Night hunting

2025-2026 Bill 4771: Night hunting - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4771
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Hixon, C. Mitchell, Pope and Oremus
Document Path: LC-0375CM26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House
Summary: Night hunting
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 107
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
(
House Journal-page 107
)

1/30/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025
01/30/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
50-11-705
, RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS ON NIGHT HUNTING AND PENALTIES, SO
AS TO REVISE THE OFFENSES AND PENALTIES, TO REGULATE THE USE OF ELECTRONIC
VISION ENHANCING DEVICES FOR NIGHT HUNTING PURPOSES, AND TO PROVIDE MAGISTRATEs
COURT WITH JURISDICTION TO IMPOSE PENALTIES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION
50-11-740
,
RELATING TO CONFISCATION, FORFEITURE, AND SALE OF PROPERTY USED IN HUNTING
DEER, BEAR, OR TURKEY AT NIGHT, SO AS TO REVISE THE TYPES OF PROPERTIES THAT
ARE SUBJECT to THIS SECTION, TO REVISE THE FORFEITURE PROCEDURE, AND TO REVISE
PENALTIES.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
50-11-705
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
50-11-705
.
(
A) Except as otherwise
provided in this article, night hunting in this State is unlawful.

(
B)
A person who violates this section by night hunting for any animal, except for
deer, bear, turkey, or an animal listed in Section
50-11-710
or
50-11-715
, upon
conviction, must:

(
1)
for a first offense, be fined not more than five hundred dollars, be imprisoned
for not more than thirty days, or both;

(
2)
for a second offense within
two
ten
years from the date of conviction for the first
offense, be fined not more than one thousand dollars, be imprisoned as provided
for a first offense, or both; and

(
3)
for a third or subsequent offense within
two
ten
years of the date of conviction for the last
previous offense, be fined not more than one thousand five hundred dollars, be
imprisoned as provided for a first offense, or both.

(
C)
A person who violates this section by night hunting for deer, bear, or turkey
on property not registered with the department for night hunting
feral hogs, coyotes, or armadillos
, upon conviction, must:

(
1)
for a first offense, be fined not less than
five hundred
one thousand
dollars nor more than two thousand five
hundred dollars, be imprisoned for not more than
one year
thirty days
, or both;

(
2)
for a second offense within
two
ten
years from the date of conviction for the first
offense, be fined not less than
five hundred
two thousand five hundred
dollars nor more than
two
three
thousand five
hundred dollars, be imprisoned as provided for a first offense, or both; and

(
3)
for a third or subsequent offense within
two
ten
years of the date of conviction for the last
previous offense, be fined not less than
one thousand
three thousand five hundred
dollars nor more than
three
five
thousand dollars,
be imprisoned
as provided
for
not
more than six months, or both
a first offense, or
both
.

(D) A person who violates
this section by night hunting for deer, bear, or turkey on property registered
with the department for night hunting feral hogs, coyotes, or armadillos, upon
conviction, must:

(
1) for a first offense, be fined not
less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars,
be imprisoned for not more than one year, or both;

(
2) for a second offense within two
years from the date of conviction for the first offense, be fined not less than
one thousand dollars nor more than three thousand five hundred dollars, be
imprisoned as provided for a first offense, or both; and

(
3) for a third or subsequent offense
within two years of the date of conviction for the last previous offense, be
fined not less than two thousand five hundred dollars nor more than five
thousand dollars, be imprisoned as provided for a first offense, or both.

(E)
(
D)
The display or use of artificial light
, thermal imaging device, night vision device, or other
electronic vision enhancing device
at night on property not registered
with the department for night hunting feral hogs, coyotes, or armadillos,
or in possession of a hunter on property he does not have
permission to hunt on,
in a manner capable of disclosing the presence of
deer, bear, or turkey, together with the possession of or with immediate access
to a
centerfire
rifle and ammunition
larger than a twenty-two caliber rimfire
, or a shotgun
and ammunition larger than shot size number four, shall constitute prima facie
evidence of night hunting for deer, bear, or turkey.

(F)
(
E)
Nothing in this article prohibits a person from acting
in accordance with the conditions contained in a depredation permit issued by
the department pursuant to Section
50-11-2570
, nor
prohibits the use of artificial light or an electronic vision enhancing device
while acting under a depredation permit
.

(
F) The magistrates court has
concurrent jurisdiction under this section to impose the penalties set forth
herein up to a maximum fine of five thousand dollars, or six months
imprisonment, or both.

