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Little momentum for changing S.C. law on Sunday hunting

As part of the state’s current blue laws, people are allowed to hunt on Sunday only on private property.

And for some hunting reserve managers in The T&D Region, there does not seem to be good reason to change the current law.

The restrictions are “working just fine,” says Orangeburg’s Buckridge Plantation Manager Randy Carter.

“There are certain times when people can’t get off of work,” Carter said. “I don’t see a problem with that. It is a good idea.”

Buckridge Plantation, located about 10 miles northwest of Orangeburg, provides hunters with various wildlife such as deer, turkey, pheasant, chukar and quail.

Buckridge, one of the largest (6,000 acres) private hunting reserves in Orangeburg County, is hurt little by the state’s current Sunday restrictions.

Areas designated as Wildlife Management Areas or land owned or leased by the state is off limits to Sunday hunters. The only exception is bear hunting, which is prohibited in the Upstate counties of Pickens, Oconee and Anderson.

About 11 states in the nation have some Sunday hunting restrictions and some of the state’s are currently considering loosening them.

Mike Willis, a spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, said there has been little discussion about or movement toward lifting the Sunday hunting restrictions. The department oversees hunting regulations.

Willis said SCDNR supports the current law in that it works well for the consumptive users (hunters/fishers) and nonconsumptive users (hikers, bird watchers, natural photographers.) Willis said hunters have access to the land on Saturdays and hikers and birdwatchers on Sunday.

“They (hikers, birdwatchers) do not have to compete with those with hunting interests,” Willis said. “It is a pretty good arrangement that currently stands. ”There is no desire to see it change at this time.“

DNR did have a case about six years ago related to Sunday hunting in the Upstate. The department then was in support of the ban, citing the difficulty of enforcement, the preservation of finite wildlife resources and other recreational users. The ban was then upheld.

Marc Epstein, manager of the federal Santee Wildlife Refuge on the north side of Lake Marion, said the refuge does have hunting restrictions to regulate the kinds of hunting. But he said the break has more to do with spacing hunts than blue laws.

“We are trying to create a break in the types of hunting we have,” Epstein said, explaining the refuge has archery and muzzle-loading hunts. He said Sunday is usually the day taken for the hunting break. “I don’t know the reasoning behind the South Carolina law.”

Epstein, who worked at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Fla., as a senior refuge biologist, said Florida did not have a Sunday hunting restriction.

“We try to follow state regs,” Epstein said. “Sometimes what happens is that there is a difference between management of the state and federal wildlife refuges.”

The areas are typically identified with signage.

South Carolina is divided into 11 game zones, with much of The T&D Region in Game Zone 6.

The South Carolina General Assembly establishes seasons, limits and methods for private lands in this zone. The DNR regulates public or WMA land.

South Carolina joins about 10 other states that restrict or have a hunting ban.

It is estimated that Sunday hunting bans go back to at least the 1700s and are among the blue laws enacted to restrict working, shopping, drinking, dancing and other Sabbath activities.

While South Carolina is not among the states immediately considering a change in Sunday hunting laws, Virginia will conduct a survey of hunters to get their thoughts on a Sunday hunting ban. North Carolina is also conducting a survey on the pros and cons of lifting the Sunday ban.

-- T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.