The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission has voted in favor of conducting a nest predator bounty program again this year.
At i January meeting, the commission was provided a comprehensive summary on the 2019 Nest Predator Bounty Program and adopted a resolution to conduct the program again in 2020. Following a 60-day public comment period and a public hearing at their March meeting, the commission voted to move forward with the program.
The commission determined the following objectives for the 2020 program:
- Remove up to 50,000 nest predators from the landscape;
- Increase furbearer license sales by 5 percent;
- Double participation in the trapping education program ETHICS SD;
- Ensure 20 percent of bounty participants are under the age of 18.
Program changes for 2020 include:
- An expenditure for five dollars per tail, not to exceed $250,000 for the bounty of nest predators.
- Participants under the age of 18 and landowners harvesting nest predators from their own land will not be required to have a license. All other participants must have a hunting, fishing, or furbearer license.
- The program will begin April 1 and close July 1, 2020, to coincide with the primary nesting season of pheasants, ducks, and other ground nesting birds.
- The method of take is expanded to include shooting of nest predators in addition to trapping.
Additional information and details on the program will be forthcoming.
