Got a Bill introduced Today

[alphadog]

on using an artificial light at night when hunting coyotes.  A few of us talked to one of our State Senators about this last week and sure enough he introduced the following bill in the Senate.  Hopefully it'll pass as many other States have already passed such a bill. 

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I just introduced the following bill yesterday!!  We will have a subcommittee hearing on March 31st!!!



You might want to come.  I might have to make an amendment to address shot size during deer season to help DNR with night deer hunting concerns.



I hope you are happy with this bill!



Shane



S. 1296

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator S. Martin
Document Path: l:\s-res\srm\014coyo.ebd.srm.docx

Introduced in the Senate on March 17, 2010
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry

Summary: Not yet available

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   3/17/2010  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-7
   3/17/2010  Senate  Referred to Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry SJ-7
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/17/2010

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)


A BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 50-11-710 OF THE 1976 CODE, RELATING TO NIGHT HUNTING, TO PROVIDE THAT COYOTES MAY BE HUNTED AT NIGHT, TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS, AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 50-11-710 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 50-11-710.    (A)    Night hunting in this State is unlawful except that:

(1)    raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, mink, and skunk may be hunted at night; however, they may not be hunted with artificial lights except when treed or cornered with dogs, or with buckshot or any shot larger than a number four, or any rifle ammunition of larger than a twenty-two rimfire; and

(2)    coyotes may be hunted at night with an artificial light that is carried on the hunter's person attached to a helmet or hat, or part of a belt system worn by the hunter. However, coyotes may not be hunted at night from a vehicle, unless specifically permitted by the department. A person that violates this item is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.

(B)    For the purposes of this section, 'night' means that period of time between one hour after official sundown of a day and one hour before official sunrise of the following day.

(C)    Any person violating the provisions of this section, upon conviction, must be fined for the first offense not more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than one year, or both; for the second offense within two years from the date of conviction for the first offense, not more than two thousand dollars nor less than four hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than one year nor for less than ninety days, or both; for a third or subsequent offense within two years of the date of conviction for the last previous offense, not more than three thousand dollars nor less than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than one year nor for less than one hundred twenty days, or both. Any person convicted under this section after more than two years have elapsed since his last conviction must be sentenced as for a first offense.

(D)    In addition to any other penalty, any person convicted for a second or subsequent offense under this section within three years of the date of conviction for a first offense shall have his privilege to hunt in this State suspended for a period of two years. No hunting license may be issued to an individual while his privilege is suspended, and any license mistakenly issued is invalid. The penalty for hunting in this State during the period of suspension, upon conviction, must be imprisonment for not more than one year nor less than ninety days.

(E)    The provisions of this section may not be construed to prevent any owner of property from protecting the property from destruction by wild game as provided by law.

(F)    It is unlawful for a person to use artificial lights at night, except vehicle headlights while traveling in a normal manner on a public road or highway, while in possession of or with immediate access to both ammunition of a type prohibited for use at night by the first paragraph of this section and a weapon capable of firing the ammunition. A violation of this paragraph is punishable as provided by Section 50-11-720."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.







Shane Martin
SC State Senator - District 13
Greenville, Spartanburg, and Union Counties
P.O. Box 575  Pauline, SC  29374
Cell  864-804-8499  864-804-8499
www.SenatorMartin.com
Shane@SenatorMartin.com

[Hawks Feather]

Always nice to have a friend in public office.

Jerry

[clynn]

This is what we need in Kentucky

[SCcoyotehunter]

Help us support South Carolina. Contact Shane Martin.

[JohnP]

Good for you alphadog, more gun owners/hunters need to get involved in the political process.

[Carolina Coyote]

This would be good except for the rifle no larger than a 22 Rimfire, I personally think Hunting Coyotes with 22 Rimfire is inhumane, they are pretty tough critters and 22's are not enough horsepower.  What do you guys think ? cc

[pitw]

I guess it would be inhumane to hunt anything  .  I know I've killed a pile of coyotes with the .22 rim fire both in and out of a trap.

[SCcoyotehunter]

We are trying to get the caliber and shotgun shot size changed as well. I agree, even #4's are not enough.

[Carolina Coyote]

I wish they would change the Caliber to Centerfire, I shoot a 243 and sometimes they still run off and I don't like that. I will contact the Senator from my District and see if he will help .

Pitw, I don't know if you are just being a smart ass or what, I may not have killed as many coyotes as you but I have killed a few and been along with other hunters and none of them carried a 22 Rimfire. I didn't ask for a smart ass answer.

[Jimmie in Ky]

It wasn't intended as being smart assed Carolina, just stating a fact for him.  But if that is what you are hung with you will have to deal with it best you can.  We will always have this problem on wma's around the country. Just be thankful you don't have a half dozen diferent sets of rules for coyote depending on what time of year you are hunting, Likle we do here in Ky. Jimmie

[pitw]

Pitw, I don't know if you are just being a smart ass or what, I may not have killed as many coyotes as you but I have killed a few and been along with other hunters and none of them carried a 22 Rimfire. I didn't ask for a smart ass answer.

