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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 586
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4336
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT AUTHORIZING B LACK BEAR HUNTING IN LITCHFIELD
COUNTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 26-86a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) (1) The commissioner shall establish by regulation adopted in 3
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 standards for deer 4
management, and methods, regulated areas, bag limits, seasons and 5
permit eligibility for hunting deer with bow and arrow, muzzleloader 6
and shotgun, except that no such hunting shall be permitted on 7
Sunday by any means other than with bow and arrow on private 8
property pursuant to section 26-73. No person shall hunt, pursue, 9
wound or kill deer with a firearm without first obtaining a deer permit 10
from the commissioner in addition to the license required by section 11
26-27. Application for such permit shall be made on forms furnished 12
by the commissioner and containing such information as he may 13
require. Such permit shall be of a design prescribed by the 14
commissioner, shall contain such information and conditions as the 15
commissioner may require, and may be revoked for violation of any 16
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provision of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. As 17
used in this section, "muzzleloader" means a rifle or shotgun of at least 18
forty-five caliber, incapable of firing a self-contained cartridge, which 19
uses powder, a projectile, including, but not limited to, a standard 20
round ball, mini-balls, maxi-balls and Sabot bullets, and wadding 21
loaded separately at the muzzle end, and "rifle" means a long gun the 22
projectile of which is six millimeters or larger in diameter. The fee for a 23
firearms permit shall be nineteen dollars for residents of the state and 24
sixty-eight dollars for nonresidents, except that any nonresident who is 25
an active full-time member of the armed forces, as defined in section 26
27-103, may purchase a firearms permit for the same fee as is charged a 27
resident of the state. The commissioner shall issue, without fee, a 28
private land deer permit to the owner of ten or more acres of private 29
land and the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling and any 30
lineal descendant of such owner, provided no such owner, husband or 31
wife, parent, grandparent, sibling or lineal descendant shall be issued 32
more than one such permit per season. Such permit shall allow the use 33
of a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow and arrow on such land from 34
November first to December thirty-first, inclusive. Deer may be so 35
hunted at such times and in such areas of such state-owned land as are 36
designated by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 37
Protection and on privately owned land with the signed consent of the 38
landowner, on forms furnished by the department, and such signed 39
consent shall be carried by any person when so hunting on private 40
land. The owner of ten acres or more of private land may allow the use 41
of a rifle to hunt deer on such land during the shotgun season. The 42
commissioner shall determine, by regulation, the number of consent 43
forms issued for any regulated area established by said commissioner. 44
The commissioner shall provide for a fair and equitable random 45
method for the selection of successful applicants who may obtain 46
shotgun and muzzleloader permits for hunting deer on state lands. 47
Any person whose name appears on more than one application for a 48
shotgun permit or more than one application for a muzzleloader 49
permit shall be disqualified from the selection process for such permit. 50
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No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a bow and 51
arrow without first obtaining a bow and arrow permit pursuant to 52
section 26-86c, as amended by this act. "Bow and arrow", as used in 53
this section and in section 26-86c, as amended by this act, means a bow 54
with a draw weight of not less than forty pounds. The arrowhead shall 55
have two or more blades and may not be less than seven-eighths of an 56
inch at the widest point. No person shall carry firearms of any kind 57
while hunting with a bow and arrow under this section and section 26-58
86c, as amended by this act. 59
(2) Any regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this 60
section may provide for the hunting of black bear in Litchfield County 61
provided any such regulations: (A) Permit the taking of black bear 62
during the first year of such hunting at a rate that does not exceed five 63
per cent of the total black bear population in the state as of the effective 64
date of this section, (B) require the submission of a report to the joint 65
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 66
matters relating to the environment one year after the beginning of 67
such black bear hunting that includes information on the number of 68
black bear taken pursuant to such hunting, the number of licenses 69
issued by the department to hunt such black bear and any 70
recommendations of the commissioner for any modifications to such 71
black bear hunting in the state, (C) authorize such hunting only on 72
private lands, (D) prohibit such hunting on Sundays, and (E) prescribe 73
that such hunting only be by bow and arrow or long gun. 74
(b) Any person who takes a deer or black bear without a permit 75
shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than five 76
hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days or more than 77
six months or shall be both fined and imprisoned, for the first offense, 78
and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not less than two 79
hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not 80
more than one year or shall be both fined and imprisoned. The 81
provisions of this subsection concerning black bear shall only be 82
applicable after the commissioner adopts regulations pursuant to 83
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subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section. 84
Sec. 2. Section 26-86b of the general statutes is repealed and the 85
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 86
The commissioner shall issue tags to be attached to the carcass of 87
any deer killed under the provisions of sections 26-82 and 26-86a to 26-88
86c, inclusive, as amended by this act, which tag shall be immediately 89
attached to such deer and remain affixed until such carcass is dressed 90
and butchered and packaged for consumption. Each person so taking 91
deer shall, within twenty-four hours, report such kill to the 92
commissioner on a form furnished by him. The provisions of this 93
section shall apply to black bear when the commissioner adopts 94
regulations in accordance with section 26-86a, as amended by this act. 95
Sec. 3. Section 26-86c of the general statutes is repealed and the 96
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 97
No person may hunt deer, black bear or small game with a bow and 98
arrow under the provisions of this chapter without a valid permit 99
