(a)        Any landowner or member of the landowner’s family, or any person with written permission from the landowner, may, subject to rules established by the Wildlife Resources Commission, hunt wild animals and upland game birds with the use of firearms on Sunday on the landowner’s property, except that all of the following limitations apply:

(1)        Hunting on Sunday between 9:30 A.M. and 12:30 P.M. is prohibited, except on controlled hunting preserves licensed pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113-273(g).

(2)        Repealed by Session Laws 2017-182, s. 1, effective July 25, 2017.

(3)        The use of a firearm to take deer that are run or chased by dogs on Sunday is prohibited.

(4)        Hunting on Sunday within 500 yards of a place of religious worship, as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-54.1(b), or any accessory structure thereof, is prohibited.

(5)        Repealed by Session Laws 2017-182, s. 1, effective July 25, 2017.

(a1)      Any person may, subject to rules established by the Wildlife Resources Commission, hunt wild animals and upland game birds with the use of firearms on Sunday on public lands of the State managed for hunting, except that the following limitations apply:

(1)        Hunting on Sunday between 9:30 A.M. and 12:30 P.M. is prohibited.

(2)        The use of a firearm to take deer that are run or chased by dogs on Sunday is prohibited.

(3)        Hunting on Sunday within 500 yards of a place of religious worship, as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-54.1(b), or any accessory structure thereof, is prohibited.

(a2)      The hunting of migratory birds on Sunday is prohibited unless authorized by proclamation or rules of the Wildlife Resources Commission, subject to the following limitations:

(1)        Hunting on Sunday between 9:30A.M. and 12:30 P.M. is prohibited, except on controlled hunting preserves licensed pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113-273(g).

(2)        Hunting on Sunday within 500 yards of a place of religious worship, as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-54.1(b), or any accessory structure thereof, is prohibited.

(3)        The Wildlife Resources Commission shall not authorize hunting of migratory birds on Sunday prior to March 1, 2018.

(b)        A person who hunts on Sunday in a manner prohibited under this section or rules adopted by the Wildlife Resources Commission shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. Provided, that the provisions of this section are not applicable to military reservations, the jurisdiction of which is exclusively in the federal government, to field trials authorized by the Wildlife Resources Commission, or to actions taken in defense of a person’s property. Wildlife protectors are granted authority to enforce the provisions of this section. ?(1868-9, c. 18, ss. 1, 2; Code, s. 3783; Rev., s. 3842; C.S., s. 3956; 1945, c. 1047; 1967, c. 1003; 1979, c. 830, s. 13; 1989, c. 642, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 684; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2015-144, s. 5(a); 2017-182, s. 1.)