OPINION/COMMENTARY

SOUTH DAKOTA LANDOWNERS DODGE A BULLET

Imagine: property owners notice that an armed hunter is trespassing on their property. They advise him that the land is private property, that he is in trespass, and that he should leave and hunt elsewhere. He readily agrees and quickly departs; however, after he has walked a few paces, he turns and begins shooting at the landowners with his high-powered rifle. When the shooting is over, six lay dead or dying and the hunter is on the run. That was the horrific reality last fall near Hayward, Wisconsin, which shocked the nation, even in the wake of the deadly fighting during the liberation of Fallujah. Today, the Wisconsin men have been buried, the Minnesota hunter has been apprehended, and the trial for first degree murder has been scheduled. People wonder, however, could it happen again? Amazingly, last summer the South Dakota Attorney General took a position in court that might have ensured that it would reoccur! How could that be? For decades, South Dakota law has allowed hunting along section lines or other roads if such rights-of-way are used for vehicular traffic; however, hunters were not allowed to fire over or onto privately-owned land without the landowner’s permission. That all changed on March 22, 2003, when the State Legislature amended state law to permit hunters to fire at and kill small game on private property if that game takes flight from a right-of-way. Thus, property owners may not prevent hunters from firing over or onto their land at such game....