Madison Daily Leader - Youth pheasant season begins

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Madison Daily Leader	home : news : news : top stories

Youth pheasant season begins

By:KRISTOFF DE KRAMER, Lake County Conservation Officer

10/10/2002

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South Dakota's youth pheasant season is Saturday through Monday. This is a special three-day season designed for youth under age 16.

There have been several common questions that have come up in recent days from those planning to participate in this hunt:

1) Since the youth season and the early resident-only pheasant seasons coincide, the question regarding how many pheasants a youth may harvest has surfaced. Can youth hunters take a daily limit of rooster pheasants in the morning as part of the youth season, and also a daily limit in the afternoon as part of the early resident-only season?

The answer is no.

Rules specifically state that youth pheasant hunters are only entitled to one daily limit of three rooster pheasants and a maximum possession limit of nine taken according to the daily limit, regardless of if they hunt both seasons.

2) Rules specifically state that a responsible adult must accompany youth hunters under age 16. Another question: Can the parent/guardian carry a gun if they are hunting grouse while the youth hunter is hunting in the youth pheasant season?

The parent or guardian may not carry a firearm anytime the youth is actively engaged in hunting pheasants on privately owned land or if the youth hunts public land from sunrise to noon. "Actively engaged in hunting pheasants" would include any youth shooting at a pheasant or having a pheasant in their possession. If the youth limits hunting to legal small game other than pheasants, the adult may carry a firearm.

3) The concern of lead shot or nontoxic shot has also brought upon some questions. Where do we need to use nontoxic shot?

Lead shot can be used for hunting upland game birds on privately owned land, including private land leased as walk-in areas by the department. Once the youth hunter enters public land, he or she may no longer use lead shot; nontoxic shot or steel must be used. The youth may not use lead shot or possess lead shot while in the field on public land. Public lands that require the use of nontoxic or steel shot can be found in the 2002 Hunting Handbook.

Youth hunters can hunt from sunrise to sunset on both private and public lands; however, only certain road rights-of-way are legal to hunt. Not all road rights-of-way are open to hunting.

Road rights-of-way open to hunting during the youth season and the early resident-only season include those immediately adjacent to property owned, managed or leased by the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks for public hunting; property leased by the department as a Walk-In-Area; Waterfowl Production Areas managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Property; U.S. Forest Service National Grasslands and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property adjacent to the Missouri River.

Road rights-of-way immediately adjacent to private land are closed to hunting during these seasons.

Regulations for both the youth season and the early resident-only season can be found in the 2002 Hunting Handbook on pages 17-18. These handbooks are available at all GFP offices, most license agents and from the department's Web site at www.state.sd.us/gfp/.

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