New law impacts deer hunters using dogs

There’s a new hunting law that South Carolina deer hunters using dogs need to be aware of called the Renegade Hunter Act.  According to Charles Ruth, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Deer and Turkey Project Supervisor, the new Act actually strengthens the already-on-the-books Road Hunting law. The way the law is worded, it does apply directly to hunters using dogs to hunt deer.

“The S.C. General Assembly apparently passed this new law to bolster the old law and it includes specifics regarding hunting roads, right of ways, property lines, boundaries and property upon which a hunter does not have hunting rights,” Ruth said.  “This new law does get a lot more specific about what must happen for hunters to stay legal when hunting with dogs in these locations. While there are not a lot of changes from the old Road Hunting law, there are some important ones.”

Ruth said it is best for every hunter to carefully read the entire law so they can see all of the implications. However, he said there are a few things he can discuss that will help put the law into perspective.

“There are some very specific things that must happen to stay legal if the hunting dogs cross from property where a hunter does have permission, to property where he does not have permission,” Ruth said.

“Here’s a good example that’s easy to understand,” Ruth said. “Let’s say a hunter is hunting on a road that divides two properties. On the right side of the road he has permission to hunt and on the left he does not. Assuming he abides by all the existing hunting rules, he can still hunt on that road right of way while the dogs are on the property that he has rights to hunt. However a major change is that if the dogs, for any reason, cross the road and enter onto the property where he does not have rights to hunt then his hunt is over.

“In the past, a hunter could continue to hunt on the road regardless of where the dogs were,” he said. “But now the law stipulates that once the dogs get on property he does not have permission to hunt, he can no longer hunt on the road and must put his weapon away.  Also the law is very specific about how he accomplishes that. He cannot be considered to be possessing, carrying or having readily available a weapon.”

To specifically quote from the new law, the ‘Possessing’, ‘carrying’, or ‘having readily available’ does not include a centerfire rifle or a shotgun that is:

(a) unloaded and cased in a closed compartment or vehicle;

(b) unloaded and cased in a vehicle trunk or tool box;

(c) in a vehicle traveling in a normal manner on a public road or highway; or

(d) in case of a stander with no vehicle, encased or unloaded with the shells at least thirty feet away and stacked, piled, or otherwise gathered together in like fashion.

Ruth added that there are some other things that are very important for deer hunters using dogs. The violation of the law would be the hunter not complying with the above when the dog goes on lands where permission has not been given to hunt. The dog going on lands where permission is not obtained does not constitute a violation.

“This is where the trespass law comes into play,” Ruth said. “This has not changed. A hunter must get permission to go onto someone else’s property for any reason, including to retrieve his dogs.

The law also states that it is not a violation if a person, with the landowner’s permission, uses a single dog to recover a dead or wounded animal on the land of another and maintains sight and voice contact with the dog.

The law also protects hunting dogs that enter property where hunting permission has not been given. The law states that a dog that has entered upon the land of another without permission given to the person in control of the dog shall not be killed, maimed or otherwise harmed simply because the dog has entered on their land.

Ruth said the new law is designed to protect deer dog hunters, their dogs and property owners who do not give permission for hunting. The law also allows for legal retrieval of the dogs once permission is given. The keys to avoiding violation, he said, are to ensure the weapons are properly taken care of and permission is obtained prior to going onto other person’s property.