Introduced Version
House Bill 2283 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2283
(By Delegates Ellem, Hamilton, D. Poling and Anderson)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-54 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to license for privately owned
commercial shooting preserves; and providing that the amount
of required acreage for bird hunting preserves may be one
hundred acres.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-54 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-54. License for privately-owned commercial shooting
preserves.
(1) (a) The director may issue a license for privately-owned
commercial shooting preserves to any person who meets the following
requirements when the following requirements are met:
__(a) (1) Each The commercial shooting preserve shall contain
contains a minimum of three hundred acres in one tract of leased or
owned land, including water area, if any, and shall be restricted
to and no more than three thousand contiguous acres, including
water area; if any. except that
(2) Preserves confined to the releasing of ducks only shall be
authorized to operate with contain a minimum of fifty contiguous
acres, including water area;
__(3) Commercial shooting preserves for bird hunting contain a
minimum of one hundred acres in one tract of leased or owned land,
including water area; and
(b) (4) The exterior boundaries of each commercial shooting
preserve shall be are clearly defined and posted with signs erected
around the extremity at intervals of one hundred fifty yards or
less.
(2) (b) The director shall designate the game which may be
hunted under this section on which a more liberal season may be
allowed.
(3) (c) The operating licenses or permits issued by the
director shall entitle entitles holders thereof, of the licenses or
permits and their guests or customers to recover not more than
eighty percent of the total number of each species of game bird
released on the premises each year except mallard, black duck,
ringnecked pheasant, chukar partridge and other nonnative game species upon for which a one hundred percent recovery may be
allowed.
(4) (d) Except for the required compliance with the
restriction on the maximum number of released birds that may be
recovered from each preserve each year, as provided in subsections
(3) (c) and (8) (h) of this section, shooting preserve operators
may establish their own shooting limitations and restrictions on
the age, sex and number of birds that may be taken by each person.
(5) (e) In order to give a reasonable opportunity for a fair
return on a sizeable investment, a liberal season shall be
designated by the director during the nine-month period, beginning
August 1 and ending April 30.
(6) (f) The shooting preserve operator shall tag all harvested
game shall be tagged with a numbered tag prior to the game being
either consumed on the premises or removed. therefrom, Such tags to
must remain affixed until the game actually is physically delivered
to the point of consumption.
(7) (g) Each shooting preserve operator shall maintain a
registration book listing all names, addresses and hunting license
numbers of all shooters, the date on which they hunted, the amount
of game and the species taken and the tag numbers affixed to each
carcass. An accurate record likewise must shall be maintained of
the total number, by species, of game birds and ducks raised and/or
purchased and the date and number of all species released. These records shall be open to inspection by a delegated representative
of the director at any reasonable time and shall be the basis upon
which the game recovery limits in subsection (3) (c) of this
section shall be are determined.
(8) (h) Any Wild game found on commercial shooting preserves
may be harvested in accordance with applicable game and hunting
laws pertaining to open seasons, bag and possession limits, and so
forth, as are established regularly by the director and the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(9) (i) State hunting licenses shall be are required of all
persons hunting or shooting on shooting preserves.
(10) (j) The fee for such commercial shooting preserve license
shall be is $50 per fiscal year for the first three hundred acres
of the shooting preserve area plus $25 per fiscal year for each
additional three hundred acres or part thereof.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the amount
of required acreage for bird hunting preserves may be one hundred
acres for privately owned commercial shooting preserves.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.