GFP Commission Discusses Statewide Deer and Elk Carcass Disposal Rules

April 12, 2021

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission continued discussions on a proposal to change the way deer and elk hunters must dispose of carcass remains for the management of chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Under the proposal, all hunters transporting a deer or elk from the county of harvest, must dispose of all carcass remains in a garbage container or at a permitted landfill. This would apply statewide regardless of CWD status in the respective county. For taxidermists and processors, all carcass remains need to be disposed of in the same way regardless of harvest location.

“Our previous rule required only those hunters in CWD endemic areas to follow this rule,” said John Kanta, Terrestrial Section Chief of the Division of Wildlife.

“With the detection of CWD in a good portion of South Dakota, we are proposing that this rule go statewide to help reduce the spread of CWD,” Kanta said.

Individuals can comment on this proposal by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on this proposal, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held May 6-7 at Custer State Park.

GFP Commission Discusses Creation of Disabled Veterans Deer and Pheasant Hunting Seasons
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission continued discussions on creating an avenue for nonprofit organizations to apply for deer licenses for disabled veterans and purple heart recipients.

The proposal would allow nonprofit organizations to obtain up to 10 any deer licenses that would be valid on private lands only.

The proposal would require the sponsoring nonprofit organization to complete and submit an application to the Department stating the name, address, and phone number of the sponsoring organization; the requested date of the season; the location of the hunt; and the name of any landowner providing private land access for the hunt.

In a separate proposal, the Commission laid out rules that would create a pheasant hunt for disabled veterans. The new rules detail the process for nonprofits to offer pheasant hunts for qualifying veterans, beginning Sept. 1 and running through the end of the regular pheasant hunting season. Individuals can comment on these proposals by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on this proposal, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2. The next GFP Commission meeting will be held May 6-7 at Custer State Park.

GFP Commission Discusses Changes to 2021-2022 Apprentice, Youth and Mentored Deer Hunting Seasons
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission proposed a simplification of the Youth and Apprentice deer licenses. The proposal would state that any resident or nonresident hunter under the age of 18 would be able to purchase a Youth license. Any resident hunter over the age of 18 who has not had a deer license in the past 10 years would qualify for an Apprentice license. This proposal would also remove the rule that requires adult accompaniment for apprentice license holders.

In addition, the commission continued discussions on proposals that would reduce the harvest of antlerless mule deer in select units for the 2021 and 2022 mentored, youth and apprentice deer hunting seasons. These changes would align mentored, youth, and apprentice deer license types and hunting units.

The change would create two units, Unit MHD-03/YOD-03/APD-03 (shaded) and Unit MHD-13/YOD-13/APD-13 (white) for mentored, youth, and apprentice licenses.

Mentored, Youth, and Apprentice hunters could obtain either a single tag “any antlerless deer” license for Unit MHD-03/YOD-03/APD-03 or a single tag “antlerless whitetail deer” license for Unit MHD-13/YOD-13/APD-13.

The establishment of these units and license types will reduce harvest of antlerless mule deer in select hunting units to increase mule deer population numbers, while maintaining current apprentice, youth, and mentored deer harvest and desired growth rates in other hunting units.

The proposed Mentored, Youth, and Apprentice Hunter Deer Seasons would be:

· Sept. 11, 2021 – Jan. 1, 2022

· Sept 10, 2022 – Jan. 1, 2023

Individuals can comment on this proposal by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on this proposal, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held May 6-7 in Custer State Park.

GFP Commission Proposes Increases to West River Deer Licenses; Decrease to Black Hills and Custer State Park Licenses
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission made changes to their proposed West River and Black Hills Deer Hunting Seasons at their April meeting.

The commission proposed to increase the number of licenses available for the 2021 and 2022 West River Deer Hunting Seasons.

The proposal calls for 12,373 single tag, 9,688 double tag, and 864 triple tag resident licenses and 920 single tag, 718 double tag and 63 triple tag licenses available for nonresidents.

All units excluding Gregory County: November 13-28, 2021

· Gregory County (Unit 30A): November 6-9 and November 22-28, 2021

· Gregory County (Unit 30B): November 13-28, 2021

· Antlerless deer tags only: December 11-19, 2021

The commission also proposed to decrease the number of “any whitetail” licenses to 3,000 for residents and 240 for nonresidents for the Black Hills Deer Hunting Season. Additionally, the proposal would decrease the number of “antlerless whitetail” licenses to 300 resident and 24 nonresident licenses.

The Black Hills Deer Hunting Season would run Nov. 1-30.

The proposal would keep the number of “any deer” licenses at 200 for resident and 16 for nonresidents.

The Commission also proposed 25 “any whitetail” and 50 “antlerless whitetail” licenses for the Custer State Park Deer Hunting Season.

Individuals can comment on these proposals by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on these proposals, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held May 6-7 in Custer State Park.

GFP Commission Proposes Muzzleloader, Refuge Deer Seasons; Decrease in East River Deer Licenses

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission continued discussions on the Muzzleloader Deer and East River Deer Hunting Seasons at their April meeting.

The commission proposed to change the area where “antlerless whitetail” licenses are valid during the muzzleloader season

The proposed season dates for the muzzleloader seasons would be:

· December 1, 2021 – January 1, 2022

· December 1, 2022 – January 1, 2023

The commission also proposed to decrease available licenses for the East River Deer Hunting Season.

The proposal calls for 24,940 single tag and 1,300 double tag licenses for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The proposed East River Deer Hunting Seasons would be:

· November 20 – December 5, 2021

· December 11-19, 2021 – for antlerless deer tags only

The commission proposed deer seasons for three National Wildlife Refuges.

The proposed seasons would be:

Sand Lake NWR

· November 13-17, November 18-22, November 23-28, November 29 – December 5, December 6-12, and December 13-21 (unfilled antlerless licenses only)

Lacreek NWR

· October 20-19 and November 24-30

Waubay NWR (Including the Waubay State Game Bird Refuge)

· November 13-21 and November 27 – December 5

License numbers available for each refuge would be:

Sand Lake NWR

· Resident: 80 “any deer” and 25 “antlerless whitetail deer” licenses

· Nonresident: 8 “any deer” and 2 “antlerless whitetail deer” licenses

Lacreek NWR

· Residents: 20 “any deer” licenses

· Nonresidents: 2 “any deer” licenses

Waubay NWR

· Residents: 20 “any deer” licenses

· Nonresidents: 2 “any deer” licenses

Individuals can comment on these proposals by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on these proposals, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held May 6-7 in Custer State Park.

Commission Continues Discussion on Grouse and Pheasant Hunting Seasons

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission continued discussions on their proposal to extend the Prairie Grouse Hunting Season to the end of January at their April meeting.

The commission proposal would align with the changes made to the 2020 pheasant hunting season.

Also included in their proposal would be to modify the grouse hunting season on the Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge to begin the third Saturday in September, extending that season by a month.

The proposed grouse hunting season for 2021 be Sept. 18, 2021 – Jan. 31, 2022.

The commission also proposed to change the closing dates of the pheasant seasons on the Renzienhausen Game Production area and the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge to align with the statewide season’s closing date of January 31.

Proposed dates for those seasons would be:

Renzienhausen GPA – Dec. 1, 2021 – Jan.31, 2022

Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge – Dec. 13, 2021 – Jan. 31, 2022.

Individuals can comment on these proposals by visiting gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501.

To hear the discussion on these proposals, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive. To see the proposal in its entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 2.