| 18 | | - | Any person engaged in falconry shall abide by the provisions of Title 50 CFR and guidelines established by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service governing falconry. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, consistent with or more restrictive than federal regulations. If the commissioner requires a permit for falconry, a permittee shall possess a valid state hunting license before obtaining any class of falconry permit and shall submit, on or before January first annually, a self certification that the permittee's activities comply with the provisions of federal falconry regulations. Nonresidents may practice falconry in this state consistent with nonresident fees or for the same fee as a resident of this state if such nonresident is a resident of a state the laws of which allow the same privilege to residents of this state. A person may engage in falconry on Sunday for the taking of wildlife other than migratory birds notwithstanding the provisions of section 26-73. |
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| 30 | + | No person shall catch, kill or purchase or attempt to catch, kill or purchase, sell, offer or expose for sale or have in possession, living or dead, any wild bird other than a game bird, or purchase or attempt to purchase, sell, offer or expose for sale or have in possession any part of any such bird or of the plumage thereof except: [as] (1) As acquired under the provisions of this chapter, and (2) that any person engaged in falconry in accordance with the provisions of section 26-67e may capture by use of a bow net, mist net, dho-ghaza net or bal-chatri trap an immature red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) for the purpose of engaging in such falconry. For the purposes of this section, the following shall be considered game birds: The anatidae, or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks and geese; the rallidae, or rails, including coots, gallinules and sora and other rails; the limicolae, or shore birds, including snipe and woodcock; the gallinae, including wild turkeys, grouse, prairie chickens, pheasants, partridge and quail; the corvidae, including crows. No person shall take or destroy any nest or any egg of any wild bird or game bird. No person shall possess any nest or egg of any wild or game bird. English sparrows, starlings and, when found depredating ornamental trees, agriculture crops, livestock or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers as to constitute a public health or public safety hazard, crows, rock doves, monk parakeets and brown-headed cowbirds shall not be included among the birds protected by this section. Any conservation officer and any other officer having authority to serve criminal process shall have the same powers relating to violations of the provisions of this section as are conferred by section 26-6. |
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| 31 | + | |
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| 32 | + | Sec. 2. Section 26-73 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011): |
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| 33 | + | |
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| 34 | + | (a) Sunday shall be a closed season except for the purpose of trapping under the provisions of this chapter. The possession in the open air on Sunday of any implement for hunting 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. |
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| 35 | + | |
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| 36 | + | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, Sunday hunting by falconers, in accordance with the provisions of section 26-67e, shall be allowed on private land with the written permission of the landowner or the landowner's authorized agent. Any person hunting on private land pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall carry such written permission on his or her person while engaged in such hunting. |
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| 37 | + | |
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| 38 | + | 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, 2011): |
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| 39 | + | |
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| 40 | + | (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 unless such hunting is in accordance with the provisions of section 26-73, as amended by of 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 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. |
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