H. B.2890
(By Delegate DeLong)
[Introduced
March 4, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-5 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally unlawful methods of
hunting and fishing; and making it unlawful to hunt or
conduct hunts for a fee where the hunter is not in the same
physical location as the wildlife.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-5 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-5. Unlawful methods of hunting and fishing and other
unlawful acts.
Except as authorized by the director, it is unlawful at any
time for any person to:
(1) Shoot at or to shoot any wild bird or animal unless it
is plainly visible to him or her;
(2) Dig out, cut out or smoke out, or in any manner take or
attempt to take, any live wild animal or wild bird out of its den
or place of refuge except as may be authorized by rules
promulgated by the director or by law;
(3) Make use of, or take advantage of, any artificial light
in hunting, locating, attracting, taking, trapping or killing any
wild bird or wild animal, or to attempt to do so, while having in
his or her possession or subject to his or her control, or for any person accompanying him or her to have in his or her
possession or subject to his or her control, any firearm, whether
cased or uncased, bow, arrow, or both, or other implement or
device suitable for taking, killing or trapping a wild bird or
animal:
Provided, That it is lawful to hunt or take raccoon,
opossum or skunk by the use of artificial light subject to the
restrictions set forth in this subdivision:
Provided, however,
That it is lawful to hunt or take coyotes by the use of amber
colored artificial light subject to the restrictions set forth in
this subdivision. No person is guilty of a violation of this
subdivision merely because he or she looks for, looks at,
attracts or makes motionless a wild bird or wild animal with or
by the use of an artificial light, unless at the time he or she
has in his or her possession a firearm, whether cased or uncased,
bow, arrow, or both, or other implement or device suitable for
taking, killing or trapping a wild bird or wild animal, or unless
the artificial light (other than the head lamps of an automobile
or other land conveyance) is attached to, a part of, or used from
within or upon an automobile or other land conveyance.
Any person violating the provisions of this subdivision is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for
each offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars and shall be imprisoned in the county
or regional jail for not less than ten days nor more than one
hundred days;
(4) Hunt for, take, kill, wound or shoot at wild animals or
wild birds from an airplane, or other airborne conveyance, an
automobile, or other land conveyance, or from a motor-driven
water conveyance, except as authorized by rules promulgated by
the director;
(5) Take any beaver or muskrat by any means other than by
trap;
(6) Catch, capture, take or kill by seine, net, bait, trap or snare or like device of any kind, any wild turkey, ruffed
grouse, pheasant or quail;
(7) Destroy or attempt to destroy needlessly or willfully
the nest or eggs of any wild bird or have in his or her
possession the nest or eggs unless authorized to do so under
rules promulgated by or under a permit issued by the director;
(8) Except as provided in section six of this article, carry
an uncased or loaded gun in any of the woods of this state except
during the open firearms hunting season for wild animals and
nonmigratory wild birds within any county of the state, unless he
or she has in his or her possession a permit in writing issued to
him or her by the director:
Provided, That this section shall
not prohibit hunting or taking of unprotected species of wild
animals and wild birds and migratory wild birds, during the open
season, in the open fields, open water and open marshes of the
state;
(9) Have in his or her possession a loaded firearm or a
firearm from the magazine of which all shells and cartridges have
not been removed, in or on any vehicle or conveyance, or its
attachments, within the state, except as may otherwise be
provided by law or regulation. Except as hereinafter provided,
between five o'clock postmeridian of one day and seven o'clock
antemeridian, eastern standard time of the day following, any
unloaded firearm, being lawfully carried in accordance with the
foregoing provisions, shall be so carried only when in a case or
taken apart and securely wrapped. During the period from the
first day of July to the thirtieth day of September, inclusive,
of each year, the foregoing requirements relative to carrying
certain unloaded firearms are permissible only from eight-thirty
o'clock postmeridian to five o'clock antemeridian, eastern
standard time:
Provided, That the time periods for carrying
unloaded and uncased firearms are extended for one hour after the
postmeridian times and one hour before the antemeridian times established above if a hunter is preparing to or in the process
