Senate Bill No. 53
(By Senators Schoonover and Bailey)
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[Introduced; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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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 wildlife
resources; and permitting crossbow hunting by persons sixty-
five years of age or older during the same times and under
the same conditions as apply to longbow hunting.
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.
§20-2-5. Unlawful methods of hunting and fishing.
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 orattempt 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 possession or subject to his control, or for any
person accompanying him to have in his possession or subject to
his 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 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 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 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
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 thecounty 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 possession such
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
has in his possession a permit in writing issued to him 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) Except as provided in section six of this article, carryan uncased or loaded gun after the hour of five o'clock
antemeridian on Sunday in any woods or on any 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) Have in his 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 July
first to September thirtieth, 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;
(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 trappedanimals;
(12) Hunt with firearms or long bow while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor;
(13) Hunt, catch, take, kill, injure or pursue a wild animal
or bird with the use of a ferret;
(14) Buy raw furs, pelts or skins of fur-bearing animals
unless licensed to do so;
(15) Have in his possession or about his premises, without
the written permission of the director, any hunting or fishing
paraphernalia which cannot be used lawfully in this state for
hunting or fishing, and any conservation officer shall remove and
destroy such hunting and fishing paraphernalia, whenever found in
this state, and the person or persons claiming ownership shall
have no recourse at law against such confiscation and
destruction;
(16) 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;
(17) 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 isprotected by the provisions of this chapter or regulations of the
director, or the sale of which is prohibited;
(18) 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, August sixteen, one thousand nine hundred sixteen,
and February seven, 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;
(19) Kill, take, catch or have in his 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;
(20) Use dynamite or any like explosive or poisonous mixture
placed in any waters of the state for the purpose of killing ortaking 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;
(21) Have a bow and gun, or have a gun and any arrow or
arrows, in the fields or woods at the same time;
(22) Have a crossbow in the woods or fields or use a
crossbow to hunt for, take or attempt to take any wildlife except
that persons sixty-five years of age or older who have valid
hunting and archery licenses under provisions of this article, or
who are not required to be licensed under subdivision (d),
section twenty-eight of this article, shall be permitted to hunt
with a crossbow during the same periods and under the same
conditions as apply to longbow hunting;
(23) Take 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;
(24) 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;
(25) Shoot an arrow across any public highway or from
aircraft, motor-driven watercraft, motor vehicle or other land
conveyance;
(26) Permit any dog owned by him or under his control tochase, 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 bona fide tenant or tenants or
upon the grounds or lands of another person with his 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;
(27) 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 ofthis 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
(28) 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 six, section seven, article one of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize persons 65
years of age or older who are either licensed to bow hunt or who
are qualified to hunt without a license to use a crossbow during
the same times and under the same conditions as authorized for
longbow hunting.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.