On an overcast day, with 38 degrees, light misty drizzle, and an 18 knot wind, duck hunters' thoughts turn to the frail barrier islands off the North Carolina coast. Snow geese, Canada geese, mallards, tundra swans, and many other waterfowl follow the Atlantic Flyway south to the food-rich marshes of the Outer Banks.

The State of North Carolina, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service request hunters take extra care while hunting on Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

To hunt legally at Cape Hatteras National Seashore you must have on your person a valid North Carolina hunting license with North Carolina waterfowl privilege and a Federal Duck Stamp.

Learn the silhouettes, flight patterns and winter plumage of the waterfowl you may legally hunt. Your familiarity with game and non-game species will contribute to waterfowl conservation programs and help insure a successful hunt.

Bodie Island
Hunting on this island is by registration request only and is limited by a lottery. Successful applicants may hunt in assigned blinds only. Twenty (20) permanent blinds are available and are assigned to successful lottery applicants. Hunters must register at the Whalebone Visitor Contact Station to be assigned a blind.

Further information and a hunting map of the Bodie Island area may be obtained from ranger stations at Buxton, Ocracoke, Bodie Island and the Outer Banks Group National Park Service Headquarters Office near Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island.

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Hunting is not permitted on this portion of Hatteras Island or the adjacent waters of Pamlico Sound.

Hatteras Island
Hunting is permitted within 250 feet of the Pamlico Sound shoreline, between the villages of Salvo and Avon, Avon and Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras, and Hatteras Village and Hatteras Inlet.

Ocracoke Island
Hunting is permitted on the Pamlico Sound side of NC Highway 12, within 250 feet of the shoreline excluding Ocracoke Village, Hammock Hills Nature Trail, and the posted area near Ocracoke Pony Pasture.

Hunting areas are administered by the National Park Service with the assistance and cooperation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of North Carolina. All federal and state regulations are applicable and are enforced by National Park Rangers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agents, and North Carolina Wildlife Officers.

National Park Service regulations carry a maximum fine of $5,000 and/or six months imprisonment for violations. Call 911 to report violations and emergencies.

• Only waterfowl hunting is permitted within Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
• Non-toxic shot is the required ammunition for all shotguns.
• Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
• Permanent blinds are provided on Bodie Island; no temporary blinds are allowed on Bodie Island.
• Same-day set-up and removal of temporary blinds by hunters is permitted on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. Minimum distance between blinds shall be 300 yards unless other conditions, such as natural screening, justify a shorter distance.
• Bodie Island blinds shall be occupied by no more than 2 hunters and 1 observer (guide).
• Only 2 guns are permitted in each Bodie Island blind.
• Trained dogs are permitted for waterfowl retrieval provided they are leashed when traveling to and from blinds. All dogs must be leashed at all times elsewhere in the park.
• Any departure from a Bodie Island blind (other than for retrieving ducks) terminates hunting privileges on Bodie Island for the remainder of the day.
• Vacating hunting parties on Bodie Island must formally check out at Whalebone Information Center within 1 hour of the completion of their hunt; hunters must provide information regarding their take. This information is used to monitor wildfowl populations.
• All hunters taking banded waterfowl are required to report all bands by calling 1-800-327-BAND or on the web at www.reportband.gov.  
• "Jump shooting" of waterfowl is permitted only in the defined hunting areas on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands and is prohibited within 300 yards of any blind. Jump shooting of waterfowl is prohibited on Bodie Island.
• Alcoholic beverages are not permitted in any permanent and/or temporary blind located within the boundaries of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.