PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota hunters will soon be able to use hounds while hunting mountain lions across the state, a change advocates say will give private landowners more options to protect pets and livestock.
The state Game, Fish and Parks Commission voted 5-3 on Thursday to allow the use of hounds to hunt mountain lions outside of the Black Hills on private lands and, in certain cases, on some public lands. Currently, hunters can only use hounds at specific times in Custer State Park, but mountain lion hunting without dogs is open outside the hills year-round.
The measure to expand hound hunting was brought before the panel as a citizen petition, and it will go into effect 20 days after it’s filed with the Secretary of State.
South Dakota Houndsmen Association President Brad Tisdall, who introduced the petition, said the approval is a “huge step nationwide in the hound world.”
Reed Vandervoort, a Piedmont resident who has hunted with hounds in Custer State Park and parts of Wyoming, said hounds can help hunters identify the age and sex of a lion after the dogs chases it and traps it in a tree - an important tool for hunters only looking to take the dominant male in an area and leave the young lions.
“Without hounds, the hunters in the Black Hills, if they see a cat in the trees, they might have a few seconds to decide whether to shoot it or not,” Vandervoort said.
Vandervoort, a rancher, added that he had to put down three of his calves after they broke their legs fleeing from what he believes were lions.
“You’re looking at about $3,000,” he said.
The South Dakota Legislature last year rejected a bill to allow dogs in mountain lion hunts outside the hills. Republican Sen. Betty Olson, who sponsored that legislation, told the commission on Wednesday that a teacher in her area has hit a mountain lion with a car.
She said mountain lions make her neighbors wary about letting pets or children out alone.
But expansion opponents say mountain lions are part of the ecosystem and haven’t been proven to cause significant problems for South Dakota residents.
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department staff told the commission that there have only been four documented problems with pets or livestock caused by mountain lions since 1999, “but you talk to pretty much any landowner and they’ve had them wreak havoc,” said Travis Theel, a Rapid City resident who hunts mountain lions and supports hunting with hounds.
John Hauge, an opponent of the measure, said hunting with hounds is unsportsmanlike.
“It’s assassination,” he said.
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