Title 50, Fish, Game and Watercraft

(A) It is unlawful to harm, disturb, molest, or take an actively nesting waterfowl, its nest, or eggs, including the male, except by permit issued by the federal government or its agent. (B) It is unlawful to disturb, damage, or destroy the nest including a nest box or eggs of an…

(A) Subject to available funding, the department shall acquire sufficient wildlife habitat through lease or purchase or otherwise to establish wildlife management areas for the protection, propagation, and promotion of fish and wildlife and for public hunting, fishing, and other …

The abuse, misuse, damage, or destruction of wildlife management area land, Heritage Trust land, or department owned land or improvements on these lands is unlawful. A person who abuses, misuses, damages, or destroys these lands or improvements on them including, but not limited …

Nothing contained in Section 50-11-2200 or 50-11-2210 shall interfere with the use and management of lands by a state agency charged with the management of those lands as part of the functions of the agency authorized by law or with the management and use by a landowner of his la…

A person convicted of abusing, damaging, or destroying wildlife management area land, Heritage Trust land, or department owned land or improvements loses the privilege of entering onto these lands for one year. A person who enters onto wildlife management land, Heritage Trust lan…

A person who enters a closed area or who remains on an area after being instructed by a law enforcement officer, the manager, or department custodial personnel to leave is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined up to five hundred dollars or imprisoned up to t…

Before any person may lease property to the Wildlife Management Area Program, there must be either public or private access to the property available for use by individuals hunting the property under the program during the term of the lease.

(A) In addition to any other action that may be taken by an enforcement officer, a hunter's privilege to participate in a wildlife management area lottery hunt may be revoked for the remainder of the hunt if an enforcement officer witnesses, or has probable cause to believe that,…

There is created an Operation Game Thief Program to be funded by: (1) monies authorized from the county game fund of the state treasury not to exceed thirty thousand dollars annually; (2) monies received from donations to the fund, which must be used for general program purposes.…

Funds from the Operation Game Thief Program may be expended only for the following purposes: (1) the financing of reward payments to persons other than law enforcement officers, department personnel, and members of their immediate families responsible for information leading to t…

The Operation Game Thief Program funds must be expended in conformity with the laws of the State, except that any monies appropriated by the General Assembly or received from donations must be used before monies from any county game fund are used. Balances remaining at the end of…

It is unlawful to hunt migratory waterfowl in the Gills Creek watershed in Lancaster County within two hundred yards of a dwelling without written permission of the owner or occupant. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fine…

For the purpose of this article: (a) "Fur bearing animal" includes red and gray fox, coyote, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, mink, skunk, otter, bobcat, weasel, or beaver. (b) "Fur buyer" means any person who purchases any whole fur bearing animal, raw or green furs, pelts, or hides. …

A person engaged in the act of trapping must be the owner of the property on which the traps or devices are set or has written permission from the landowner or his agent in possession to use the property for trapping.

A trapper must visit his traps at least once each day from two hours before sunrise to two hours after sunset and remove any animal caught with the exception that a trapper must visit body gripping traps when used in water sets and other traps when used in "submersion sets" at le…

It is unlawful for a person, other than the owner of the trap, or the owner's designee, to remove any lawfully trapped wildlife from any legally set trap. A designee must have in his possession written permission from the owner of the trap or the owner's agent, and must meet all …

Any person required to be licensed under Section 50-11-2420 shall report to the department by April fifteenth of each year the number and type of furbearing animals taken, sold, or shipped, together with the names and addresses of persons to whom sold or shipped using forms as th…

(A) Only the following traps are allowed for trapping unless otherwise provided in this title: (1) body gripping traps (generally known by the brand name "Conibear") when used without bait for vertical water sets and vertical slide sets only; (2) live traps, which also may be use…

Any person other than a retailer of finished fur or manufacturer of finished furs, pelts, hides, similar articles, or parts of them who buys furs, pelts, hides, whole furbearing animals, similar articles, or parts of them in this State is required to have a fur buyer's license. T…

A person engaged in processing hides of fur bearing animals is required to obtain a fur processor's license. The license is issued by the department at a cost of two hundred dollars. The license is valid for the state fiscal year in which it is issued. A taxidermist who possesses…

The following persons are not required to obtain a fur buyer's license: (1) a person who acquires not more than five furs, pelts, hides, or whole animals for his own personal use during one season and not for barter, exchange, or sale; (2) a person licensed as a fur processor; (3…

All fur buyers and processors, other than retailers, shall keep a daily register on forms provided by the department showing the name and address of each person from whom any furs are purchased, the number of the seller's commercial fur license, and the number and types of furs, …

(A) It is unlawful to take migratory waterfowl from blinds or positions where the floor level of the blind or the position is: (1) more than ten feet above surface level in or around freshwater; or (2) more than five feet above the mean high water in or around saltwater. (B) A bl…

