Bill Text: MS SB2741 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Deer depredation permits; revise requirements and require deer harvested to be tested for chronic wasting disease.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-02-05 - Died In Committee [SB2741 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2019-SB2741-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Seymour
Senate Bill 2741
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 49-7-31.6, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO RECODIFY AND REVISE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEER DEPREDATION PERMITS; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE, FISHERIES AND PARKS TO TEST ALL DEER HARVESTED UNDER SUCH PERMITS FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE; TO AMEND SECTION 49-7-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section
49-7-31.6, Mississippi Code of 1972:
49-7-31.6. (1) (a) Upon request of a landowner or lessee with agricultural rights, the commission shall issue a special permit for harvesting deer when they are depredating and destroying crops on private or privately leased lands.
(b) The commission shall authorize the department to assist any landowner or lessee, who sustains crop damage by wildlife, in the eradication of depredating wildlife.
(c) The department shall supervise the harvesting and provide for the salvage of the meat of the wildlife.
(d) The department shall test all deer harvested for chronic wasting disease.
(2) No depredation permits shall be issued for publicly owned or controlled lease lands in the state.
SECTION 2. Section 49-7-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-7-31. (1) The open season on deer shall be as follows:
(a) With bow and arrow: October 1 through the Friday prior to Thanksgiving.
(b) With guns and with dogs: from the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving through December 1.
(c) With primitive weapons and without dogs: December 2 through December 15.
(d) With guns and without dogs: December 16 through December 23. However, the commission may allow hunting statewide or in specific areas with any legal weapon which it may designate without dogs after the end of the last season for hunting deer with guns and with dogs, but the season with legal designated weapons and without dogs shall not extend beyond January 31.
(e) The commission
shall establish an extended season with primitive weapons and bow and arrow
without dogs from February 1 through February 15 for the area south of U.S.
Highway 84 and east of Mississippi Highway 35 only for legal bucks. Any
antlered deer taken in this area during any open season under this section must
be a legal buck as defined in this paragraph. For purposes of this paragraph,
the term "legal buck" means a deer with antlers of four (4) points or
more with a minimum inside spread of ten (10) inches or a minimum main beam
length of thirteen (13) inches. The commission may regulate the taking of deer
with antlers of four (4) points or less under this paragraph for the proper
management of antlered deer. The commission may delay the opening date and
change the length of bow and arrow season in * * * paragraph (a) in this
area.
(f) With guns and with dogs: December 24 through a date fixed by the commission that will provide a total of thirty-nine (39) days of hunting deer with guns and with dogs when added to the number of days provided for hunting deer with guns and with dogs in paragraph (b).
(2) The commission may set and regulate the deer seasons on wildlife management areas which it administers.
(3) (a) The commission may allow the harvesting of antlerless deer in the districts or zones upon the recommendation of the executive director based upon good and substantial quantitative data and research evaluations that demonstrate that the harvesting is necessary to properly manage the herd.
(b) The commission, only upon the recommendation of the executive director, may allow the harvesting of antlerless deer during the deer season with guns and with dogs by a majority vote of the commission.
(c) Nothing in this subsection prohibits the harvesting of either-sex deer by landowners or leaseholders on private lands under the deer management assistance program prescribed or approved by the executive director.
* * *
( * * *4) (a) During any open season on deer
with primitive weapons after November 30, a person may use any legal weapon of
choice on private lands only, if the person is:
(i) The title owner of the land;
(ii) The lessee of the hunting rights on the land;
(iii) A member of a hunting club leasing the hunting rights on the land; or
(iv) A guest of a person specified in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii).
(b) If the person is required to have a hunting license, the person must have a primitive weapon license, Sportsman's License or a Lifetime Sportsman's License.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.
