That neck of the NC mountains is where the first German wild boar were stocked, behind large fenced in hunting estates for the Vanderbilts and other railroad barons.
I love hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting all around Highlands, Brevard, Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, and down into South Carolina to the waterfalls, the cliffs of Glassy Mountain, Ceasar's Head. It is easy to see why the Scots and Germans who came for the free land grants wanted to hang onto that. It is rugged country to hunt, but with big boar, bear, and deer, and lots of trout in the rivers and lakes.