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When does North Carolina's 2026–27 ring-necked pheasant season open?

Last updated 2026-09-24 · from NCWRC data · 2026–27 season year

North Carolina's 2026–27 ring-necked pheasant season runs September 5, 2026 to February 28, 2027, on dates that depend on the zone. North Carolina zones this season: 2 of 2 zones open, and the dates differ between them. North Carolina allows Sunday hunting on private land with some limits, and restricts it on many public game lands. The per-game-land rule is not carried in this app — check the game land before you go.

The dates

NCWRC's own dates for the 2026–27 season year, read from NCWRC. North Carolina lists this season as Ring-necked pheasant.

ZoneOpensClosesDays
Remainder of the state boundary not mapped September 5, 2026February 28, 2027177
Barrier islands of Carteret, Dare and Hyde counties boundary not mapped November 21, 2026February 28, 2027100

The best weeks

This app carries no agency-sourced peak for ring-necked pheasant in North Carolina, so none is claimed here. Within the dates above, the two weeks either side of the leaf drop are the traditional answer in the northern states and the first hard frost is the southern one — both are hunters' rules of thumb rather than anything an agency published.

Shooting hours

Legal hours
not carried
NCWRC publishes shooting hours in the Regulations Digest rather than as a sentence on a page we read, and this app holds no copy. We do not retype it from memory — a wrong minute at either end of the day is a citation. Read the digest before opening day. NCWRC
Sundays
North Carolina allows Sunday hunting on private land with some limits, and restricts it on many public game lands. The per-game-land rule is not carried in this app — check the game land before you go.

The other questions

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