Governor Nikki Haley has signed the long fought over bill S454 into law yesterday June 8, 2016. Also known as the “deer limit bill” S454 sets a state wide limit on deer harvest and a state wide tag system to better monitor the program. It is important to note that land(s) currently enrolled in the deer quota program are exempt from most of the language in the bill. For lay people this means that the lands where over population exists and where dog hunting is predominate. They are exempt from the rules of this legislation. Throughout the years of debate most of the negative comments to this common sense bill was those who engage in dog hunting and who have historically had a “no limit” on bucks rule for the entire season.
What exactly does S454 mean for the rest of the hunters in the state? Below is a link to the actual bill that you can read for yourself. But in short it places a tag program in place for the harvest of all deer in the state. Antlered and antlerless deer are now under a tagging program. The language of the bill spells out exactly what hunters are entitled to with their purchase of a license.
“with the purchase of a South Carolina hunting license and a big game permit, a resident shall be issued eight date-specific individual antlerless deer tags which are valid only on specified days and three unrestricted individual antlered deer tags. Persons under the age of sixteen, lifetime, and gratis licensees may receive these tags upon request to the department. Residents, including persons under the age of sixteen, lifetime, and gratis licensees also may purchase:
(i) two antler restriction individual antlered deer tags valid for deer with a minimum of four points on one antler or a minimum twelve-inch inside antler spread for five dollars per tag; and
(ii) additional individual antlerless deer tags for five dollars per tag.
In essence the statewide limit on deer is not three bucks and eight does. However as noted the does can only be harvested on specific days unless hunters are willing to pony up additional funding to purchase tags which we have been doing for years now.
These new laws will take effect with the 2016-2017 season.
Personally I have lobbied for this bill and have written extensively in favor of some sort of limit on the number of bucks in particular and deer in general are being killed. It has been quite a fight, but I for one am thankful the battle is over and common sense has found a way in today’s society to overcome all of the negative comments and attitudes towards hunting in South Carolina.
What the future holds and what the overall outcome will be won’t be realized for several years, but with an almost 30% decline in our deer numbers over the past decade and a half. Something needed to be done and done now to stop this trend.
As hunters we need to applaud the SCDNR, and the legislators for doing what is right for the wildlife of South Carolina.
You can read the entirety of the bill here. http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess121_2015-2016/bills/454.htm
