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Beaver hunting under the microscope in South Dakota

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Beaver hunting under the microscope in South Dakota
SDGF&P

July 19, 2021

WATERTOWN, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks is weighing how to proceed on beaver hunting in the Black Hills and the state.

The idea for a hunting ban surfaced recently when the Game, Fish and Parks Commission discussed a proposal to create a year-round beaver hunting season across the state, with hunting only allowed in portions of the Black Hills not owned by the U.S. Forest Service from Nov. 1 to April 30.

Keith Fisk, the agency’s program administrator, says he receives at least 500 beaver complaints each year.

But Commissioner Travis Bies said the population has been greatly decreased in the Black Hills.

Bies called for a study of the beaver population, a suggestion that prompted the commission to table the proposal to its September meeting.