IRMO, S.C. — Irmo SC hunting gained a new open season on Sunday, Nov. 1, when crow season began on private land, and the state small game calendar now points to a busy stretch of November openers for quail, rabbit and fox.
Crows carry no bag limit, and the private land season runs from Nov. 1 through March 1. On Wildlife Management Area lands the crow season starts a day later, on Nov. 2, and closes on the same March date.
Irmo sits mostly in Lexington County, with its eastern edge in Richland County, and the small game dates apply in every game zone, so hunters on either side of the county line work from the same calendar.
Quail are next. Bird dogs can already work coveys, but guns stay out of the field until Nov. 23, when the gun-and-dog season opens on both private land and management areas and runs to March 1. The daily limit is 12 birds. Young hunters get a head start with a statewide youth quail day on private land on Saturday, Nov. 21.
Rabbit, fox and the other furbearers such as bobcat, mink and otter follow on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, which is when rabbit hunters may carry guns again. The rabbit limit is five a day. Squirrel season has been open to guns since Oct. 1, with a limit of 10 a day, and raccoon and opossum hunters are held to three per party.
Until those gun dates arrive, state law makes it illegal to hunt rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, opossums or foxes while carrying a firearm during any dogs-only period. Once rabbit gun season opens, a landowner or tenant may set up to five rabbit boxes on land under his exclusive control, but only with a hunting license, and the boxes are banned on management area land.
Bird dog owners may train on private land all year. During the closed quail season, trainers need a valid hunting license and can fire only blank ammunition. Clubs planning a field trial must ask the state for a permit at least 14 days ahead and pay $5 for each trial.
Follow the latest Irmo SC hunting news for season openers, public land hunts and harvest updates around Lake Murray and the Midlands.
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