Bears and wolves in NC
Just a short drive from the ocean and wonderful seafood in North Carolina lies a place where bears and wolves can be observed from the comfort of your vehicle. This place is known as Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. For this trip, I spent a couple of days in the nearby town of Manteo. It takes around 30 minutes to drive from there to the refuge. Once inside the refuse, you can slowly drive the roads looking for bears, wolves, otters, alligators, and more. Online sources suggest summer is better for bears and winter is better for wolves. I visited in late October and saw both bears and wolves. The bears are very easy to see. You simply look for them eating or resting in the fields. If you're patient, they will eventually come closer as sometimes they are initially at some distance. The wolves are not as easily seen and do require a little more patience but in my experience are not especially fearful of humans and if respectfully watched from a distance will continue about their activities.
When I visited, the bears were mostly seen on the fields off long curve road and the wolves seen in the fields off Swan Lake drive, but I am sure seasonally you may need to adjust your route. I would recommend checking with the rangers for the latest information on sightings. In nearby towns, I also found Nutria to come out just at dusk. Some towns people reported they could also been seen during the day but I only had luck during last moments of light. Most of these photos were taken with older and less expensive gear, a used D500 paired with a Tamron 600mm lens, so you don't need expensive gear to get started with some basic wildlife photography.
When I visited, the bears were mostly seen on the fields off long curve road and the wolves seen in the fields off Swan Lake drive, but I am sure seasonally you may need to adjust your route. I would recommend checking with the rangers for the latest information on sightings. In nearby towns, I also found Nutria to come out just at dusk. Some towns people reported they could also been seen during the day but I only had luck during last moments of light. Most of these photos were taken with older and less expensive gear, a used D500 paired with a Tamron 600mm lens, so you don't need expensive gear to get started with some basic wildlife photography.