Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with firearms, BB devices as defined in Section 16250 of the Penal Code, crossbows, or with bow and arrow when intoxicated.

It is unlawful to shoot at any game bird or mammal, including a marine mammal as defined in Section 4500, from a powerboat, sailboat, motor vehicle, or airplane.

(a) It is unlawful for a person to shoot, shoot at, or kill a bird or mammal with a gun or other device accessed via an Internet connection in this state. (b) It is unlawful for a person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other business en…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 1001, 1002, 4002, 4004, 4007, 4008, 4009.5, 4152, 4180, or 4181: (1) It is unlawful for any person to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal with any body-gripping trap. A body-gripping trap is o…

Notwithstanding Sections 4003, 4152, 4180, or 4180.1 of this code or Section 14063 of the Food and Agricultural Code, no person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, may poison or attempt to poison any animal by using sodium fluoroacetate,…

It is unlawful to pursue, drive, or herd any bird or mammal with any motorized water, land, or air vehicle, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle, airplane, powerboat, or snowmobile, except in any of the following circumstances: (a) On private property by the landowner o…

(a) It is unlawful for a person, other than the owner, person in possession of the premises, or a person having the express permission of the owner or person in possession of the premises, while within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building, or with…

(a) (1) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big game, as defined in the department’s mammal hunting regulations (Section 350 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations), with rifle or pistol, and wh…

(a) It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with any net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, or to possess birds or mammals so taken, whether taken within or without this state, except as provided in this code or, when relating to ongoing mining operatio…

(a) It is unlawful to capture any game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer, or to possess or confine any live game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer taken from the wild, except as provid…

Except as authorized under a domesticated game breeder’s license, a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may be killed only with the approval of the department, and pursuant to any regulation that the commission may adopt. The carcass of a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may…

Except as provided in this code or regulations adopted pursuant to this code, it is unlawful to take a bird or mammal without a license or entitlement to do so.

The physical control of a dog by its owner while the dog is engaged in hunting in an area where the owner is otherwise authorized to hunt, shall be as required by this code or regulations made pursuant thereto. Dogs which are used for hunting which have been vaccinated for rabies…

Every person who while taking any bird or mammal kills or injures another person by the use of any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, or other weapon or device used in such taking and who knowingly either abandons such person or fails to render to such injured person all n…

It is unlawful for any person to take any pheasant within 300 yards of any vehicle from which pheasants are being released into an area for hunting while such pheasants are being released.

No person, including employees of the state, federal or county government, shall take bear with iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps, and no provision of this code or any other law shall be construed to authorize, or to permit the authorizing of, the use of iron o…

It is unlawful to use any recorded or electrically amplified bird or mammal calls or sounds, or recorded or electrically amplified imitations of bird or mammal calls or sounds, to assist in taking any bird or mammal, except nongame birds and nongame mammals as permitted by regula…

(a) A hunting license, granting the privilege to take birds and mammals, shall be issued to any of the following: (1) A resident of this state, 16 years of age or older, upon the payment of a base fee of thirty-one dollars and twenty-five cents ($31.25). (2) A resident or nonresi…

(a) In addition to Section 3031, and notwithstanding Section 3037, the department shall issue lifetime hunting licenses under this section. A lifetime hunting license authorizes the taking of birds and mammals anywhere in this state in accordance with the law for purposes other t…

For the purpose of obtaining a hunting license, enrollees in the Job Corps, created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-452), shall be deemed to be residents of California.

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Bear” and “pursue” have the same meanings as defined in Section 3960. (2) “Hound” means a dog used to pursue mammals. (b) The commission may establish a hound tag program. (c) If a hound tag program is established, the commission may require all …

(a) Pursuant to this section, the department shall issue to a disabled veteran or recovering service member who has not been convicted of a violation of this code a reduced fee hunting license that authorizes the licensee to take a bird or mammal as authorized by this code and re…

(a) The department shall prepare a report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2024, on the effects of the reduced-price tags issued pursuant to Sections 331, 332, 4751, and 4902 of the Fish and Game Code on rates of participation by junior hunters, the Big Game Management Ac…

A hunting license authorizes the person to whom it is issued to take birds and mammals, in accordance with law, for a term of one year from July 1st to June 30th, or, if issued after the beginning of such term, for the remainder of the term.

