South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks Commission is narrowing its nest predator bounty program, shifting most funding to youth and adding a new coyote bounty for all ages.
The commission will spend $200,000 paying youth 17 and under $10 per tail for raccoons, skunks, badgers, opossums and red foxes. Adults will no longer receive payments for those species.
A new coyote bounty will pay residents $30 per tail with a $300,000 cap — keeping the total program budget at $500,000.
Since 2019, the program has paid $3.29 million for 342,743 animals, while drawing criticism over effectiveness, ethics and use of license fees. GFP leaders defend the shift as a way to engage youth and say habitat spending far exceeds bounty costs.
Some wildlife advocates also raised transparency concerns about how the coyote bounty was approved. State Sen. Tim Reed, who sought to end state-funded bounties, called the changes “a good start.”
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