of transporting or transferring the firearms to or from a hunting
site, campsite, home or other place of abode;
(10) Hunt, catch, take, kill, trap, injure or pursue with
firearms or other implement by which wildlife may be taken after
the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on Sunday on private land
without the written consent of the landowner any wild animals or
wild birds except when a big game season opens on a Monday, the
Sunday prior to that opening day will be closed for any taking of
wild animals or birds after five o'clock antemeridian on that
Sunday:
Provided, That traps previously and legally set may be
tended after the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on Sunday and
the person so doing may carry only a twenty-two caliber firearm
for the purpose of humanely dispatching trapped animals. Any
person violating the provisions of this subdivision is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in addition to any
fines that may be imposed by this or other sections of this code,
shall be subject to a one hundred dollar fine;
(11) Hunt with firearms or long bow while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor;
(12) Hunt, catch, take, kill, injure or pursue a wild animal
or bird with the use of a ferret;
(13) Buy raw furs, pelts or skins of fur-bearing animals
unless licensed to do so;
(14) Catch, take, kill or attempt to catch, take or kill any
fish at any time by any means other than by rod, line and hooks
with natural or artificial lures unless otherwise authorized by
law or rules issued by the director:
Provided, That snaring of
any species of suckers, carp, fallfish and creek chubs shall at
all times be lawful;
(15) Employ or hire, or induce or persuade, by the use of
money or other things of value, or by any means, any person to
hunt, take, catch or kill any wild animal or wild bird except those species on which there is no closed season, or to fish for,
catch, take or kill any fish, amphibian or aquatic life which is
protected by the provisions of this chapter or rules of the
director or the sale of which is prohibited;
(16) Hunt, catch, take, kill, capture, pursue, transport,
possess or use any migratory game or nongame birds included in
the terms of conventions between the United States and Great
Britain and between the United States and United Mexican States
for the protection of migratory birds and wild mammals concluded,
respectively, the sixteenth day of August, one thousand nine
hundred sixteen, and the seventh day of February, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-six, except during the time and in the manner
and numbers prescribed by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act,
16 U.S.C. §703,
et seq., and regulations made thereunder;
(17) Kill, take, catch or have in his or her possession,
living or dead, any wild bird, other than a game bird; or expose
for sale or transport within or without the state any bird except
as aforesaid. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any
protected bird shall be sold or had in possession for sale except
mounted or stuffed plumage, skin, bodies or heads of the birds
legally taken and stuffed or mounted, irrespective of whether the
bird was captured within or without this state, except the
English or European sparrow (passer domesticus), starling
(sturnus vulgaris), and cowbird (molothrus ater), which may not
be protected and the killing thereof at any time is lawful;
(18) Use dynamite or any like explosive or poisonous mixture
placed in any waters of the state for the purpose of killing or
taking fish. Any person violating the provisions of this
subdivision is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned
for not less than six months nor more than three years, or both
fined and imprisoned;
(19) Have a bow and gun, or have a gun and any arrow or arrows, in the fields or woods at the same time;
(20) Have a crossbow in the woods or fields or use a
crossbow to hunt for, take or attempt to take any wildlife;
(21) Take or attempt to take turkey, bear, elk or deer with
any arrow unless the arrow is equipped with a point having at
least two sharp cutting edges measuring in excess of three
fourths of an inch wide;
(22) Take or attempt to take any wildlife with an arrow
having an explosive head or shaft, a poisoned arrow or an arrow
which would affect wildlife by any chemical action;
(23) Shoot an arrow across any public highway or from
aircraft, motor-driven watercraft, motor vehicle or other land
conveyance;
(24) Permit any dog owned by him or her or under his or her
control to chase, pursue or follow upon the track of any wild
animal or wild bird, either day or night, between the first day
of May and the fifteenth day of August next following:
Provided,
That dogs may be trained on wild animals and wild birds, except
deer and wild turkeys, and field trials may be held or conducted
on the grounds or lands of the owner or by his or her bona fide
