HARKERS ISLAND – Permits for temporary duck blinds will be available at the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitor Center here at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, acting Superintendent Jeff West announced Tuesday.
For the 2017-2018 season, the park will continue to utilize a lottery system to determine the initial order for registration. All hunters who are present at the Harkers Island Visitor Center at 9 a.m. Sept. 5 will receive a numbered application and numbers will be drawn to determine the order for registering a duck blind permit. Permits will continue to be available 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, after Sept. 5.
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The duck blind permit allows hunters to place and leave temporary duck blinds in the park from Sept. 5, until March 31, 2018. Blinds must be removed by the permittee no later than March 31, 2018. Construction of permanent duck blinds is illegal.
The application numbers will be non-transferable. The name and hunting license number on the application must match the blind permit holder. All hunters who arrive after 9 a.m. and are not present at the start of the lottery, will register on a first-come, first-served basis after the initial lottery participants have registered and selected their blinds.
There is a $50 administrative permit fee, which includes one blind, and a $25 fee for the second blind. The fees are used to administer and monitor the duck blind program.
In order to qualify for a duck blind permit, you must bring your current North Carolina State hunting license with a signed federal duck stamp, a picture identification such as a driver’s license, and be prepared to identify your blind location on a topographic map.
The use of the lottery system for the first day of registration has been working and will be continued this year. Cape Lookout National Seashore always invite the public to make suggestions to help improve the program.
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Hunting is authorized within Cape Lookout National Seashore, subject to State of North Carolina hunting regulations, as well as Federal law.
Hunters are advised that failure to obtain a permit or failure to remove blinds at the end of the permit period may result in a fine, and possibly exclusion from the program in future years. Illegal duck blinds found in the park will be removed without notice and the cost of removing illegal and abandoned blinds significantly adds to the cost of the program.
Commercial hunting or fishing guides must obtain a permit to conduct commercial activities in a national park. Guides should contact park Administrative Officer Katherine Cushinberry about permits at 252-728-2250, extension 3019.
