Bill Text: MS HB1282 | 2010 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Wildlife; revise seasons on hunting deer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-03-02 - Died In Committee [HB1282 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HB1282-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
By: Representative Eaton (By Request)
House Bill 1282
(As Passed the House)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 49-7-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE OPEN SEASONS FOR HUNTING DEER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. 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 October 31.
(b) With bow and arrow, crossbows and/or primitive weapons, and without dogs: November 1 through the Friday before Thanksgiving.
(c) With guns and with dogs: From the Saturday before Thanksgiving through December 1. * * *
(d) With guns and without dogs: December 2 through December 23. * * *
(e) With guns and with dogs: December 24 through a date that shall be fixed by the commission so as to 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 (c) of this subsection (1).
(f) With guns and without dogs: from the date established by the commission as the last day for hunting deer with guns and with dogs, as set forth in paragraph (e) of this subsection (1), and ending January 31.
(g) 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 subsection (1)(a) in this area.
* * *
(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 * * *.
(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) The commission may provide a special permit for the harvesting of deer when they are depredating and destroying crops. The department shall supervise the harvesting and provide for the salvaging of the meat of the animals. The commission may authorize the department to assist any farmer in this state, who sustains crop damage by wildlife, in eradication of the problem wildlife.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
