The seasonal restrictions placed on hunting bobwhites since 2022 (Indian Creek for example)  in South Carolina,  create unnecessary challenges for hunters,  and bottlenecked, intense  hunter pressure.  Think of what damage five hunting parties in the same area at the same time can do to a covey of birds.

Consider this.....we have all witnessed that human behavior changes,  when opportunities are lessened  (think of human behavior during toilet paper shortages)...everyone is rushing there.

In our hunting scenario, instead  of spreading pressure over a 90 day open season, now , hunters converge en masse on a few limited days (typically 10-14 per season), on the areas well managed for quail,  leading to overcrowding....and much uneeded pressure on birds in the area.

Furthermore, rabbit hunters are not subject to the same regulations, and can hunt any days on the focal areas, again causing undue stress on gamebirds, (one of the reasons why the dates were created initially)?? 

 Logical , data based evidence, showing actual  quail populations, are estimated from spring and fall covey counts, offering a very brief snapshot of what really exists, and many,many assumptions are incorporated to finalize estimates. 

This reduced  10-14 days season strategy started in 2022, and like many things in life today, somebody else is doing it in other states, so South Carolina decided to follow a model designed elsewhere..... the need to follow data is well respected,  however the data is not definitive enough to make it necessary to reduce hunter opportunites from approximately 90 days to 14 in these areas. Supporters of the shortened season, claim better bird populations going into spring, yet one experienced hunter reported finding 7 coveys on one of the focal roads on the last day of the 2021 season . (before the changes)

Cooperative voluntary hunter reports,  before the 2022 change,  showed no real substantial differences in harvests, percentages.... seasonal hunting hours reported actually increased after the changes. (biased supporters of the change,  claim voluntary vs mandatory reporting skewed results)

 Reducing daily limits further, (from 6  birds to 4 per day)  would be a simple , additional improvement, as most avid,  bird dog owning, bird hunters are looking for the total experience, not counting harvests. Also, there  are studies that state that spring time carry over is better for birds that make to late season(compensatory vs. additive mortality) , so possibly shorten the season and end it at the end of January.

Anther possibility would be to make available an ELECTIVE TAG FOR BIRD HUNTERS...NOT NECESSARY TO HUNT BIRDS, BUT FOR A FEE, WOULD GIVE PURCHASERS ACCESS TO THE BEST MANAGED QUAIL HABITAT , WITHOUT A LOTTERY, OR REDUCED DAYS.

BUT THE BEST CHANGES WOULD INCLUDE OPENING THE SEASON BACK UP , AND LET HUMAN NATURE REGULATE.  HUNTING PRESSURE WOULD BE SPREAD OUT, AND FIVE OR MORE HUNTING PARTIES WOULD NOT BE PURSUING THE SAME BIRDS AT THE SAME TIME.
Your support can make a difference. I urge you to join in signing this petition if you concur with any or all points.