H. B. 2125


(By Delegates McGraw, Damron and Sparks)
[Introduced February 17, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to extending the period covered by a hunting license to seven days a week.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article two, chapter twenty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
ยง20-2-5. 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;
(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 regulations 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 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 shall may not be unlawful to hunt or take raccoon, opossum or skunk by the use of artificial lights. No person shall be 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 such the time he has in his 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 such 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 shall be 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 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 may be authorized by regulations 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 such the nest or eggs unless authorized to do so under regulations or under a permit 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 may 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) Except as provided in subdivision (11) below or in section six of this article, carry an uncased or loaded gun after any the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on Sunday in any woods or on highway, railroad right-of-way, public road, field or stream of this state, except at a regularly used rifle, pistol, skeet, target or trapshooting ground or range;
(10) (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 shall be 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;
(11) 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 any wild animals or wild birds: 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
(12) (10) Hunt with firearms or long bow while under the influence of intoxicating liquor;
(13) (11) Hunt, catch, take, kill, injure or pursue a wild animal or bird with the use of a ferret;
(14) (12) Buy raw furs, pelts or skins of fur-bearing animals unless licensed to do so;
(15) (13) 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 regulation issued by the director: Provided, That snaring of any species of suckers, carp, fallfish and creek chubs shall at all times be lawful;
(16) (14) 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 regulations of the director, or the sale of which is prohibited;
(17) (15) 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 and regulations made thereunder;
(18) (16) 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 such 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 such birds legally taken and stuffed or mounted, irrespective of whether such bird was captured within or without this state, except the English or European sparrow (Passer domesticus), starling (Sturnus vulgaris), crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and cowbird (Molothrus ater), which shall not be protected and the killing thereof at any time is lawful;
(19) (17) 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 shall be 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;
(20) (18) Have a bow and gun, or have a gun and any arrow or arrows, in the fields or woods at the same time;
(21) (19) Have a crossbow in the woods or fields or use a crossbow to hunt for, take or attempt to take any wildlife;
(22) (20) Make or attempt to take turkey, bear, elk or deer with any arrow unless the same is equipped with a point having at least two sharp cutting edges measuring in excess of three fourths of an inch wide;
(23) (21) 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;
(24) (22) Shoot an arrow across any public highway or from aircraft, motor-driven watercraft, motor vehicle or other land conveyance;
(25) (23) 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 notwithstanding any of the above provisions, no person may train a dog in any county, or portion thereof, in which a legal bear hunting season has been established prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, except that residents may train dogs in such counties after the twenty-fourth day of August through the end of the legal small game hunting season: Provided further, That nonresidents shall not train dogs in this state at any time except during the legal small game hunting season: And provided further, That the person training said dogs does not have firearms or other implements in his possession during the closed season on such wild animals and wild birds, whereby wild animals or wild birds could be taken or killed;
(26) (24) 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 such trial at any time of the year upon obtaining such permit as is provided for in section fifty-six of this article. The person responsible for obtaining said 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; and
(27) (25) 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 regulation of the director as authorized by subdivision (6), section seven, article one of this chapter.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the open firearms hunting season to seven days a week.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.