  Up here where I live I always carry a gun with while farming and much of the time it is a .22 rimfire[10-22] for control of rodents, magpies, crows, starlings and coyotes.  I've shot many coyotes with mange amongst the cows while feeding in winter and in the yard when they come for an easy meal.  I typed from experience as I have that in this particular instance, so no it wasn't meant as a smart assed remark.  I also hunt moose with a .243 which isn't the choice for most, would I recommend a .22 for coyote hunting, absolutely not but when that is the choice at the time it will get the job done.  As for killing power I guess I've seen coyotes get away after being shot by about every size gun up here including the .300 magnum so does it really matter what you are shooting if your shot placement sucks.  Hope you have a better day today;

[Carolina Coyote]

Pitw, Well I was not trying to start a border war, just trying to get some info to compliment Alphadog in his effort to get the Rules changed in SC for night hunting, I am very aware of a 22 rim fires capability having shot one for 60 + years, not everyone is the expert shot they think they are, yea David killed Goliath with a slingshot and a rock but he had Devinne help, your reply of ( I guess it would be inhumane to hunt anything  shrug ) I buy no means consider hunting inhumane but killing should be accomplished with as little pain and torture as possible, I cannot see that as a ( ) I guess there are people out there that would use 22 for Moose hunting,  as much as I love a 243 and for all the confidence I have in the capability  and I have never hunted Moose never seen one in the wild but inpo a 243 should not be the weapon of choice for hunting them, and by the way I was not having a bad day on my response nor am I having a bad day today , these are just my personal feeling and opinions.

[SCcoyotehunter]

Can't we all just get along!.

All we are saying, If you are helping control coyotes for landowners, farmers, or any livestock owner, you should not be restricted to such a small caliber or small shot size. Especially on an animal that South Carolina already feels needs to be hunted year round. And the aid of a red lens light a night would help significantly in decreasing these numbers.

SCCH

[CCP]

I hope you guys get what the majority of coyote hunters in your state want. I support a majority vote and a well thought out plan with all the pro’s and con’s addressed.

I don’t want a night hunting reg added to the books here in AL and along with a lot of others that have been hunting coyotes here a long time don’t want it. As we all know or should know calling predators is the least effective means of controlling their population. If someone calls me and has a real predation problem I get them in touch with a trapper setting steel. They do not need to lose anymore livestock waiting on me to hopefully call the right one in and hoping I make a good shot. They need a real trapper that can solve the problem in just a few days.

If I did make the decision to call an area with a predation problem and someone’s livestock was killed while they were waiting on me I would feel obligated to pay for that farmer/ranchers loss, because I choose the least effective means for my own personal gain to hunt.

If this bill doesn’t go through don’t feel all is lost, contact as many other coyote hunters you can and get EVERYONES thoughts on the subject and present it to the G&F commission. Look at all the pros and cons of having a night seasons see what areas you can give and not give. Think of every possible situation you can think of and have an answer for them.

Remember this is the largest growing hunting sport in the east and everybody wants to try it. Most all of us here are very responsible and long time hunters and would never hunt in range of homes and livestock at night, but think along the lines of how many city redneck want to go out night hunters there will be out there and could possibly give us all a bad name. To me it isn’t about the killing it’s about the calling and fooling ole wiley on his terms.

Wish you all well up there.

[JohnP]

I, like CCP, hope you get what the majority wants.  But, also like CCP, I'm not a big fan of night hunting for the same reasons he stated plus a few more.  Here on the border we have a whole different set of hazards, illegal aliens, drug runners, DEA, Border Patrol and they are all carrying weapons of some sort or another.  Throw a bunch of hunters in and it's a sure mix for trouble.   Predator control is not the job of the recreational caller.  The only way to control predators is the use of steel and dogs.  Having said all that I would never openly fight against it.

[Carolina Coyote]

Good advice CCP, I would go along with a majority vote, The Regulations on Coyote hunting in SC and Georgia appear to be written around the Small Game Regulation with out much thought to how to hunt a Coyote, It appears to me like they just plug a few words in here and there just to say there is some Regulations kind of like a speed trap around some of the small towns. I don't think I would do a lot of night hunting myself but would not want to prevent those that wanted to and would like to see them allow the weapons of choice and proper lighting. I don't think Coyotes should be put in the same category as Possums, Coons, and Squirrels .  I appreciate the guys pursuing getting a better Regulation and will support their efforts any way I can. I have already sent the Senator in my District a letter to get his support. People are not always going to agree on things but a disagreement should be handled with tact to not make the other person look like a dumb ass. cc

[alphadog]

Good replies from all and thanks for the support.  We'll keep all of you informed and SCCH and I will keep in touch on my site and this one to make sure we're on the same page. 

[Dave]

CC,
I don't think anyone was attempting to disrespect anyone else.  I read the comment and felt it was written in jest, as we all hunt.  
Dave

[KySongDog]

This would be good except for the rifle no larger than a 22 Rimfire, I personally think Hunting Coyotes with 22 Rimfire is inhumane, they are pretty tough critters and 22's are not enough horsepower.  What do you guys think ? cc

I think a 40gr HP .22 WMR is marginally enough for coyote calling.  But a .22 LR does not have enough energy for coyote sized game.  Notwithstanding the low energy, a .22 LR will kill a coyote.  After all, its killed quite a few people over the years. 

[HaMeR]

or any rifle ammunition of larger than a twenty-two rimfire;

I don't think they are specifically saying a 22LR here. A 22WMR would fit under the "or any rifle ammunition of larger than a twenty-two rimfire; " guidelines. And if you could find some of the old,, I think Federal ammo,, 50gr rds for ol Maggie they would do a purdy good job under 50yds on a coyote.