Brad Harvey: DNR to hold meetings on deer legislation

Just as we are about to break into the 2015 deer season in South Carolina, the state’s Department of Natural Resources will hold public meetings around the state to discuss potential deer management legislation.

In February, Sen. Chip Campsen of Charleston filed Senate Bill 454, which proposes a new limit of four antlered bucks per year, with the requirement that all deer harvested be tagged.

Under this scenario, the Antlered Deer Quota Program used by many hunt clubs and farmers around the state would continue with quotas for both sexes of animals.

The legislation made it through the Senate without any problems in March and now sits in the House of Representatives where it should be taken up when the next session begins first of the year.

“The state’s deer population has changed in recent years and although there are still some areas where deer numbers and reports of agricultural damage remain high, the overall population has decreased as indicated by a 35 percent decline in harvest,” Charles Ruth, DNR’s Deer and Wild Turkey Project coordinator, said in a press release. “Reasons for the decline include habitat changes related to forest management, extremely liberal deer harvests over the last two decades and the colonization of the state by coyotes since the turn of the century.”

On top of these reasons, deer numbers have also been heavily affected because some parts of the state have had no hunting limit at all while other areas, such as ours, have had an unenforceable limit in place.

DNR, along with most hunters in the Palmetto State, believes that enforcing a lower limit and incorporating deer tags will be beneficial to the management of the state’s deer herd by allowing better regulation and control of the natural resource.

“This is important as we attempt to mitigate the impact of coyotes on future deer management,” according to DNR.

The meetings are being held in an effort by DNR to work with the leaders of the House of Representatives to get this done while covering any remaining questions and concerns that the public may have in regards to the changing law.

The presentations will include information from the agency as it relates to the background and data used to form the legislation as well as the opportunity for public comment and questions.

Although I’m a bit disappointed that the state isn’t going to hold one of these meetings in York County, Spartanburg or even the Greenville area, I think it’s important that hunters in our neck of the woods attend.

Maybe you can even round up a few of your hunting buddies and make an event out of it.

The rundown for the meetings being held are as follows. Each will begin promptly at 7 p.m.

▪  Tuesday, Sept. 22, Florence, Pee Dee Research and Education Center Auditorium, 2200 Pocket Road, Florence.

▪  Thursday, Sept. 24, Lancaster, University of South Carolina-Lancaster, Stevens Auditorium 476 Hubbard Drive, Lancaster.

▪  Tuesday, Sept. 29, North Augusta, North Augusta High School Auditorium, 2000 Knobcone Ave., North Augusta.

▪  Tuesday, Oct. 6, Pendleton, Pendleton High School Auditorium – 7324 Highway 187, Pendleton.

▪  Thursday, Oct. 8, Greenwood, Piedmont Technical College James Medford Family Event Center Auditorium (Building N), 620 N. Emerald Road, Greenwood.

▪  Tuesday, Oct. 13, Orangeburg, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Roquemore Auditorium, Building R, 3250 St. Mathews Road, Orangeburg.

▪  Thursday, Oct. 15, Walterboro, Hampton Street Auditorium, 491 Hampton St., Walterboro

If you have any questions about the meetings or the agendas, call DNR at 803-734-3886. Other information can be obtained at www.dnr.sc.gov.

Hope I’ll see you at one of them.

Boating inspections this weekend

The state DNR will once again conduct courtesy boating inspections during the holiday weekend. Officers will perform brief, thorough inspections for the required safety equipment along with proper registration.

Don’t worry about not being in compliance. Those boaters found not having everything in order will be given an opportunity to correct the problem before they launch.

The inspection in will be from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 6 at the Buster Boyd Landing.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Brad Harvey: DNR to hold meetings on deer legislation."