![]() “When the only place a person can find a bird is next to a preserve, it leads to a lot of hunting illegally because they are not road hunting ‘the right way,’” one GFP session attendee commented. Hunters are allowed to retrieve birds that are shot and fly onto private property as long as they do not bring their gun during the retrieval.īut Ehlers and others say road hunters under the influence of adrenaline sometimes “push the laws to the limit” in order to take a bird. Some road hunters drive alongside preserves and shoot any birds that scurry into the rights-of-ways.Īnimals must be in the right-of-way or flying over it before they can legally be hunted from the roads and ditches. Some preserve owners also say road hunters take advantage of the fact that preserve operators by law must purchase and release enough pen-raised pheasants to cover the number shot by their guests. “We have also witnessed road hunters shooting out of windows.” “We’ve had several near-misses and one of our guests was shot in the head by road hunters,” one session attendee wrote. ![]() At a Game, Fish & Parks Department listening session in July, some preserve owners complained that road hunters routinely break safety rules and laws and put their guests in danger by exiting vehicles in a state of “pheasant fever.” “Sometimes when you’re an individual, it’s hard to walk 100 acres by yourself, or they could be older, so road hunting is the only option they have.”īut road hunting is unpopular among some members of the state’s pheasant preserve hunting industry. “There are people who have no place to hunt, and that’s where they are going to hunt, and we’re totally fine with it,” said Rory Ehlers, operator of the Dakota Prairie Hunting reserve near Midland, S.D. Game animals can be readily seen and pursued. Road hunting also makes hunting much easier because it doesn’t require a bird dog, a large hunting party or long walks through a field. Many hunters view the practice as safe if done properly, and see it as a way for people who don’t have access to private land to hunt in areas where target animals congregate. The 2017 season generated $209 million in direct and spin-off revenue, about $132 million of that from non-resident hunters, according to the state Game, Fish and Parks Department. The main target of so-called “road hunting” in South Dakota is the state’s famous pheasant population, which drew 120,000 hunters in 2017 – about 60 percent from other states – who took 830,000 birds during the 79-day season that starts in mid-October. Laws allowing hunting in the rights-of-way, or the land under and alongside a highway or road, are part of a longstanding hunting tradition in South Dakota. In addition to a couple close calls where family members had guns discharged in a vehicle, a co-worker of Kolbeck’s lost her husband to a hunting accident in South Dakota in 2008 when a loaded gun went off in a vehicle, killing him. Kolbeck does not road hunt and never travels with a loaded gun. In the past three years, officials have documented 10 incidents involving road hunting or gun transport. From 2003-2013, 29 vehicle-related incidents leading to four deaths were reported. Numerous hunters have been injured in South Dakota while road hunting or while carrying a loaded gun in a vehicle, according to state records. “I try to address what is the safest way and not just what’s legal.” “It’s kind of a been a strong issue with me, that it may be legal but it’s not smart,” said Ron Kolbeck of Salem, who has taught state HuntSAFE programs for more than 20 years. Hunters cannot fire within 660 feet of any church, school, occupied dwelling or livestock, and with few exceptions – special permits granted to handicapped hunters or people trying to kill predators such as coyotes - are not allowed to shoot from the vehicle.Įven though driving with a loaded gun while on the hunt is legal, some law enforcement officers and hunter safety teachers say it is dangerous. In the Black Hills National Forest, big-game hunters are allowed to drive down forest roads with a loaded, uncased rifle in the vehicle, pull over when an animal is seen, then step off the gravel road and immediately fire. The hunter can pull over, exit the vehicle and then fire at pheasants, waterfowl or other small game from the pavement or the ditch – even at a bird flying across the travel lanes. Despite accidents in which hunters have been killed or injured, it remains legal for a hunter to drive with a loaded, uncased firearm along almost any highway or road except an interstate. Find additional in-depth coverage at No neighboring state is as liberal as South Dakota when it comes to traveling with loaded guns or hunting on, along or over roads. This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit news organization.
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