hipoint,
Can you keep deer killed with depredation permits in NC? A friend moved to western NC last year and the owner of an apple orchard told him deer killed with depredation permits have to stay where they fall and the meat can't be taken. Any truth to that? Thanks.
N.C. has some funny laws, however they are VERY clear. In N.C. ANY property OWNER can shoot an animal in the act of destroying property. Period. However you have to burn it, bury it, or call the wardens to come dispose of it as they see fit, usually somewhere on the property however there are laws regarding this as well. It's pretty clear cut about getting rid of critters hurting your property without much grey area. HOWEVER, that's what the depredation permits are for... so you can eat them. Your friend needs to talk to some wildlife service agents (game wardens), my guess is he hasn't done this and is just going on rumor. I've heard so many things regarding hunting laws over the years that I finally quit believing them, if I have a question, I call the wildlife commission (number is in the game laws book) and ask them for myself. They've been quite helpful. When I get the wardens out here they write me a permit that is good for one month at a time, and usually list it for 5 deer. That covers spotlighting, does, out of season, pretty much anything as long as you don't break federal laws. Their explanation of that was "no full auto for hunting"... However it does allow for sunday gun hunting (which is currently illegal in western n.c.). Anyhow, my guess is, if your friend actually calls the game wardens and has a valid complaint about the deer (or other wildlife), they will come out and inspect the damage, then write him permits for as long as he likes. They do not like to get out to a "farm" and find out that it's a garden size area unless the damage is really super severe. As long as you're straight with them, they're very helpful. Before hogs were considered Feral in this part of the state, some friends of mine got a depredation permit based solely on damage to their lawn... but, it was pretty bad.
hope that helped!
**sorry, misread your post... If your friend isn't the orchard owner, then it is in a grey area about shooting deer WITHOUT a permit. However to be 100% by the letter of the law, the land owner has to call the game wardens, get them to come and write a permit in both his name AND the name of the person hunting (I think space on the permit allows for 3 names). This permit allows you to eat the animal, transport carcass, etc. Most farmers, Like me, have gotten tired of going through the process of calling wardens, waiting on them to arrive (which might take 2 weeks), walking the land with them etc.. to get a permit for someone else who then only shows up once or twice during the month. That's why I quit getting permits for other folks, now I only get them for myself. They're free, don't cost anything, but still a pain in the butt to get. I never quite understood that, folks would be very excited about getting to legally spotlight and hunt out of season as well as being able to take up to 5 deer, then only show up for an hour maybe two hours in the whole month. After that happened over and over, I no longer go through the stuff to get permits for others, but I do allow in-season hunting here.