issued by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection 100
pursuant to this section or section 26-86a, as amended by this act, for 101
persons hunting deer or black bear with bow and arrow under private 102
land deer and black bear permits issued free to qualifying landowners, 103
or their husbands or wives, parents, grandparents, lineal descendants 104
or siblings under that section. The fee for such bow and arrow permit 105
to hunt deer, black bear and small game shall be forty-one dollars for 106
residents and one hundred thirty-five dollars for nonresidents, or 107
nineteen dollars for any person twelve years of age or older but under 108
sixteen years of age, except that any nonresident who is an active full-109
time member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, may 110
purchase a bow and arrow permit to hunt deer, black bear and small 111
game for the same fee as is charged a resident of the state. The 112
provisions of this section concerning black bear shall only be 113
applicable after the commissioner adopts regulations in accordance 114
with section 26-86a, as amended by this act. Permits to hunt with a 115
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bow and arrow under the provisions of this chapter shall be issued 116
only to qualified applicants therefor by the Commissioner of Energy 117
and Environmental Protection, in such form as said commissioner 118
prescribes. Applications shall be made on forms furnished by the 119
commissioner containing such information as he may require and all 120
such application forms shall have printed thereon: "I declare under the 121
penalties of false statement that the statements herein made by me are 122
true and correct." Any person who makes any material false statement 123
on such application form shall be guilty of false statement and shall be 124
subject to the penalties provided for false statement and said offense 125
shall be deemed to have been committed in the town in which the 126
applicant resides. No such application shall contain any material false 127
statement. On and after January 1, 2002, permits to hunt with a bow 128
and arrow under the provisions of this chapter shall be issued only to 129
qualified applicants who have successfully completed the conservation 130
education bow hunting course as specified in section 26-31 or an 131
equivalent course in another state. 132
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 26-28 of the general statutes is 133
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 134
October 1, 2019): 135
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) to (f), inclusive, of this 136
section, the fees for firearms hunting, archery hunting, trapping and 137
sport fishing licenses or for the combination thereof shall be as follows: 138
(1) Resident firearms hunting license, nineteen dollars; (2) resident 139
fishing license, twenty-eight dollars; (3) resident marine waters fishing 140
license, ten dollars; (4) one-day resident marine waters fishing license, 141
five dollars; (5) resident all-waters fishing license, thirty-two dollars; 142
(6) resident combination license to fish in inland waters and firearms 143
hunt, thirty-eight dollars; (7) resident combination license to fish in 144
marine waters and firearms hunt, twenty-five dollars; (8) resident 145
combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, forty 146
dollars; (9) resident combination license to fish in all waters and bow 147
and arrow permit to hunt deer, black bear and small game issued 148
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pursuant to section 26-86c, as amended by this act, sixty-five dollars; 149
(10) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all waters and 150
firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle deer and black 151
bear permit issued pursuant to section 26-86a, as amended by this act, 152
and permit to hunt wild turkey during the spring season on private 153
land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, seventy dollars; (11) resident 154
archery super sport license to fish in all waters, bow and arrow permit 155
to hunt deer, black bear and small game issued pursuant to section 26-156
86c, as amended by this act, and permit to hunt wild turkey during the 157
spring season on private land issued pursuant to section 26-48a, 158
eighty-two dollars; (12) resident firearms super sport license to fish in 159
all waters and firearms hunt, firearms private land shotgun or rifle 160
deer and black bear permit, muzzleloader private land deer and black 161
bear permit, pursuant to section 26-86 and private land permit to hunt 162
wild turkey during spring season pursuant to section 26-48a, eighty-163
four dollars; (13) resident firearms super sport license to fish in all 164
waters and firearms hunt, migratory bird conservation stamp, and 165
migratory bird harvest permit (HIP), fifty dollars; (14) resident 166
trapping license, thirty-four dollars; (15) resident junior trapping 167
license for persons under sixteen years of age, eleven dollars; (16) 168
junior firearms hunting license, eleven dollars; (17) nonresident 169
firearms hunting license, ninety-one dollars; (18) nonresident inland 170
waters fishing license, fifty-five dollars; (19) nonresident inland waters 171
fishing license for a period of three consecutive days, twenty-two 172
dollars; (20) nonresident marine waters fishing license, fifteen dollars; 173
(21) nonresident marine waters fishing license for a period of three 174
consecutive days, eight dollars; (22) nonresident all-waters fishing 175
license, sixty-three dollars; (23) nonresident combination license to 176
firearms hunt and inland waters fish, one hundred ten dollars; (24) 177
nonresident combination license to fish in all waters and firearms hunt, 178
one hundred twenty dollars; (25) nonresident combination license to 179
fish in marine waters and firearms hunt, ninety-four dollars; and (26) 180
nonresident trapping license, two hundred fifty dollars. The provisions 181
of this section concerning black bear shall only be applicable after the 182
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commissioner adopts regulations in accordance with section 26-86a, as 183
amended by this act. Persons sixty-five years of age and over who have 184
been residents of this state for not less than one year and who meet the 185
requirements of subsection (b) of section 26-31 may be issued an 186
annual license to firearms hunt or to fish or combination license to fish 187
and firearms hunt or a license to trap without fee. The issuing agency 188
shall indicate on a combination license the specific purpose for which 189
such license is issued. The town clerk shall retain a recording fee of one 190
dollar for each license issued by such clerk. 191
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 26-86a
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 26-86b
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 26-86c
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 26-28(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To authorize bear hunting in the state.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. MINER, 30th Dist.; SEN. BERTHEL, 32nd Dist.
SEN. MARTIN, 31st Dist.; REP. WILSON, 66th Dist.
S.B. 586