The youth-only portion of South Dakota’s Nest Predator Bounty Program is open through the end of the month (March 31, 2023).
South Dakota youth under 18 years of age are eligible to participate in the program, administered by the state Game, Fish and Parks Department.
Secretary Kevin Robling says a new feature this year is every participating youth will receive one free live trap. When youth submit their tails for the first time, they will receive their live trap to use throughout the program.
Robling says the Youth Trap Giveaway is in honor of Benton Howe, a young man who had a passion for the outdoors and shared that passion with his family and friends. He says one participating youth will be drawn weekly to receive a raccoon trapping starter kit, Trapping Handbook, a knife and a write-up explaining Benton Howe’s love for the outdoors.
Tails eligible for submission can be harvested via trapping or hunting. Participants need a hunting, furbearer or fishing license to be eligible to participate in the bounty program. Landowners harvesting nest predators for the program on their own land and youth under 18 are exempt from this license requirement.
The program opens to all South Dakota residents on April 1, 2023. Tails from raccoon, striped skunk, badger, red fox and opossum will be eligible for $10 per-tail payments with a maximum total payout for the program being $500,000.
In 2022, 143 youth participated in the youth-only month of March and submitted 2,100 nest predators during this time. Overall, 2,367 individuals participated in the 2022 program removing 55,220 nest predators. Youth made up 32% of total participants, which was higher than in 2021 at 29%.
Complete program details as well as dates, times, and locations for tail submissions can be found on the GFP website. For bounty submissions outside of the listed office locations and times, please contact your local wildlife conservation officer or wildlife damage specialist.
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