Bill Text: CT HB05412 | 2013 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Deer Management Programs On Private Property And Authorizing Bow And Arrow Hunting On Private Property On Sundays.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 15-7-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-05-27 - Senate Calendar Number 656 [HB05412 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2013-HB05412-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2013 |
*_____HB05412ENV___032813____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING DEER MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY AND AUTHORIZING BOW AND ARROW HUNTING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY ON SUNDAYS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 26-82 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(a) No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill any deer or sell or offer for sale or have in possession the flesh of any deer captured or killed in this state, or have in possession the flesh of any deer from any other state or country unless it is properly tagged as required by such state or country except as provided by the terms of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and except that any landowner or primary lessee of land owned by such landowner or the husband or wife or any lineal descendant of such landowner or lessee or any designated agent of such landowner or lessee may kill deer with a shotgun, rifle or bow and arrow provided a damage permit has first been obtained from the commissioner and such person has not been convicted for any violation of this section, section 26-85, 26-86a, as amended by this act, 26-86b or 26-90 or subsection (b) of section 26-86a-2 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies within three years preceding the date of application. Upon the receipt of an application, on forms provided by the commissioner and containing such information as said commissioner may require, from any landowner who has or whose primary lessee has an actual or potential gross annual income of twenty-five hundred dollars or more from the commercial cultivated production of grain, forage, fruit, vegetables, flowers, ornamental plants or Christmas trees and who is experiencing an actual or potential loss of income because of severe damage by deer, the commissioner shall issue not more than six damage permits without fee to such landowner or the primary lessee of such landowner, or the wife, husband, lineal descendant or designated agent of such landowner or lessee. The application shall be notarized and signed by all landowners or by the landowner or a lessee to whom a farmer tax exemption permit has been issued pursuant to subdivision (63) of section 12-412. Such damage permit shall be valid through October thirty-first of the year in which it is issued and may specify the hunting implement or shot size or both which shall be used to take such deer. The commissioner may at any time revoke such permit for violation of any provision of this section or for violation of any regulation pursuant thereto or upon the request of the applicant. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 26-85, the commissioner may issue a permit to any landowner or primary lessee of land owned by such landowner or the husband or wife or any lineal descendant of such landowner or lessee and to not more than three designated agents of such landowner or lessee to use a jacklight for the purpose of taking deer when it is shown, to the satisfaction of the commissioner, that such deer are causing damage which cannot be reduced during the daylight hours between sunrise and one-half hour after sunset on the land of such landowner. The commissioner may require notification as specified on such permit prior to its use. Any deer killed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be the property of the owner of the land upon which the same has been killed, but shall not be sold, bartered, traded or offered for sale, and the person who kills any such deer shall tag and report each deer killed, as provided in section 26-86b. Upon receipt of the report required by section 26-86b, the commissioner shall issue an additional damage permit to the person making such report. Any deer killed otherwise than under the conditions provided for in this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall remain the property of the state and may be disposed of by the commissioner at the commissioner's discretion to any state institution or may be sold and the proceeds of such sale shall be remitted to the State Treasurer, who shall apply the same to the General Fund, and no person, except the commissioner, shall retail, sell or offer for sale the whole or any part of any such deer. No person shall be a designated agent of more than one landowner or primary lessee in any calendar year. No person shall make, set or use any trap, snare, salt lick, bait or other device for the purpose of taking, injuring or killing any deer, except that deer may be taken over an attractant in areas designated by the commissioner. For the purposes of this section, an attractant means any natural or artificial substance placed, exposed, deposited, distributed or scattered that is used to attract, entice or lure deer to a specific location including, but not limited to, salt, chemicals or minerals, including their residues or any natural or artificial food, hay, grain, fruit or nuts. The commissioner may authorize any municipality, landowner, homeowner association or nonprofit land-holding organization approved by the commissioner under the provisions of this section to take deer at any time, other than Sundays, or place using any method consistent with professional wildlife management principles when a severe nuisance or ecological damage can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the commissioner. Any such municipality, landowner, homeowner association or nonprofit land-holding organization shall submit to the commissioner, for the commissioner's review and approval, a plan that describes the extent and degree of the nuisance or ecological damage and the proposed methods of taking. Prior to the implementation of any such approved plan, the municipality, landowner, homeowner association or nonprofit land-holding organization shall provide notice of such plan to any abutting landowners of such place where the plan will be implemented. Such plan shall not authorize the use of a snare. No person shall hunt, pursue or kill deer being pursued by any dog, whether or not such dog is owned or controlled by such person, except that no person shall be guilty of a violation under this section when such a deer is struck by a motor vehicle operated by such person. No person shall use or allow any dog in such person's charge to hunt, pursue or kill deer. No permit shall be issued when in the opinion of the commissioner the public safety may be jeopardized.
