The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) wrote a law in 2008 that stated: "In Game Zones 1 and 2, it is unlawful to pursue deer with dogs, and it is unlawful to bait for deer.” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has determined that this current state law makes it illegal to bait for deer, but not illegal to hunt deer over bait, in Game Zones 1 and 2; Therefore, in the upstate, one can't put out bait for deer, but if bait is present it is not illegal to hunt deer over that bait.
SCDNR sees the attorney general's interpretation of this law on deer baiting in the upstate unenforceable; Therefore, legislators are scrambling to address the issue in time to change the law before hunting season this fall. At issue is the wording of the law adopted by the legislature when it took regulatory authority for hunting on private lands in the Upstate region away from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources in 2008 and wrote new laws to govern hunting there.
The problem facing the legislators – and SCDNR enforcement – is that 2012 is the second year in a two-year session that ends the first of June. No time was wasted yesterday when the subcommittee addressed a bill that would amend this law by stating "In Games Zones 1 and 2, it is unlawful to pursue deer with dogs, and it is unlawful to bait for deer or hunt deer by aid of bait."
It was clear from the start that both sides of the deer baiting issue were present at the hearing. Those against deer baiting in the upstate argued that the practice skews deer gender ratios, spreads disease, hurts native habitat management efforts, gives hunting a bad public image and raises ethical dilemmas about a fair chase.
Since baiting for deer is allowed in the low country, those that supported baiting for deer in the upstate argued that everyone should be treated the same. Leading those in support of baiting was Senator Jake Knotts. He stated that he had residents that were allowed to bait on one side of their property and not allowed on the other. He acknowledged the experts warnings that baiting spreads diseases, such as chronic wasting disease, but questioned the probability that the disease would spread to South Carolina.
Because of the large turnout and time constraints not allowing some to get their chance to speak, the subcommittee failed to cast a vote yesterday. From the hearing yesterday one can conclude that baiting is no doubt an important issue and that there are people on both sides of the fence. The biggest problem I have is "What is considered bait?" Are protein tablets considered bait? Are foot plots considered bait? To me baiting is anything that alters natural movements of animals. I believe SCDNR would have to give a clear definition of the word bait for any law that prohibits baiting to be properly enforced.
