Transporting birds for others

Walkers Run

Walkers Run

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Four of us are going to South Dakota this November. Two of us are driving with the dog, two will be flying. If we have a successful trip we could end up with more than the possession limit for the two driving back with the birds. Is there any option for transporting another hunters birds?
 
Can't say for sure about SD, but I did have a conversation with a CO in ND about it a couple of years ago. Long and short of it was that once another person leaves and his birds are still with you, they are now part of your possession limit. That was in ND, but I'm guessing that's about how it would be in SD too.

The reason I was discussing it with the CO was that for the past few years, my wife and I would drive up to ND in Sept for sharpies/huns. She would hunt a week and then fly back home to TX. I would carry on hunting another week or so.

I have a 12v fridge/freezer with me on all hunting trips, and my vacuum sealer. Other than the birds that we cook and eat while on the trip, I clean them and vacuum seal them (leg or wing attached) and then put them in the freezer. Last year we ordered some insulated freezer bags from amazon. They look like a padded envelope, silver/foil on the outside. When she flew home from ND, we put 7 or 8 frozen/sealed sharptails in her suitcase amongst her clothes. When she got home it had been around 8 hours since we packed the suitcase in Bismarck, and the birds were still frozen hard as a rock. They hadn't started thawing even a little bit. So that worked like a charm.
 
That won’t work. Your limit is your limit regardless. If you’re caught with more than 15 birds in a 5 day trip you are in violation of possession limits.
 
Ky Setter man said:
I was told they can write down their name and license number and amount of birds they harvested and you were fine. Maybe not?
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Not sure about anywhere else, but the CO in ND made it clear that something like that didn't matter at all. He said that as soon as my wife was gone, her birds would be part of my possession limit and it didn't matter if they were labeled with her name, date harvested, license #, etc.
 
Call SD game department to be certain. Some things aren’t in the regs. In Montana you can write a note that you are gifting your birds. I think you need your name, ALS # and so on. It seems to me with everybody flying there to hunt they would have something similar. Good luck and have fun. I am jealous.
 
I am betting if you have your own possession limit and someone else's possession limit, you are in violation. Even is someone gifted them to you with a note.

Otherwise, what's to keep someone from shooting several limits and gifting them to himself...with a note?
 
I would contact SD GFP….i just perused the regs, it appears this is possible… both parties must be present with a CO. Look it up, contact a CO. Not too unusual, but must follow the regs to a T. It’s referenced under “transporting game”. Page 45 of the regs. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the regs, but it looks doable.
 
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Will other states honor what has been done in South Dakota to transport birds across state lines? I would assume that if you have a SD hunting license and the proper documentation it should be okay.
 
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Dakotazeb said:
Will other states honor what has been done in South Dakota to transport birds across state lines? I would assume that if you have a SD hunting license and the proper documentation it should be okay.
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I would say as long as they are labeled and cleaned properly with the appropriate license, you should be ok there.
 
I would say most states would be the same. As long as you went through a CO and the person leaving has his license in order. Why would it be a problem. You couldnt write your own note because you would need a extra license.
 
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