Sec. 2. Section 26-73 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
Sunday shall be a closed season except for hunting deer with bow and arrow and for the purpose of trapping under the provisions of this chapter. The possession in the open air on Sunday of any implement for hunting, except for bow and arrow, shall be prima facie evidence of hunting in violation of the provisions of this section. No provision of this section shall be construed so as to affect any provision of section 26-31, 26-48, 26-52 or 27-35. [or apply to the use of bow and arrow for purposes other than hunting.] Artificially propagated birds designated by the commissioner may be shot on Sundays on licensed private shooting preserves subject to such regulations of the commissioner as may apply to such private shooting preserves, provided permission so to shoot has been obtained from the town or towns within which such licensed private shooting preserves are located. Any person who hunts deer on Sunday with bow and arrow pursuant to this section shall conduct such hunting in accordance with and pursuant to the wildlife management principles and practices established by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, have the written permission of the private property owner where such hunting is conducted and carry such written permission upon his or her person during the hunting. No person shall hunt with bow and arrow on Sunday pursuant to this section within forty yards of a blazed hiking trail.
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 26-86a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(a) The commissioner shall establish by regulation adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 standards for deer management, and methods, regulated areas, bag limits, seasons and permit eligibility for hunting deer with bow and arrow, muzzleloader and shotgun, except that no such hunting shall be permitted on Sunday by any means other than with bow and arrow pursuant to section 26-73, as amended by this act. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a firearm without first obtaining a deer permit from the commissioner in addition to the license required by section 26-27. Application for such permit shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner and containing such information as he may require. Such permit shall be of a design prescribed by the commissioner, shall contain such information and conditions as the commissioner may require, and may be revoked for violation of any provision of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. As used in this section, "muzzleloader" means a rifle or shotgun of at least forty-five caliber, incapable of firing a self-contained cartridge, which uses powder, a projectile, including, but not limited to, a standard round ball, mini-balls, maxi-balls and Sabot bullets, and wadding loaded separately at the muzzle end, and "rifle" means a long gun the projectile of which is six millimeters or larger in diameter. The fee for a firearms permit shall be nineteen dollars for residents of the state and sixty-eight dollars for nonresidents, except that any nonresident who is an active full-time member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, may purchase a firearms permit for the same fee as is charged a resident of the state. The commissioner shall issue, without fee, a private land deer permit to the owner of ten or more acres of private land and the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling and any lineal descendant of such owner, provided no such owner, husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling or lineal descendant shall be issued more than one such permit per season. Such permit shall allow the use of a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow and arrow on such land from November first to December thirty-first, inclusive. Deer may be so hunted at such times and in such areas of such state-owned land as are designated by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and on privately owned land with the signed consent of the landowner, on forms furnished by the department, and such signed consent shall be carried by any person when so hunting on private land. The owner of ten acres or more of private land may allow the use of a rifle to hunt deer on such land during the shotgun season. The commissioner shall determine, by regulation, the number of consent forms issued for any regulated area established by said commissioner. The commissioner shall provide for a fair and equitable random method for the selection of successful applicants who may obtain shotgun and muzzleloader permits for hunting deer on state lands. Any person whose name appears on more than one application for a shotgun permit or more than one application for a muzzleloader permit shall be disqualified from the selection process for such permit. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a bow and arrow without first obtaining a bow and arrow permit pursuant to section 26-86c. "Bow and arrow", as used in this section and in section 26-86c, means a bow with a draw weight of not less than forty pounds. The arrowhead shall have two or more blades and may not be less than seven-eighths of an inch at the widest point. No person shall carry firearms of any kind while hunting with a bow and arrow under this section and section 26-86c.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2013 |
26-82(a) |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2013 |
26-73 |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2013 |
26-86a(a) |
ENV |
Joint Favorable Subst. |