2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 50 - Fish, Game and Watercraft
CHAPTER 11 - PROTECTION OF GAME
Section 50-11-710. Night hunting prohibited; exceptions; hunting of raccoons, opossums, foxes, minks, or skunks; penalties.

(A) It is unlawful to night hunt for raccoons, opossums, foxes, minks, or skunks in violation of the provisions of this section.

(B) Raccoons, opossums, foxes, minks, and skunks may be hunted at night on property on which a person has a lawful right to hunt; however, the animals may not be hunted with artificial lights except when treed or cornered with dogs, and may not be hunted with buckshot or any shot larger than a number four, or any rifle ammunition larger than a twenty-two caliber rimfire.

(C) A person who violates this section, upon conviction, must:

(1) for a first offense, be fined not more than five hundred dollars, be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both;

(2) for a second offense within two years from the date of conviction for the first offense, be fined not more than one thousand dollars, be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both; and

(3) for a third or subsequent offense within two years of the date of conviction for the last previous offense, be fined not more than one thousand five hundred dollars, be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.

(D) In addition to any other penalty, any person convicted for a second or subsequent offense under this section within three years of the date of conviction for a first offense shall have his privilege to hunt in this State suspended for a period of one year. A hunting license may not be issued to an individual while his privilege is suspended, and any license mistakenly issued is invalid.

HISTORY: [Derived from former Section 50-11-20 (1962 Code Section 28-302; 1952 Code Section 28-302; 1942 Code Section 1785; 1932 Code Section 1754; Cr. C. '22 Section 737; 1919 (31) 269; 1920 (31) 732; 1930 (36) 1395; 1937 (40) 85; 1943 (43) 191; 1952 (47) 2179; 1973 (58) 641; 1984 Act No. 328, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 526, Section 1)]; 1988 Act No. 561, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1262; 2003 Act No. 23, Section 2; 2010 Act No. 211, Section 2, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on June 8, 2010); 2010 Act No. 243, Section 1, eff June 11, 2010; 2012 Act No. 228, Section 1, eff June 18, 2012; 2015 Act No. 53 (S.592), Section 1, eff June 3, 2015; 2017 Act No. 88 (S.443), Section 2, eff May 19, 2017.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the 2010 amendments were read together. Subsection (A)(2) contains the Act 211 amendment, and Subsection (A)(3) contains the Act 243 amendment.

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, in (B), the reference to the "provisions contained in items (2)(b) and (3)(b) of subsection (A)" was changed to "provisions contained in items (2)(c) and (3)(c) of subsection (A)" to be consistent with the amendment to (A) made by 2015 Act No. 53.

Effect of Amendment

The first 2010 amendment added the subsection identifiers and added subsection (A)(2) relating to nighttime hunting of hogs.

The second 2010 amendment added the subsection identifiers and added subsection (A)(3) relating to nighttime hunting of coyotes and armadillos.

The 2012 amendment rewrote the section.

2015 Act No. 53, Section 1, rewrote (A)(2) and (A)(3).

2017 Act No. 88, Section 2, rewrote the section, providing that it is unlawful to night hunt raccoons, opossums, foxes, minks, or skunks under certain circumstances, revising the penalty provisions, and deleting the provisions relating to night hunting of feral hogs, coyotes, and armadillos, and deleting the provision relating to the use of artificial lights at night.