I believe one of my good friends and former college teammates coached you in HS. First off congrats on your opportunity to play big time college ball. I'd be happy to give you the skinny on what I know about some of the public lands close to you. I have scouted Jordan game lands and there are deer there. The big caveat is that a lot of the good deer killed there are by folks who have a boat to access areas locked in by private ground. The access points you can get to via the roads do see a lot of pressure so you will have to hoof it to get on unpressured deer. You need to be aware of what county you are in out there as the seasons and limits differ depending on if you are in Wake or Orange County.
I mainly hunted Pisgah and Uwharrie NF and would be happy to let you come hunt with me anytime. I'm about to move to SC but will be hunting Uwharrie during the black powder/gun season. I have a few spots that produce pretty well up there that I don't mind showing ya. I may hunt Pisgah once or twice but those mountains are tough to hunt once the guns start going off. There are bears in Pisgah but typically you will need to be lucky to get on one without dogs. Same goes for the coastal bears. Not impossible to kill one but very difficult without dogs. If you do end up hunting the coastal game lands I'd recommend getting the bear stamp with your license. Deer and bear season overlap there so there is the possibility to whack one if you want to.
Feel free to PM me if you need any other advice. I'll be happy to shoot you my contact info and show you around the places I know sometime.
