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#05-263 December 12, 2005

Public Meetings To Discuss Potential Changes In Deer Limits, Tag Programs

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has scheduled 10 public meetings around the state in early 2006 to receive input from hunters concerning limits on buck deer and potential changes to antlerless deer and wild turkey tag programs in South Carolina.

"With respect to buck limits, hunters have been encouraging DNR to consider a statewide buck limit for some time," said Charles Ruth, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Deer/Turkey Project leader. "However, the agency would like to attempt to measure public support prior to recommending any changes to the South Carolina General Assembly." Each meeting will include a presentation by DNR on the background and data related to the concept, as well as public comment and questions.

Contact DNR at (803) 734-3886 in Columbia with any questions about agendas or sites.

All meetings will begin at 7 p.m. and the dates and locations are as follows:

"Many hunters indicate it is time for South Carolina's deer management program to become more proactive and that they would support a move to reduce the harvest pressure on bucks in order to increase both the chance of seeing more bucks and the opportunity to harvest mature bucks."

Advocates of the proposal also feel that law enforcement measures should be implemented, as well, to ensure that limits would have the desired effect. This could take the form of hunters receiving a set of buck tags. DNR staff will discuss the possibility of issuing buck tags, antlerless deer tags, and turkey tags using several methods including the possibility that tags could be associated with the hunting license.

"This grass roots effort originally began in 2000 when a group of deer hunters in Saluda County approached DNR officials about buck limits in their county," Ruth said. "Since that time interest among hunters has spread." In 2003, five preliminary meetings were held across the upstate and 90 percent of hunters supported the idea of a reasonable limit on bucks along with some type of tagging system to enforce the limit. In 2004, results of DNR's annual Deer Hunter Survey, which was sent to 25,000 randomly selected hunters, indicated that more than 70 percent of hunters statewide felt that the limit on bucks should be five or less and that some form of enforcement, such as tags, should be in place.

Whitetail deer

DNR wildlife biologists have looked at harvest data and discussed the merits of the idea. Although hunters see the plan as increasing their chances of seeing more mature bucks, biologists believe that it will reduce the emphasis on harvesting bucks that currently exists, leading to increased harvests of doe deer, which is the main factor in managing the state's deer population.

Although DNR has significantly liberalized antlerless deer harvest opportunities over the years, many hunters repeatedly harvest young bucks even when they have the opportunity to harvest a legal doe. Though a limit will not prevent hunters from harvesting young bucks it would limit the total number of bucks that they can take, which should shift harvest pressure more to does and mature bucks.

"Will the plan work?" Ruth asks. "Harvest data collected over the last eight years suggest that it could. The common perception that a small percentage of hunters exploit the current system and harvest large numbers of bucks is essentially true. For example, only 4 percent of hunters harvest more than five bucks annually; however, these hunters harvest 20 percent of all the bucks taken each year. It would follow then, that if a limit were in place there should be fewer bucks harvested leaving more bucks to mature for the following season. Also, if buck harvest pressure shifts to females then it is a win-win situation."

Before any recommendations for change are made, DNR staff would like to fully evaluate the pros and cons of the ideas by receiving information from the public.

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