South Dakota appears to be suffering from the same idiocy which plagues all government, as when something works, it is a great idea to cheat the public so the successful program will shut down.

Last year in South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, created a bounty program to harvest predators of nesting birds. The program received 500,000 dollars, paid 10 dollars per tail on skunk, possum, racoon, badger and fox. The people of the state responded by harvesting 54,000 predators, and the state provided numbers of live traps free.

The Game Fish and Parks made it known that it wanted to spend that 500,000 dollar on other projects, but 83% of the public supported the idea, so the GFP and commissioners seized upon a new idea, cut the budget to 250,000 dollars and cut the bounty to 5 dollars a tail.

Considering the costs of fuel and time, five dollars a tail will amount to costing trappers. The entire basis of this program was to create new young trappers, but what the State of South Dakota is engaged in, is killing the program, which will return to state raising predators as fox do not complain to their Congressmen about their unresponsive GFP.

All of this mirrors the new GFP proposal of allowing the slaughter of geese without limits in South Dakota, as the majority of people can not afford licenses in the state, so the state is selling them to out of state non residents in this waste of game. The last time they had this kind of slaughter, dumpsters were full of geese.

On top of this South Dakota is moving to make it a Class One Misdemeanor over issues of bounty. Yes tell people to trap and then lay a legal minefield before them to make them criminals.


In a separate effort regarding predator bounties, District 29 state Rep. Thomas Brunner, R-Nisland, has introduced a bill that would increase the allowed bounty of coyotes in South Dakota and change the punishment for falsifying a bounty.


The bill would also make it a class one misdemeanor to falsify any bounty claim, or to claim a bounty on any skin for which a bounty has been paid or refused.

South Dakota Kills Successful Trapping Program

$5 for a skunk...not much of an incentive

I do not believe the bounty program has been finalized for this year ... what you are referring to is still subject to public comment and change by the commissioners at next weeks meeting.

Not even decided yet they meet next week I believe. $5 is just for the tail you can keep the rest so that’s ok on a skunk I have not see any $5 skunks anyways with this wet weather the stripes are all off color a summer skunk would have no fur value anyways.

I was shocked they paid $10 a tail the last time not surprised they lowered the bounty but they will raise prices in a heart beat it seems like.

It is there state let them run it the way they want to imo

Yep my thought also.

No. You are wrong. The whole idea is to reduce nest predators..........not introduce young trappers to trapping

Cheating on the bounty, whether theyre county specific or through the state, like turning in roadkill tails, should be a class 6 felony. What legal minefield are you talking about?

That was the story line when it began as a step of the program they even had a photo contest sponsored by the GFP.

Bounties don’t work especially when you bounty road kills.

With our current flooding issues we finally have some cover being left that they could not get to during the harvest time that alone should help the bounty might help out a bit. Either done alone would be a waste of time.

Somebody always beating on the little guy for his lunch money lol

Why does it make a difference how you kill it?Trap and shoot its still one less predator you should be paid for getting rid of if there is a bounty.

There isn't much evidence that bounty systems do much good anyway. Sounds good, makes one feel good, get a little money to boot. If it was really successful I suspect most pheasant states would be doing it. This system probably would be very helpful on waterfowl nesting around wetlands though.

Currently, there's a $4 bounty on yotes in this state...? News to me or is some old 1930s SD law that has never come off the books but isn't actually used.

I can see people still running some traps on their own property but not setting a line at $5 a crack unless in April (if that when the bounty starts again), a guy was also catching spring beaver and bounty traps were just a bonus in the same area. The Hutterites will probably still keep it cranked, one-for-all, all-for-one. I wonder how much of that 540k paid out last years went to the boys of the Brethren...?

If I have some sweet corn patches out this year, I'll gang set those suckers just to be able to harvest some dozens to eat and sell.

That 83% number is shady. I doubt you could get 83% of South Dakotans to agree on anything. I doubt 83% of the people on here are in favor of it and we're all trappers. If you think that number is good, that same survey states that 82% of South Dakotans are happy with the GFPs overall management. You would be hard pressed to find 82 people in total that thinks the GFP has a clue especially after all the big game license changes and the fishing fiasco (although that one's not really their fault but they have caught a lot of the blame for it).

Hope they do hammer them if they try cheating the bounty system...I dont see a negative in that.

You're just figuring this out ?

Game Dept's always claim bounties on a animals do nothing in controlling it.Then when theres a surge in fur prices like we had in the 70's and 80's and watch them start setting seasons and bag limits or at least contemplating doing it.

How is a bounty any less effective then a Delta project for nesting predators?