A person required to have a commercial fur license who takes an otter or bobcat must tag the fur, pelt, hide, or whole animal before it is sold, shipped, or transferred to a person or business, or transported out of the State, if required by the federal government in order to com…

Except as otherwise permitted in this article, it is unlawful to possess, acquire, or transfer any raw or green fur, pelt, hide, or whole furbearing animal. It is also unlawful to possess, acquire, or transfer any untagged fur, pelt, hide, or whole animal that requires a tag. Any…

All enforcement officers and any other employee of the department designated by the board, at any and all reasonable hours, may inspect the business premises and records required by this article of any person licensed under this article to ensure compliance. The license of any li…

The department may confiscate all traps and devices, furs, pelts, hides, and whole animals which are illegally possessed, tagged, or used. Where the department has no storage facilities for perishable items such as furs, it may sell them at a reasonable price and hold the proceed…

(A) It is lawful to trap furbearing animals for commercial purposes from December first of each year to March first of the succeeding year. It is lawful for an individual, or an individual's agent, to trap furbearing animals on the individual's private land for a noncommercial pu…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person violating the provisions of this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than three hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned for not more than sixty days for…

Any person violating the provisions of this article unless otherwise specified in Section 50-11-2560 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days for each …

(A) The department may issue special permits, at no cost to the applicant, for the taking, capturing, or transportation of wildlife which is destroying or damaging private or public property, wildlife habitat, game species, timber, crops, or other agriculture so as to be a nuisan…

It is unlawful to hunt migratory waterfowl on Bear Creek in Lancaster County within two hundred yards of a dwelling without written permission of the owner or occupant. As used in this section, Bear Creek includes the area within the Bear Creek impoundment boundaries from the bri…

For purposes of this article: (1) "Fox and coyote hunting enclosure" and "enclosure" mean a structure that restricts the free movement of foxes and coyotes into or out of an area. (2) "Enclosure operator" means the owner, manager, or operator of an enclosure. Only one operator is…

It is unlawful to buy, sell, transfer, possess, or release a live coyote, coyote-hybrid, or fox within the State except as permitted by the department pursuant to this title.

(A) The department is authorized to issue fox and coyote hunting enclosure permits to an enclosure operator pursuant to the terms and provisions of this article. There is no charge for the permit. For purposes of this article a permit year is from May sixteenth of one year to May…

(A) Foxes and coyotes for stocking hunting enclosures may be obtained only from a South Carolina licensed trapper and must be lawfully taken within this State during the regular trapping season. (B) Foxes and coyotes for stocking hunting enclosures may be obtained only by the own…

(A) A commercial fur license permits a trapper to possess, sell, barter, or exchange live foxes or coyotes taken by the trapper. The possession, sale, barter, or exchange is lawful only during the trapping season and for thirty days following the closing date of the trapping seas…

(A) It is unlawful to bring, import, or cause to have imported a live coyote or fox into this State, except those brought into the State and kept in captivity by permit from the department for exhibition purposes. It is unlawful to release a coyote in this State except as authori…

Except as otherwise provided, a person who violates a provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be: (1) for a first offense, fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days; (2) for…

(A) For purposes of this section: (1) "Lake Murray" means and includes the area from Lake Murray Dam to one-half mile upstream of Harmon's Bridge on Secondary Road 41-44 and upstream to Kempson's Ferry Bridge on Highway 395, excluding tributaries; (2) "bait" means shelled, shucke…

It is unlawful to hunt migratory waterfowl on Lake Greenwood within two hundred yards of a dwelling without written permission of the owner and occupant. As used in this section, Lake Greenwood includes the area from the Buzzard's Roost Dam upstream to the Smith Road Bridge pilin…

It is unlawful to hunt migratory waterfowl on Lake Wateree within two hundred yards of a dwelling without written permission of the owner and occupant. As used in this section, Lake Wateree includes the area from Wateree Dam upstream to the Cedar Creek and Rock Creek Power Plant …

The following species constitute big game: white tailed deer, wild turkey, and black bear.

(A) For purposes of this section: (1) "Potato Creek" is the area lying east of Highway S-14-260 westward to the mouth of Potato Creek and the property controlled by Camp Bob Cooper 4-H Camp. (2) "Wyboo Creek" is the area lying northward from a line connecting Green Island and Eag…

(A) The open season for the hunting and taking of antlered deer is: (1) In Game Zone 1: October 1 through October 10, with primitive weapons only; October 11 through January 1, with archery equipment and firearms. (2) In Game Zone 2: September 15 through September 30, with archer…

(A) The bag limit for antlered deer taken with individual antlered deer tags is five per year for all seasons combined of which two have antler restrictions with a minimum of four points on one antler or a minimum twelve-inch inside antler spread. No more than two antlered deer m…