#Dove September 2

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Today is the start of Dove Hunting Season in NC

I am not a hunter but I am friends with many that are. The picture above captures a few of my buddies (l-r Don Metzger-Conor Metzger-Joe Terranova).

I know they will be out at sunrise this morning possibly at Allen Brothers in Bladenboro NC with hopes of bagging their limit. If I am lucky I will be sampling some of that dove breast meat wrapped in bacon cooked on a grill today at a end of summer pool party with friends.

I got thinking about just how many deer, bear, squirrels, ducks, and doves get harvested each year by North Carolina hunters.

I found some pretty amazing stats that are several years old. Here is a link to the 2014 2015 harvest survey for NC

First off I had no idea that in North Carolina hunters harvested over 40,000 coyotes. I had seen news reports of their increased numbers but just did not know that large of number had been killed by hunters.

The fact is coyotes have now been spotted in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Cary on a regular basis.

Other interesting numbers were that dove’s represented the largest number of kills with slightly less than a million taken in the state.

One final stat that caught my eye was I had no idea that North Carolina harvested as many bobcats and bears each year. I was really shocked to learn that over 25 bears were killed in nearby Cumberland County.

The bobcat can be found in all 100 of North Carolina counties.

Here is a 2015 trail webcam of a bobcat in Durham NC.