It could soon be open season 24/7 on coyotes and wild hogs in South Carolina.
The state legislature is looking at a bill that would allow people to shoot those animals at night during certain times of the year. Currently, shooting coyotes and hogs is allowed only during daylight hours. Restrictions on where the animals can be shot could also be eased.
"I don't think you'll ever see us eliminate the problem," said Officer Jason Plemmons of South Carolina's Department of Natural Resources.
Plemmons said coyotes are not native to the state, and their population has exploded after they were first brought here illegally in the 1980s.
"They're everywhere across the state, and in North Carolina, too," he said.
SC DNR numbers show 30,000 coyotes were found in 2010. In the past decade, the white tail deer population has fallen by 30 percent. That's largely because more than half of the fawns born in the state are killed by coyotes.
The decline in the deer population has had an impact on hunting, which is big business in South Carolina. In fact, hunters have been pressing lawmakers to allow more killing of coyotes.
The money loss is substantial, Plemmons said.
"It's millions and millions of dollars. That's because people buy hunting licenses, they're leasing land here, they're eating in our restaurants, staying in our motels (and) filling up their trucks with gas,” he said.
Wylie Totherow stays at Chester State Park as a camp host for most of the summer. He's there six days a week and has seen coyotes there.
"I've seen two. One about 20 yards away over there in the wood line," he said, pointing to a line of trees near a campsite.
Totherow said the idea to allow expanded hunting is a good one, just for safety reasons.
"We live out in the country, and I wouldn't want one to come up in my yard around my grandbabies," he said.
Experts told Channel 9 that coyotes are generally afraid of humans and will usually run once spotted. Still, the threat to deer, livestock and other native animals is a growing concern.
Plemmons isn't too confident that a new law allowing night hunting will make much difference, but he believes it could at least help control the soaring numbers of hogs and coyotes.
"Each coyote has five or six pups in spring, and that's why they're so quickly spreading in this area," he said.
The law would also allow for expanded trapping of the animals. Even that effort could be too little too late to slow the explosion of both coyotes and wild hogs.
North Carolina experiences many of the same problems with coyotes. Dozens of people have taken cellphone video of the animals in major cities like Charlotte and posted them on YouTube.
Lawmakers in North Carolina are also considering allowing night hunting. There is concern in both states about the danger of irresponsible gun use. Lawmakers are still trying to hammer out the particulars of the proposal.
WSOC
