Spring is the time of rebirth. The dogwoods and azaleas are blooming, wild turkeys are courting and different species of fish are moving to and fro, headed back from their winter haunts to the spots where they’ll spend the summer — sort of like the snowbirds in their yachts heading north on the Intercoastal Waterway.
Sportsmen across South Carolina have a handful of questions for which they are seeking answers.
The first is, are the speckled trout coming back after cold-stun kills for back-to-back winters and the mild winter that has just ended? Biologists figure that the population was at an all-time low a year ago, down 80 percent from normal levels. They also figure it will take at least three or four years of good reproduction and survival to rebuild — and no more brutally cold winters.
The second is, after a trend of declines in the turkey harvest, will better reproductive success last year put things back on the right track? That’s not as easy to predict as the trout issue, because there’s evidence that habitat loss or change is a big factor in the decline in the statewide flock.
Can hunters do anything to help their deer population? Habitat loss is a factor, but a more immediate problem is the wily coyote. Research has indicated that the cartoon roadrunner’s enemy is taking a big chunk out of the deer population in many areas. The state has made it as easy as possible to kill coyotes; it’s up to hunters to step up to the plate and put a Mickey Mantle-class swing on these predators. Many hunt clubs and commercial hunting operations have already put trapping programs in place; they’re the only proven method for curbing the increase of these predators.
The other thing our deer herd needs is management based on science and not on the whims of the state legislature. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that a huge majority of deer hunters believe the statewide and local deer herds need different management tactics than those currently in place — that have been in place for decades, despite changes in all kinds of things that affect deer from day to day.
One last big item on the wish list: better funding for SCDNR. The agency that tries to protect and manage our game and fish and hunting lands has been the victim of budget cuts over the past handful of years that threaten to inhibit its ability to perform those tasks. Many of the cuts in personnel have put SCDNR behind the 8-ball, especially the enforcement division. How can game wardens and marine patrol officers spread thinner than cheap peanut butter effectively enforce game and fish laws? Can biologists effectively manage their areas of expertise with more responsibilities piled on their plates?
Many of us know the answers, and they’re not pretty.
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