● Ranked from real North Carolina data · 2024-25
Best counties to lease or own hunting land in North Carolina
North Carolina counties where private hunting access is worth the most — strong deer harvest AND very little public land, so a hunter has real demand and nowhere free to go. If you own ground here, this is what it's worth.
#1Randolph County2,696 antlered bucks · 2.1% public2.1% public→#2Anson County2,079 antlered bucks · 0.9% public0.9% public→#3Cleveland County2,061 antlered bucks · 0.9% public0.9% public→#4Union County1,979 antlered bucks · 0% public0% public→#5Moore County1,915 antlered bucks · 1% public1% public→#6Davidson County1,829 antlered bucks · 1.4% public1.4% public→#7Stanly County1,795 antlered bucks · 0.5% public0.5% public→#8Rockingham County1,701 antlered bucks · 0.5% public0.5% public→#9Rutherford County1,768 antlered bucks · 4.3% public4.3% public→#10Wilkes County1,712 antlered bucks · 2% public2% public→#11Halifax County1,659 antlered bucks · 3.4% public3.4% public→#12Rowan County1,608 antlered bucks · 1.9% public1.9% public→
How this list is ranked
Ranked by opportunity = reported antlered bucks harvest (normalized) × private-land scarcity (1 − huntable public %). Strong harvest with little public land ranks highest. A relative guide from public data, not an appraisal.
Data year: 2024-25. Each row links to its full page with every number cited to its agency source. A place missing a signal is never guessed — it simply can't rank.
More North Carolina rankings