S.C. WATERFOWL HUNTING SEASON TO BEGIN NOV. 24
The first segment of the waterfowl-hunting season in South Carolina is set to begin Wednesday, Nov. 24 and run through Sunday, Nov. 28, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
Waterfowl hunters may begin shooting 30 minutes before legal sunrise and must cease all shooting at legal sunset on each day of the season. Legal sunrise and sunset vary across the state, and hunters should consult an adjusted sunrise and sunset table according to the location where they hunt.
For more information on South Carolina waterfowl hunting regulations contact a local DNR office or call the Columbia DNR office at (803) 734-3886.
The legal waterfowl daily bag limit must not include more than six ducks of which the following internal limits also apply: two wood ducks, two redheads, one black-bellied whistling duck, three scaup, four mallards (not to include more than one female mallard) and one black duck or one mottled duck. Pintails and canvasbacks are prohibited until Jan. 1, and then are restricted to one each in the inclusive bag. Five mergansers (not to include more than one hooded merganser) also may be taken in addition to the regular limit of six ducks. Hunters also may take 15 coots daily and 15 blue or snow geese in addition to the duck limit.
A total of five Canada geese may be taken during the same hours daily during the period Nov. 24-28, Dec. 17-Feb. 4 and Feb. 7-Feb. 21 but there is an exclusion zone where taking Canada geese is prohibited that includes all of Clarendon County, that portion of Orangeburg County north of SC Highway 6 and that portion of Berkeley County north of SC Highway 45 from the Orangeburg County line to the junction of SC Highway 45 and state road S-8-31, and that portion west of the Santee Dam. Taking white-fronted or specklebelly geese is prohibited in South Carolina.
The second segment of the regular waterfowl-hunting season in South Carolina will begin on Dec. 17 and run through Jan. 30, 2005. One pintail and one canvasback may be taken daily during the period Jan. 1-30, 2005. The basic duck bag and internal limits otherwise will not change from the first through the second season segments.
Derrell Shipes, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife chief for statewide projects, said: "The quality of the waterfowl hunting season in South Carolina is dependent on many factors, and some of these we do not have much control over, especially weather and ducks harvested during migration to the state." Shipes also pointed out that both private landowners and DNR eagerly anticipate waterfowl hunting seasons and put much emphasis on provision of quality waterfowl habitat for migratory and resident waterfowl in the Palmetto State.
South Carolina waterfowl hunters age 16 and older must have a state hunting license, state and federal duck stamps and a free migratory bird permit. The possession of lead shot while waterfowl hunting is prohibited; nontoxic shot (steel, bismuth-tin, tungsten-iron or tungsten-polymer) is required for all waterfowl hunting. Youth waterfowl days are set for Feb. 5-6, 2005, during which only youth of the age 15 or younger may hunt, while in the presence of a non-hunting adult who is 18 years of age or older.
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