The Legislature’s Rules Review Committee will now consider whether to allow the changes to take effect
PIERRE, S.D. — In an emotionally charged meeting, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission voted to significantly expand the area of the Black Hills where hunters can use dogs to pursue mountain lions.
The proposal from the state Game, Fish and Parks Department greatly broadens the area to cover an area in the extreme south and southeastern parts of the Black Hills Fire Protection District. Currently, hound-hunting is limited to the Custer State Park. During the past five years within Custer State Park, hound hunters killed a total of 35 lions, while hunters on foot took one.
In 2023, the Commission denied the proposal amidst concerns of a declining mountain lion population. Now, in approving the expanded use of dogs to hunt mountain lions, the concern is a decline in deer population.
The commission received hundreds of written comments in recent weeks from both sides. Approximately 30 people testified at a public hearing during the meeting Thursday. Opponents say expanded use of dogs favors a small group of “houndsmen” and commercializes the sport, reducing opportunities for hunters who prefer traditional “spot and stalk” methods while proponents argue it enhances successful management, particularly in areas with low harvest rates, and can be an effective tool for wildlife management
Two commissioners were asked to recuse themselves from the vote. Travis Bies ranches in the Fairburn, S.D., area of the Black Hills and Travis Theel, from Rapid City, is one of the owners of Buckstorm, a business that markets big-game guiding services.
While Theel did recuse himself, Bies declined, saying that since he doesn’t own property in the unit that was being proposed, he didn’t feel he had a conflict of interest.
The South Dakota Houndsmen Association spoke and wrote in favor of the expansion. Some members of the Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation opposed it. Several wildlife enthusiasts who don’t hunt also said they were against the expansion.
The lions limit for the Black Hills district would remain 60 total or 40 females. The Game, Fish and Parks Department proposed the expansion as a way to take more lions in the southern Black Hills, in hope that removing more predators would help the low populations of mule deer and whitetail deer rebound in the area.
Dogs can be used for the prairie lion-hunting season, which runs year-round. The Black Hills season opens December 26 and continues until April 30 — or stops earlier, when either 60 total lions or 40 females are taken. The 2024-25 season saw 52 killed — 29 females and 23 males.
Stakeholders representing a multitude of interests, submitted public comments and/or testified during the meeting. “It’s an emotional topic,” said Commission Chair Stephanie Rissler, Vermillion, S.D. She asked about dogs and trespassing. According to GF&P Terrestrial Program Chief John Kanta, if dogs or people go onto private property, that would be a trespass and could possibly be turned over to the sheriff’s department.
In a KELO news report, Jeremy Wells of Sturgis, S.D., spoke in favor of the expansion. He said “few cats” have been harvested in the southern area, in part because the winter seasons have been less severe there.
In the same report, Kevin Thom of Rapid City spoke against the expansion. He is a past director for the state Division of Criminal Investigation, then served 12 years as the Pennington County sheriff and has long been an avid hunter, including pursuing big game with hounds.
“But in terms of the Black Hills, this is not the right setting,” Thom said. He argued there is too much “checkerboarding” of private and public land in the Black Hills.
Others in attendance pointed to the disruption of hounding-hunting to livestock and pets.
While Rissler said the decision was a “tough one” she reasoned that because the measure doesn’t increase the number of mountain lion hunting licenses, the decision to allow more hound-hunting is a tool hunters can choose to use.
The changes also would expand the Custer State Park times for hounds use to three weeks from the current two weeks and would open the park to unlimited number of boot hunters.
A final decision as to whether to allow the changes to take effect will be made by the six-member Legislature’s Rules Review Committee on Tuesday, September. 9.
Following is the description of the expanded area where dogs can be used in the Black Hills Fire Protection District:
“Temporary access permits allowing an individual to hunt with the use of dogs in the Black Hills Fire Protection District must be issued by a random drawing. An individual must possess a temporary access permit to hunt with dogs in those portions of the Black Hills Fire Protection District within an area bounded as follows:
Beginning at the junction of State Highway 79 and U.S. Highway 16/East Catron Boulevard in Rapid City, then westerly along U.S. Highway 16 to its junction with the Black Hills National Forest boundary, then southerly along the Black Hills National Forest boundary to its junction with South Rockerville Road, then southerly along South Rockerville Road to its junction with State Highway 40;
Then easterly along State Highway40 to its junction with Pennington County Road 330 (Playhouse Road), then southerly to its junction with U.S. Highway 16A, then southerly along U.S. Highway 16A to its junction with the north boundary of Custer State Park, then westerly along the Custer State Park Boundary to its junction with the northwest corner of Custer State Park, then southerly along the west Custer State Park boundary and Wind Cave National Park boundary to U.S. Highway 385;
Then northerly along U.S. Highway 385 to its junction with State Highway 89, then southerly along State Highway 89 to its junction with 18 Mile Road (Forest Service 316), then westerly along 18 Mile Road to its junction with Pleasant Valley Road (Forest Service 715), then westerly along Pleasant Valley Road to its junction with Pilger Mountain Road/Dewey Road (Forest Service 769), then westerly along Pilger Mountain Road/Dewey Road to the South Dakota-Wyoming state line;
Then southerly along the state line to its junction with the Cheyenne River, then easterly along the Black Hills Fire Protection District southern boundary to the southeast corner of the Black Hills Fire Protection District, then northerly along the Black Hills Fire Protection District eastern boundary to the point of the beginning.”