FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) plans a public meeting to discuss the deer population and deer hunting on Francis Marion National Forest. The meeting will be held Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Santee Cooper auditorium, at 1 Riverwood Drive in Moncks Corner.
SCDNR has heard from hunters for several years with concerns about low deer numbers and the quality of hunting on the national forest property. Available deer harvest data and population surveys support these concerns.
As part of the meeting, SCDNR will present available data, receive input from hunters and discuss options for future regulation changes that may help increase the deer population in the national forest. Any regulation changes would not go into effect until the 2023 deer season.
*Due to time restrictions and complexity of the issue, discussion and concerns will be limited to deer and deer hunting on Francis Marion National Forest.*
Francis Marion National Forest is an approximately 260,000-acre U.S. Forest Service property in Berkeley and Charleston counties. The property is under SCDNR’s Wildlife Management Area program, with the land managed for hunting and other public uses.