tenant or tenants or upon the grounds or lands of another person
with his or her written permission or on public lands at any
time:
Provided,
however, That nonresidents may not train dogs in
this state at any time except during the legal small game hunting
season:
Provided further, That the person training said dogs
does not have firearms or other implements in his or her
possession during the closed season on wild animals and wild
birds, whereby wild animals or wild birds could be taken or
killed;
(25) Conduct or participate in a field trial,
shoot-to-retrieve field trial, water race or wild hunt hereafter
referred to as trial:
Provided, That any person, group of
persons, club or organization may hold the trial at any time of the year upon obtaining a permit as is provided for in section
fifty-six of this article. The person responsible for obtaining
the permit shall prepare and keep an accurate record of the names
and addresses of all persons participating in said trial and make
same readily available for inspection by any conservation officer
upon request;
(26) Except as provided in section four of this article,
hunt, catch, take, kill or attempt to hunt, catch, take or kill
any wild animal, wild bird or wild fowl except during the open
season established by rule of the director as authorized by
subdivision (6), section seven, article one of this chapter;
(27) Hunting on public lands on Sunday after five o'clock
antemeridian is prohibited; and
(28) Hunt, catch, take, kill, trap, injure or pursue with
firearms or other implement which wildlife can be taken, on
private lands on Sunday after the hour of five o'clock
antemeridian:
Provided, That the provisions of this subdivision
do not apply in any county until the county commission of the
county holds an election on the question of whether the
provisions of this subdivision prohibiting hunting on Sunday
shall apply within the county and the voters approve the
allowance of hunting on Sunday in the county. The election is
determined by a vote of the resident voters of the county in
which the hunting on Sunday is proposed to be authorized. The
county commission of the county in which Sunday hunting is
proposed shall give notice to the public of the election by
publication of the notice as a Class II-0 legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter
fifty-nine of this code and the publication area for the
publication shall be the county in which the election is to be
held. The date of the last publication of the notice shall fall
on a date within the period of the fourteen consecutive days next
preceding the election.
On the local option election ballot shall be printed the
following:
Shall hunting on Sunday be authorized in ________ County?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
(Place a cross mark in the square opposite your choice.)
Any local option election to approve or disapprove of the
proposed authorization of Sunday hunting within a county shall be
in accordance with procedures adopted by the commission. The
local option election may be held in conjunction with a primary
or general election, or at a special election. Approval shall be
by a majority of the voters casting votes on the question of
approval or disapproval of Sunday hunting at the election.
If a majority votes against allowing Sunday hunting, no
election on the issue may be held for a period of one hundred
four weeks. If a majority votes "yes", no election reconsidering
the action may be held for a period of five years. A local
option election may thereafter be held if a written petition of
qualified voters residing within the county equal to at least
five percent of the number of persons who were registered to vote
in the next preceding general election is received by the county
commission of the county in which Sunday hunting is authorized.
The petition may be in any number of counterparts. The election
shall take place at the next primary or general election
scheduled more than ninety days following receipt by the county
commission of the petition required by this subsection:
Provided, That the issue may not be placed on the ballot until
all statutory notice requirements have been met. No local law or
regulation providing any penalty, disability, restriction,
regulation or prohibition of Sunday hunting may be enacted and
the provisions of this article preempt all regulations, rules,
ordinances and laws of any county or municipality in conflict
with this subdivision.
(29) Hunt or conduct hunts for a fee where the hunter is not
physically present in the same location as the wildlife being
hunted.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it unlawful to
hunt or conduct hunts for a fee by use of the internet, other
technology or means whereby the hunter is not physically present
at the same location as the wildlife.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be striken from
present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.