Senator Kevin L. Johnson, of Clarendon County, has introduced Senate Bill,
S 298. This bill states that a hunting dog owner or handler shall be charged up to $500.00 if his/her dog enters upon the land of another, which the person does not have the hunting rights. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!

Please contact your senators and ask them to oppose this bill immediately.

Please be courteous and DO NOT use any harsh or curse words when corresponding with them.

Remember, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Al Barr, Secretary
South Carolina Dog Hunters' Coalition

i sent an email to every member on the board of Fish, Game and Forestry Committee and to my state senator in my county. hopefully they listen.

how do i go about joining South Carolina Dog Hunters' Coalition?

Where did you get this info from? Can it be found online? Thanks

copied straight for the senate website


South Carolina General Assembly
121st Session, 2015-2016
Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 298

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Johnson
Do***ent Path: l:\s-res\klj\002deer.ksg.klj.docx

Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry

Summary: Protection of game

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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1/13/2015 Senate Introduced and read first time
1/13/2015 Senate Referred to Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry
View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/13/2015
(Text matches printed bills. Do***ent has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A BILL

TO AMEND CHAPTER 11, TITLE 50 OF THE 1976 CODE, RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF GAME, BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TO PROVIDE THAT IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR A PERSON ON A DOG HUNT TO PERMIT HIS DOG TO ENTER UPON THE LAND OF ANOTHER OVER WHICH THE PERSON DOES NOT HAVE HUNTING RIGHTS, TO PROVIDE FOR THE DEFINITION OF "ON A DOG HUNT", TO PROVIDE FOR THE DEFINITION OF "TAKE", AND TO ASSESS A CIVIL FINE NOT TO EXCEED FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 11, Title 50 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 50-11-775. (A)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person on a dog hunt to permit his dog to enter upon the land of another over which the person does not have hunting rights. The provisions of this section apply whether the person in control of the dog intentionally or unintentionally releases, allows, or otherwise causes the dog to enter upon the land.

(2) As used in this section, a person is 'on a dog hunt' if the person is using dogs to assist in taking a game animal, hog, or coyote.

(3) As used in the section, 'taking' means harassing intentionally, hunting, capturing, gathering, harvesting, removing, catching, wounding, or killing, or attempting to harass, hunt, capture, gather, harvest, remove, catch, wound, or kill.

(B) A person who violates this section shall be assessed a civil fine in an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars. Fees received for these violations shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund of the State. Violations of this section do not by themselves trigger the penalties imposed under section 50-11-770.

(C) It is not a violation of this section 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.

(D)(1) The provisions of this section do not apply to bear hunting.

(2) The provisions of this section do not apply to Game Zones 1 or 2."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 15, 2015 at 2:56 PM

BTTT

I have a meeting with Sen. John Scott and Sen Johnson on Tuesday. This was set up by Sen. Scott who I have worked closely with on many other matters. I will post the outcome of this meeting. In the mean time I would encourage all to relay your feelings about this bill to your local legislators. Be sure you use well thought out statements.

How did the meeting go?

Our meeting went very well. I was assured by Senator Johnson that Bill 0298 would not be pushed and would not be passed into law in the 2015 session.
We discussed a lot of issues in our state regarding hunting.I would really like to thank Senator Johnson and Senator John Scott for their time in seeing us today.

I am going to ask that all who enjoy hunting with hounds touch base with your local senators and house reps. A simple email is all it takes. If you are on here reading this then you can send an appropriate email. Let them know we are out there. These senators were amazed to hear how many dog hunting family oriented clubs are out there. Especially you guys in Clarendon county. Get busy. Let them hear how much good is going on.

Now as for what I heard about in this mans district, I understand completely why these people were mad. However, this was not the way to handle it. We have laws in place to handle these types and hopefully law enforcement will do their jobs and then maybe we all wont fall under this stereotypical blanket.

Rest assured if we lay back and do not show our strength in numbers then it will be our days that are numbered.

Everyone from Oconee county to Berkeley county, I'm calling for your help. Our legislature is in session right now. Let them know by emails, phone calls or written letters that the TRADITION of ethical dog driving is something that our state should be proud of and they should encourage all of their constituents to embrace it and all forms of hunting. Also let them know that we all are against illegal hunting practices and especially against the harming of any hunting animal. This is something that we are moving forward with also to protect our hunting hounds.

Thanks and happy hunting to all.

BTT