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Where to hunt northern bobwhite near Sanford, North Carolina

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

There are 3 public units within 40 miles of Sanford, North Carolina that hold ground where northern bobwhite is recorded — 54,782 acres of it. The most of it is in Sandhills Game Land, 31 miles out, with 50,735 recorded acres. The season runs November 21, 2026 to February 28, 2027 — 100 days afield, read against the 2026–27 season year from NCWRC. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with NCWRC before you park.

Public land within 40 miles of Sanford

Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.

Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where northern bobwhite is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.

NCWRC names no geographic restriction on this season, so no unit is excluded for being outside one.
Season geography here is read off a dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.

UnitClassMilesRecorded acresAcres in rangeWhere the records are
Sandhills Game Land part of the unit State game land 31 50,735 50,735 100% stronghold
Uwharrie National Forest part of the unit National forest 32 3,586 4,005 90% stronghold, 10% occasional
Rhodes Pond Game Land State game land 33.6 461 461 100% regular

A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with NCWRC before you park.

Season and limits

NCWRC's dates for the 2026–27 season year, read from NCWRC. North Carolina lists this season as Northern bobwhite.

SegmentOpensClosesDays
Statewide November 21, 2026February 28, 2027100
Open today
Shut — next opening November 21, 2026
Bag limit
not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current NCWRC regulations before you go.
Hunter orange
requiredAnyone hunting bear, feral swine, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant or quail with a firearm must wear a cap or hat of hunter orange, or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides.
Shooting hours
not carried
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.

What to walk when you get there

Broomsedge and native warm-season grass with bare ground under it, brushy field borders, and the edge of a cut field against a hedgerow. Quail need to walk under the cover, not through it, which is why manicured ground holds none.

Hunt the edges of managed early-succession fields and the borders between crop and brush. Coveys hold in a few known spots and use them year after year; the singles after a covey rise scatter into the thickest nearby cover.

Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.

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