Season Dates Summary
Mourning Dove
Sept. 3 – Sept. 5
12 Noon until Sunset
Sept. 6 – Oct. 8 • Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 21 – Jan. 15
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 15 (Mourning or White-winged doves, in the aggregate)
Possession limit – 30
Crows
Nov. 1 – Mar. 1
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
There is no daily bag limit. The use of electronic calls for crow hunting is permitted statewide on private land and WMA land
Marsh Hens/Rails (Clapper, King, Sora & Virginia)
Sept. 26 – Oct.1 • Oct. 22 – Dec. 24
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
King & Clapper
Daily bag limit – 15
Possession limit – 30
Sora & Virginia
Daily bag limit – 25
Possession limit – 25
Common Moorhens & Purple Gallinules
Sept. 26 – Oct. 1 • Oct. 22 – Dec. 24
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 15
Possession limit – 30
Woodcock
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 26 – Jan. 31
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 3
Possession limit – 6
Common Snipe (Wilson’s)
Nov. 14 – Feb. 28
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 8
Possession limit – 16
Nontoxic shot is not required when hunting Marsh hens/rails,
Woodcock, and Common snipe (Wilson’s).
Ducks, Coot and Mergansers
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 10 – Jan. 29
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Duck Daily Bag Limit – 6 total, including no more than 4 mallards (2 hens), 2 pintails, 1 fulvous whistling duck, 1 black-bellied whistling duck, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 1 canvasback, 2 scaup, 6 ring-necked ducks, 6 blue-winged teal, 6 green-winged teal, 6 northern shoveler, 6 gadwall, 6 American wigeon, 6 ruddy duck, 6 bufflehead, and 6 goldeneye and (1 black duck or 1 mottled duck). The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit and includes not more than 2 black ducks or 2 mottled ducks or 1 black duck and 1 mottled duck.
Coot Daily Bag Limit – 15. The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit.
Merganser Daily Bag Limit – 5 (not to include more than 1 Hooded Merganser) The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit.
There is no open season for harlequin ducks.
Early Teal
Sept. 15 – Sept. 30
Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 4 (Blue-winged or Green-winged, in the aggregate)
Possession limit – 8
Early Canada Geese (Statewide)
Sept. 1 – Sept. 30
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 15
Possession limit – 30
Canada Geese/ White Fronted Geese (Late seasons)
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 4 – Feb. 3 • Feb. 6 – Feb. 9
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 5 (not to include more than 2 white-fronted geese)
Possession limit – 10 (not to include more than 4 white-fronted geese)
Excludes all of Clarendon County, that portion of Orangeburg County North of SC Highway #6 and that portion of Berkeley County North of SC Highway #45 from the Orangeburg County Line to the junction of SC Highway #45 and State Road S-8-31 and that portion West of the Santee Dam.
Blue & Snow Geese
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 10 – Jan. 29
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 25
Possession limit – no limit
Brant
Dec. 11 – Jan. 29 (50 Days)
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 2
Possession limit – 4
The season for Atlantic brant is limited to 50 days.
Mergansers
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 10 – Jan. 29
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 5 (not to include more than 1 Hooded Merganser)
Possession limit – 10 (not to include more than 2 Hooded Merganser)
Coots
Nov. 19 – Nov. 26 • Dec. 10 – Jan. 29
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 15
Possession limit – 30
Sea Ducks (eiders, scoters & long-tailed ducks)
Oct. 15 – Jan. 29
½ Hour before Sunrise until Sunset
Daily bag limit – 7 (not to include more than 4 scoters)
Possession limit – 14 (not to include more than 8 scoters)
Sea ducks taken outside of the regular duck season may be hunted only in Atlantic Ocean waters separated from any shore, island or emergent vegetation by at least one mile of open water.
Cormorants are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and cannot be taken during migratory bird seasons. Cormorants can only be taken pursuant to permits issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and SCDNR.
Swans
There is NO OPEN SEASON on Swans!
Youth-Only Waterfowl Hunting Days:
Daily and possession bag limits are as indicated above.
State Youth Day: Dec. 3, 2011. Only hunters 17 years of age or younger may hunt waterfowl (ducks, geese, coots, & mergansers) on this day. The youth(s) must be accompanied by an adult of at least 21 years of age. The adult is not allowed to carry a gun or hunt, but must be properly licensed, including state and federal duck stamps. Youth who are 16 and 17 years of age who hunt on this day are not required to be licensed or have a state waterfowl stamp but must possess a Federal Waterfowl Stamp.
Federal Youth Days: Feb. 4-5, 2012. Only hunters 15 years of age or younger may hunt waterfowl (ducks, geese, coots, & mergansers) on these days. The youth(s) must be accompanied by an adult of at least 18 years of age. The adult is not allowed to carry a gun or hunt, and does not have to be licensed.
Special Falconry Season
Falconry is a permitted means of taking ducks, coots and mergansers in South Carolina. The season for falconry shall be Nov. 1 through Nov. 18 and Nov. 27 through Dec. 2 and Jan. 30 through Feb. 3. Daily bag and possession limits for these birds shall not exceed 3 and 6 birds, respectively, singly or in the aggregate. Statewide hunting hours shall be one half hour before sunrise to sunset.
Cormorants are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and cannot be taken during migratory bird seasons. Cormorants can only be taken pursuant to permits issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and SCDNR.
