Depredation & Nuisance-Wildlife Permits

A family of foxes is raiding the chicken coop every night. The trapping season ended in March and you don’t have a Commercial Fur Harvest License anyway. A neighbor wants to relocate the foxes to a state forest “so they can live free.” You think there’s a permit for this — but you’re not sure what it covers, how to get it, or whether that relocation idea is even legal. All three answers are in SC law, and they’re simpler than you’d expect.

What a depredation permit does (and doesn’t do)

A depredation permit is an SCDNR authorization issued outside the normal trapping season that lets you take — trap or shoot — a furbearer that is actively causing documented damage. Damage can be to:

• Private or public property
• Agricultural crops or livestock
• Wildlife habitat or game species
• Timber

The permit is free. You apply by calling your local SCDNR field office or, for some species, your regional SCDNR Wildlife Section. The key restriction is what you may not do with the animal once caught.

The 100-yard home exemption

Before reaching for a permit, check whether one is even required. SC law provides a narrow exemption: a property owner or that owner’s designee may trap or shoot any furbearer or squirrel causing property damage within 100 yards of the owner’s occupied home — no permit required. The animal must then be released on-site or destroyed; it still cannot be relocated.

This covers the most common suburban and rural nuisance scenarios (a skunk under the deck, a raccoon in the garden, foxes in a backyard henhouse) without paperwork. Beyond 100 yards, or for commercial operations, you need the permit.

Edge case Does the 100-yard exemption cover shooting at night?

Not automatically. The exemption addresses taking animals without a permit, but night hunting in SC still requires the property to be registered for night hunting with SCDNR — regardless of whether a depredation permit is in hand. If the damage is happening after dark and you want to shoot, the property must be registered, a valid hunting license carried, and the 300-yard-from-a- residence rule followed (unless an exception applies). Confirm current night- hunting rules with SCDNR; these requirements interact in ways that change.

Beaver: a year-round problem with year-round authority

Beaver occupy a special position in SC law because their damage — flooded timber stands, washed-out roads, drowned pastures — is ongoing year-round and often escalates fast. Two legal tools apply:

Year-round noncommercial trapping: Any person with a valid SC hunting license may trap beaver at any time of year for noncommercial purposes on private land. This is the most accessible option and requires no additional permit. Fur taken under this authority cannot be sold commercially.

Depredation permit (beaver): When a beaver is causing documented damage and the landowner or trapper needs additional authority — or when the situation exceeds what noncommercial trapping allows — SCDNR issues a beaver-specific depredation permit. These permits are valid for one year from the date of issue and are renewable if the damage problem continues. Report the number of beaver taken to SCDNR within 21 days of permit expiration.

Verify current requirements and exemptions with SCDNR before acting — beaver regulations and permit procedures change.

Damage happening? Within 100 yds of home? No permit needed Beaver? Year-round authority (hunting license) All paths: NO relocation

When to call a licensed Wildlife Control Operator

A depredation permit puts the work in your hands. Some situations belong in someone else’s hands:

• Protected or regulated non-furbearer species (some migratory birds, raptors, state-listed species): federal and state law governs these separately; a depredation permit does not cover them. Licensed operators have the training and federal contacts to handle these cases.
• Persistent, large-scale infestations that a single trapper cannot resolve in a season.
• Commercial operations where liability and insurance matter (livestock operations with chronic predator losses, large agricultural properties).
• Any situation involving public-facing spaces (schoolyards, municipal parks) where professional documentation matters.

SCDNR maintains a list of licensed Wildlife Control Operators. A WCO must carry a valid hunting/trapping license and operate within the same legal framework as a private trapper — they are not above the no-relocation rule.

Edge case Does the Predator Management Permit fit here?

The Predator Management Permit is a different instrument from a standard depredation permit. It is issued specifically to hunt clubs and large private properties primarily used for hunting, to trap predators for wildlife management purposes during the closed season (roughly March 1 – November 30). It requires an application to the SCDNR Furbearer Project, a year-end harvest report, and written landowner permission. Think of it as the depredation bridge for serious game-management operations — not for single-incident crop or livestock damage situations. Verify current eligibility requirements with SCDNR at (803) 734-3609.

Knowledge check

A red fox has killed eight chickens in a coop 150 yards from the farmhouse over the past week. The trapping season closed two months ago. What is the correct first step?

A red fox has killed eight chickens in a coop 150 yards from the farmhouse over the past week. The trapping season closed two months ago. What is the correct first step?

Call SCDNR and apply for a depredation permit — then trap or shoot the fox Trap the fox and release it in a state forest a few miles away Wait for December when the trapping season reopens

Check answer

Knowledge check

You catch a skunk in a cage trap 60 yards from your house — the skunk has been raiding your garden. No permit in hand. Is this lawful?

You catch a skunk in a cage trap 60 yards from your house — the skunk has been raiding your garden. No permit in hand. Is this lawful?

Yes — the 100-yard home exemption covers damage within that distance No — you always need a depredation permit to trap outside the season Yes, and you can drive it to a nearby park since you didn't need a permit

Check answer

Take it to the woods

Damage-situation response checklist

0/7

Reset

• Document the damage: photograph it, estimate the loss, note the date and species responsible.
• Measure or estimate whether the damage is occurring within 100 yards of the primary residence.
• If the animal is beaver: confirm you have a valid hunting license for year-round noncommercial take, or apply for a depredation permit for documented infrastructure damage.
• If outside the 100-yard exemption and the trapping season is closed: call your SCDNR regional office and apply for a depredation permit before setting any trap.
• ⚠ Safety Plan disposal before you set the trap — no relocation. Release on-site or humane dispatch.
• If operating on a depredation permit: report the take to SCDNR within 21 days of permit expiration.
• If the situation is complex or involves a non-furbearer species: contact a licensed SCDNR Wildlife Control Operator.

Sources

• South Carolina Trapping & Commercial Fur Harvesting Regulations — eRegulations: https://www.eregulations.com/southcarolina/hunting/trapping-commercial-fur-harvesting
• SCDNR Wildlife Control Operators page: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/nuisance.html
• SCDNR Hunting and Fishing Laws and Regulations: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/regulations.html
• SC Furbearer Statute (Article 12, Trapping Furbearing Animals): https://www.animallaw.info/statute/sc-fur-article-12-trapping-furbearing-animals-regulation-dealers-buyers-processors-and

Verify all current permit requirements, exemptions, and reporting obligations with SCDNR before acting on any depredation or nuisance-wildlife situation — these regulations change.