The February issue of Carolina Fish and Hunt includes a blockbuster magazine merger announcement.
The February issue of Carolina Fish and Hunt is now live, and includes a blockbuster magazine merger announcement…
The February issue of Carolina Fish and Hunt is now live, and includes a blockbuster magazine merger announcement…
Check out the January issue of Carolina Fish and Hunt Magazine, the premier outdoor magazine of the Carolinas!
What’s happening in the Carolinas for outdoorsmen this month? Check out the latest issue of Carolina Fish and Hunt magazine to find out!
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A preliminary case of CWD has been detected in Edgecombe County.
Secondary testing being performed
The NCWRC has reported the first presumptive case of Chronic Wasting Disease in Edgecombe County, NC. Secondary testing is being performed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory to verify the results.
The positive result of CWD appeared in a 3.5-year-old male deer that was harvested by a hunter a few miles from the Pitt-Martin County line, in the eastern corner of Edgecombe County.
If confirmed as positive, this would mark the first case in Edgecombe County, and the 35th overall in the state of North Carolina. The first in the state was detected in 2022.
“We’re certainly not happy to learn that we may have a new CWD-infected area in the northeastern part of the state,” said Chris Kreh, the NCWRC’s assistant chief of the Game and Furbearer Program. “However, this is what our surveillance plan is designed to do – find areas where CWD is occurring, as early as possible, so we can minimize its impact.”
Transmissible to other deer through saliva, urine and feces, CWD is a fatal disease, and the movement of deer carcasses and carcass parts can also spread the disease.
There is no cure for CWD, and it’s also impossible to detect the presence of the disease in live deer. Deer usually appear healthy during the early stages of the disease, and hunters who have killed deer that later tested CWD-positive said they noticed nothing out-of-the-ordinary about those deer.
NCWRC urges hunters to have their harvested deer tested. Click here to find out how to have yours tested.
Jeff Hurst killed a 13-point cactus buck in Martin County, NC.
Jeff Hurst of Robersonville, NC killed a very unique buck on Nov. 3, 2025. The 13-point cactus buck had a 19-inch spread and weighed 183 pounds. The rack is still in velvet and is covered in numerous bumps.
This is one of those deer that is a trophy for many reasons, mainly because it is so unique and so different from what hunters normally see. We’re sure Jeff has a special place picked out on the wall to put a mount of this buck.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2025, North Carolina anglers will be required to report their harvests of five species to NCDMF.
Anglers fishing in North Carolina’s Coastal, Joint and some Inland fishing waters will be required to report their harvests of certain fish beginning Dec. 1, 2025.
The harvest reporting requirements impact both recreational and commercial fishermen. Any recreational angler who harvests red drum, flounder, speckled trout, striped bass and weakfish (gray trout) will be required to report their harvests to the NC Division of Marine Fisheries.
Fish harvested from the waters shown in this map are required to be reported:
Commercial anglers must report all harvested fish to the agency, whether they sell the fish or not.
Information required when reporting recreational catches:
Methods to report recreational harvests:
Recreational anglers fishing from a boat must report their harvest when they reach the shore or dock. Those fishing on land must report their harvest once they are no longer engaged in fishing.
If you anticipate not having cell phone/internet connection at the time of your harvest, you may download a report card from the DMF website. Use the report card to keep track of your harvests, then you’ll have until midnight the following day to submit your information electronically.
The law will be phased in over a 3-year period, with verbal warnings issued during the first year, followed by warning tickets during the second year, then a monetary fine plus court fees during the third year. During the third year, failing to report your harvests will also count towards suspension of fishing licenses and permits.
Youth hunter Jacob Cyr took advantage of South Carolina’s first Youth Day of the 2025 deer hunting season by downing a buck in full velvet in Beaufort County.
Cyr killed this buck on Aug. 9, when Youth Day was open in the Palmetto State’s Game Zones 3 and 4.
Fifteen-year-old Noah Cox from Callahan, Florida has been hunting in Hampton County, SC with his Dad and Pa since he was 5-years-old. His dream of harvesting a velvet buck finally came true on opening Youth Day 2025 with this 8-point buck.
Another victim had leg amputated
The driver of a boat involved in a deadly crash on North Carolina’s Shearon Harris Lake has been charged with second degree murder, among other charges. His girlfriend, the owner of the boat, has also been charged with felony death by impaired boating, serious injury via impaired boating, and aiding and abetting boating while impaired.
Quinten Kight, 40-years-old of Vass, NC, was driving the boat on Aug. 2, 2025 when he plowed into a group of swimmers. The crash killed 10-year-old Brooklyn Carroll. Another victim, 41-year-old Jennifer Stehle, was injured badly, and had to have one of her legs amputated and is facing a lengthy recovery.
Annemarie Flanigan, 56, is Kight’s girlfriend and the owner of the boat he was driving.
Driver charged with multiple violations
After the crash, Kight was charged with DWI and taken to jail on a $500,000 bond. A few days later, Flanigan was also arrested and charged.
The victims were swimming in the lake behind the Stehle family’s Starcraft deck boat, which was anchored. Kight was pulling two people on wake boards while driving Flanigan’s Tige surf boat. When one of the wake boarders fell, Kight looked behind the surf boat, then struck Carroll and Stehle who were in front of him.
According to Capt. Nathan Green with NCWRC, the two victims were injured by the wake boat’s propeller, and officials found a purple/teal youth PFD wrapped around the propeller.
Kight admitted to drinking alcohol before crash
The crash happened around 4:30 p.m. An NCWRC officer arrived around 5 p.m., where he observed Kight sitting on a nearby dock eating a sandwich, according to the warrant. The officer noted Kight’s eyes were red and glassy. The officer also detected a strong smell of alcohol.
While being questioned, Kight said he’d had “at least two hard seltzers” before the crash. Officials found a total of 39 empty hard seltzer cans on the boat, which had “at least 10” other occupants.
According to court documents, Kight was already out of jail on bond when he crashed into Carroll and Stehle. This was from charges related to a hit-and-run that injured Alex Myers of Vass in 2023.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Carroll’s family. Click here to donate or see more details.