(
G) In addition to any other penalty,
any person convicted for a first offense shall have his privilege to hunt,
freshwater fish, and trap suspended for a period of one year. A person
convicted for a second offense within ten years of the last conviction date,
must have his hunting and fishing privileges suspended for an additional two
years. A person convicted for a third or subsequent offense within ten years of
the last conviction date must have his hunting and fishing privileges suspended
for an additional five years. A hunting or freshwater fishing license may not
be issued to an individual while his privilege is suspended. Any license
mistakenly issued is invalid.

(
H) In addition, each person convicted
of a violation of this section shall pay restitution to the department of not
less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each deer
that is the subject of a violation of this section. Upon conviction, any
firearm or archery device used in the violation of this section is forfeited to
the department. Public notice of sale must be announced through a departmental
news release, posted notice on department electronic media, and posted at the department
headquarters office.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
50-11-740
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
50-11-740
.
(
A) Every
vehicle, boat, trailer, other means of conveyance, animal,
firearm,
archery device, primitive weapon,
or device used
to aid
in the hunting of deer, bear, or turkey at night
is forfeited to the State and must
shall

be seized by any peace officer who shall forthwith deliver it to the
department.

(
B)
"Hunting" as used in this section in reference to a vehicle,
boat, or other means of conveyance includes the transportation of a hunter to
or from the place of hunting or the transportation of the carcass, or any part
of the carcass, of a deer, bear, or turkey which has been unlawfully killed at
night.
"Device used to aid in hunting" as used in
this section includes, but is not limited to, scopes, electronic vision
enhancement devices, and/or decoys. Device does not include vehicles, vessels,
or trailers.

(
C)
(1)
For purposes of this section,
upon

a conviction for unlawfully hunting deer, bear, or turkey at night
is conclusive as against any owner of the above mentioned
property
, the above-mentioned firearms, archery
equipment, or devices used to aid in the hunting shall be forfeited to the
State
.

(
2) In all other instances, forfeiture
must be accomplished by the initiation by the State of an action in the circuit
court in the county in which the property was seized giving notice to owners of
record and lienholders of record or other persons having claimed an interest in
the property subject to forfeiture and an opportunity to appear and show, if
they can, why the property should not be forfeited and disposed of as provided
for by this section. Failure of any person claiming an interest in the property
to appear at the above proceeding after having been given notice of the
proceeding constitutes a waiver of his claim and the property must be
immediately forfeited to the State.

(
3) Notice of the above proceedings
must be accomplished by:

(
a) personal service of the owner of
record or lienholder of record by certified copy of the petition or notice of
hearing; or

(
b) in the case of property for which
there is no owner or lienholder of record, publication of notice in a newspaper
of local circulation in the county where the property was seized for at least
two successive weeks before the hearing.

(
D)
The department shall sell any confiscated device at public
auction for cash to the highest bidder in front of the county courthouse in the
county where it is confiscated, after having given ten days' public notice of
the sale by posting advertisement thereof on the door or bulletin board of the
county courthouse or by publishing the advertisement at least once in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county.
Upon
conviction, any firearm, archery device, primitive weapon, or other device used
in the violation of this section is forfeited to the department for
departmental conversion or to be sold at a public auction upon conviction.
Public notice of sale will be announced through a departmental news release,
posted notice on departmental electronic media, and posted at the department
headquarters office.

(
E)
(1) If an individual is apprehended for a first offense and the
device is of greater value than two thousand five hundred dollars, the owner
may at any time before sale redeem it by paying to the department the sum of
two thousand five hundred dollars. When the device is of lesser value than two
thousand five hundred dollars, the owner may at any time before sale redeem it
by paying to the department the retail market value.

(
2) If an individual is apprehended
for a second offense and the device is of greater value than five thousand
dollars, the owner may, at any time before sale, redeem it by paying to the
department the sum of five thousand dollars. When the device is of lesser value
than five thousand dollars, the owner may, at any time before sale, redeem it
by paying to the department the retail market value.

(
3) If an individual is apprehended
for a third or subsequent offense, the device must be forfeited to the State.

(F)
Upon sale or
redemption of a confiscated device, the department shall pay over the net
proceeds, after payment of any proper costs and expenses of the seizure,
advertisement, and sale, including any proper expense incurred for the storage
of the confiscated device, to the State Treasurer for deposit in the County
Game and Fish Fund.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 30, 2026 at 2:12 PM