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South Dakota proposes temporary ban on youth, mentor and apprentice deer hunting in nine southeastern counties after EHD losses
Summary
The Department of Game, Fish and Parks asked the Interim Rules Review Committee to deem complete a rule that would temporarily bar use of youth, mentor and apprentice deer licenses in nine southeastern counties hit hard by hemorrhagic disease; the committee approved the rulemaking process by a 5-0 vote.
Tom Kirschman, director of the Wildlife Division at the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, told the Interim Rules Review Committee that a multi-county outbreak of hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has sharply reduced deer numbers in parts of southeastern South Dakota.
"We would be closing down youth, mentor, deer hunting, and the apprentice," Kirschman said, describing the agency's recommendation to temporarily invalidate youth, mentor and apprentice license use within nine counties in the region. He emphasized the change would not prevent people from buying statewide youth or apprentice licenses — only using them in those counties.
Kirishman said EHD has been particularly severe in the affected counties and that recent harvest numbers showed low recruitment: "we look back last year, we had almost or right around 600 doe were harvested in those 9 county areas." He described the closure as a short-term, year-to-year management action intended to help boost doe and fawn recruitment.
When asked by Senator Howard how long the closures might last, Kirschman said there is no fixed deadline and the agency will monitor several indicators, including related harvest data from other available licenses and fall deer classifications that measure doe-to-fawn ratios. "All of our information right now indicates that we are seeing a slow but steady incline of the numbers. We're hoping this over a year or two would help bolster that a little bit faster," he said.
Kirishman read the list of counties he intended to restrict: Yankton, Bon Homme, Union, Clay, Turner, Hutchinson, Lincoln and Davison, and said he was missing one county name during the recitation (transcribed in the record as "Davidson").
The committee took a roll-call motion to deem the rulemaking process complete; the secretary recorded five ayes and the chair declared the rulemaking process complete. No opponent testimony was recorded in the committee transcript.
