Seventy percent of public backs limits and fees
On December 17, 2010 the DNR’s governing board voted to support a statewide limit of 4 bucks per hunter per year, and a mandatory deer tagging program whereby all harvested deer (bucks and does) must be tagged at the point of kill with tags provided by the Department. Although DNR can make recommendations, any changes to the current deer hunting laws require action by the South Carolina General Assembly. The DNR Board proposal will be incorporated into the DNR’s Legislative Proposal for the 2011-2012 session. A nominal fee of $5 per tag for residents and $25 per tag for nonresidents is proposed.
Public meetings, mail surveys, and more recently telephone and Internet based surveys of the state’s deer hunters indicate that a minimum of 70-percent of hunters support the concept of a reasonable limit on antlered bucks and the implementation of a tagging program that would provide for enforcement of such a limit.
With an estimated 25-percent decline in the State’s deer population over the last 10 years according to DNR biologists, hunters are concerned about the unregulated harvest. A minimum of 70-percent of hunters would agree to pay a modest fee to implement the program and to pay for deer research and management.
To view SCDNR’s Deer harvest reports and antler records click here.
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