaves off but most everything inside 100.
 
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Some wilderness area, somewhere
I have very few shots that get beyond 100 yards in non developed areas. There are a couple of places that I hunt where you can get on a ridgetop and shoot down to a clearing that will get you 200-400 yards, but they are few and far between.
 
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freshta

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Thanks everyone. I'm trying to combine my love for back country hunting with my love for mid-range rifle shooting. I can't make it out west this year, unfortunately, so I'm looking for something here in NC.
 

awaldro7

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I have lived and hunted in western NC for all of my 26 years. It is very rare to get a shot over 150 yards in my opinion. To put it in perspective, I have searched for a place to get to target shoot 300 yards and this year is the first time that I have located a place to do that. Unfortunately I believe that 90% of all western NC hunting could be accomplished with an open sight 30-30 lever gun. I live adjacent to the Pisgah National forest so I spend a decent amount of time in it. There is a location off of the blue ridge parkway that has some open fields that are gameland, however, they are heavily hunted and you will always have company out there.
 
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freshta

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Thanks for the info. That's my experience also. Other than some of the balds (too many people there). I've never really found any place that is wide open to allow for some longer range shots.
 

elkyinzer

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Anyone on here do any backcountry, game land deer hunting in NC w/a rifle? If so, what kind of shots do you get? Are most of them close or do you have a spot where you can really reach out a fair distance?

There are guys in PA into the long range thing and they tend to use extremely steep topography to shoot across valleys to opposing hillsides. The key is getting an opening which they use rights of way, clearings, or whatever to accomplish. I've seen a couple that clear their own brush to create vistas, which is illegal but they must be some dedicated sob's to be doing that. I have no idea if they kill deer or how they go about claiming these spots on opening morning but you can tell what they are used for when you come across one.
 
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You can use the topography to stretch your shots. I had some spots on the pisgah where I would sit on ridge and be able watch down into a valley and over onto another ridge. Openings in the canopy and laurel would have allowed me to shoot several hundred yards. But, a 400-500 yd shot probably meant a very long retrieval. I had one spot on a ridge top that allowed me to shoot across the valley onto another ridge, I could have stretched to 500 yds. But, retrieving a deer off that other ridge would have meant descending several hundred feet in elevation and climbing another several hundred feet to get to the spot. Probably about 3/4-1 mile worth of walking, plus the haul back to the truck. Not worth it to me. Most of the spots in the pisgah are going to afford you 75-100 yd shots, max.
 
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I really don't have anything to add. If it helps I'll be packing into pisgah with my grandpas model 94 Winchester open sites and I won't feel handicapped in anyway.
 

awaldro7

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I really don't have anything to add. If it helps I'll be packing into pisgah with my grandpas model 94 Winchester open sites and I won't feel handicapped in anyway.

My great grandfather left me a winchester model 94 after he past away also. Lots of bears and a few deer fell to that rifle. If only we could all be as satisfied and as simple as our grandparents were.....
 

philos

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Behind you
My great grandfather left me a winchester model 94 after he past away also. Lots of bears and a few deer fell to that rifle. If only we could all be as satisfied and as simple as our grandparents were.....

Well said
 

Bl704

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Charlotte NC
Most of the places I recall where you had a chance at a decent poke weren't gamelands.

But, a few hardwood ridge sides afford longer shots, get in some thick conifers or rhododendron and you may be hard-pressed for any shot but you've got everything in between too.
 
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