The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) recently held its 3rd of three meetings regarding deer hunting with dogs in South Carolina.
The first meeting was held in Florence and the second was held in Orangeburg. Those meeting brought out hundreds of interested parties from all over the state to express their concern and views regarding hunting with dogs. The Colleton County meeting was held on Monday, August 10th at Faith Church in Walterboro. The meeting, which had been moved from a smaller location, was standing room only and filled two sizable parking lots with vehicles from all over the state.
The moderator started the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and ended the assembly promptly at 8 p.m., with participants from York, Dillon, Horry, Jasper, Aiken and other counties throughout the state.
In a statement, DRN said, “The public-input process grew out of discussions and requests through SCDNR’s Board advisory committee process and the concerns and perspectives brough forward by hunters, landowners, and other South Carolinians. The Department’s purpose is not to advocate for the predetermined outcome, but to listen, gather facts, and ensure that all sides of this important issue have and opportunity to be heard.”
As members of County Council and law enforcement looked on, hunters on both sides of the issues spoke about their experiences while hunting. Some spoke about enforcing current laws, suggestions about implementing better tracking, and some just spoke about bad experiences while in the field. The audience included landowners, hunters, and community members. The speakers spoke directly to the moderator who, as stated at the beginning of the meeting, did not respond, but took the comments to add to the comments from online and the prior two meetings.
Those comments will be presented to the DNR advisory committee that could present their recommendation to the South Carolina General Assembly.
DNR reiterated that, “These meeting are about listening to the people of South Carolina not advancing a legislative agenda.”
