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Senate panel advances bill to extend still-hunting window for bears in Game Zone 1
Summary
House Bill H3813 would let still hunters take bears on private property during both weeks of the existing autumn season in Game Zone 1 and would remove a dog-hunt roster requirement; DNR testified the bear population in the mountains has grown and supports expanded still-hunting opportunity for landowners.
House Bill H3813, which would extend still-hunting opportunity on private property and remove a dog-hunt roster requirement in Game Zone 1 (parts of Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties), received a favorable report from the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee after a lengthy discussion.
Charles Ruth, a biologist who supervises the DNR big-game program, told the committee that bear numbers in Game Zone 1 have increased markedly in recent years. Ruth said harvests averaged about 35 bears in the first five years of this century, rose to an average of 134 in the last five years and that last year’s harvest reached 170. "The bears are doing well up there," Ruth said, and that DNR now seeks to allow still hunters on private property to hunt during both weeks of the season while maintaining a separate week for organized dog hunting.
Ruth told senators the historical separation of a still-hunting week and a dog-hunting week reflected years when the mountain bear population was small; DNR staff now recommend removing a requirement that dog-hunt masters submit rosters they no longer use. Ruth said harvests are split roughly 50/50 between still hunters and dog hunters in recent years and that the change would primarily allow landowners greater flexibility on their own property.
Senators questioned the fairness of extending still-hunting opportunity for two weeks while leaving dog-hunting limited to one week; one senator argued dog hunters should receive the same additional week. Committee members also asked which hunting groups and local staff DNR had consulted; Ruth said mountain staff who work the hunts were consulted but that formal group testimony did not appear in the house record.
The committee voted to report the bill favorably by voice; the chair recorded one senator opposed and noted proxies voting aye for Turner and Young. The hearing record includes discussion of Game Zone 1’s geographic limits (upper Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties), the existence of a separate coastal bear population and DNR’s view that wildfires in the mountains would improve some bear habitat.
No amendment text or fiscal impact was provided during the committee hearing. The bill now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.