Any member of the armed forces of the United States who is in a military medical facility and who is at least 70 percent disabled shall be issued a hunting permit, on application therefor, by the department, in lieu of a hunting license and appropriate tags, authorizing the takin…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, Section 2023, Section 3087, Section 4303, another provision of this code, or a regulation adopted pursuant to this code, it is unlawful to sell or purchase a bird or mammal found in the wild in California. (b) Shed antlers, or ant…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 3031, the director shall, no later than July 1, 2023, designate two days per year as “Free Hunting Days.” The department shall publish the exact dates of the free hunting days in annual publications of the department regarding current hunting regulatio…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to ensure the health and safety of its citizens engaged in activities requiring the use of hunting implements. (b) The Legislature finds and declares that individuals who engage in hunting should possess an adequate…

(a) No hunting license may be issued to any person unless he or she presents to the person authorized to issue that license any of the following: (1) Evidence that he or she has held a hunting license issued by this state in a prior year. (2) Evidence that he or she holds a curre…

(a) The department shall provide for a course of instruction in hunter education, principles of conservation, and positive sporting behavior, and for this purpose may cooperate with any reputable association or organization having as one of its objectives the promotion of hunter …

A person receiving instruction from a hunter education instructor shall not be charged a fee for the service provided by the instructor, but may be charged a fee to cover the costs incurred by the instructor in teaching the class. A record of these costs shall be kept for inspect…

In the case of loss or destruction of a certificate, a duplicate certificate may be issued by the instructor who issued the original certificate, or, by an instructor of the sponsoring organization having adequate records to establish successful completion of the prescribed cours…

The department shall furnish information on hunter safety, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship that shall be distributed free of charge to persons designated as hunter education instructors for instructional purposes.

The department, in conformity with such regulations as the commission may prescribe, may issue special Colorado River hunting licenses when the commission finds and determines that under the laws of the State of Arizona substantially similar licenses are authorized to be issued t…

A special Colorado River hunting license may be issued to any person holding a hunting license issued by the State of Arizona. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

A special Colorado River hunting license shall entitle the holder thereof to take only migratory waterfowl and only in, on, or along the Colorado River in accordance with the applicable state and federal laws and regulations or orders made pursuant thereto. (Enacted by Stats. 195…

The fee for a special Colorado River hunting license shall be two dollars ($2), and each such license shall be valid until the end of the calendar year in which it is issued. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

(a) For the purposes of this section, “donor intermediary” means a recipient who receives a game bird or mammal from a donor to give to a charitable organization or charitable entity. (b) A person may possess a game bird or mammal during a period other than the open season for th…

Cold storage plants and frozen food locker plants shall make and keep a complete detailed record of all game birds or mammals stored in such plants. A record of each game bird or mammal shall be made at the time it is received at the plant for storage. The record shall be open fo…

(a) (1) Every person who prepares, stuffs, or mounts the skin of any fish, reptile, amphibian, bird, or mammal for another person for a fee shall make and keep an accurate and detailed record, as prescribed by regulations of the commission, regarding all fish, reptile, amphibian,…

It is unlawful to sell, purchase, harm, take, possess, transport, or shoot a projectile at, a tortoise (Gopherus). This section does not apply to the taking of a tortoise when authorized by the department.

The provisions of Section 5000 do not prohibit the possession of any tortoise (Gopherus) when the owner can demonstrate that such tortoise was legally acquired and possessed before the effective date of this section. The owner of a tortoise which may be possessed under this secti…

The department may issue permits, subject to any terms and conditions prescribed by the commission, authorizing the possession of a tortoise (Gopherus) or product of a tortoise by an educational or scientific institution or a public zoological garden.

(a) There is in the Natural Resources Agency a Department of Fish and Wildlife administered through the director. (b) The Department of Fish and Wildlife shall succeed to, and is vested with, all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, property, and jurisdiction previousl…

The director shall be appointed by the Governor, and receive the annual salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing at Section 11550) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

There shall be one deputy director of the department who shall be a civil executive officer and shall be appointed by the Governor and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The compensation of the deputy director shall be fixed by the director pursuant to law. The deputy directo…

The director or one or more of his designees may accept the office of director or alternate director of an entity established by a joint powers agreement providing for the establishment and conduct of an areawide waste management planning process in accordance with the provisions…

This code shall be administered and enforced through regulations adopted only by the department, except as otherwise specifically provided by this code or where this code requires the commission to adopt regulations.

(a) The department, on or before January 1, 2016, shall prepare and submit to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a feasibility study report on an electronic system to manage citations issued by fish and game wardens, exchange information on citations wit…

(a) General policies for the conduct of the department shall be formulated by the commission. The director shall be guided by those policies and shall be responsible to the commission for the administration of the department in accordance with those policies. (b) The department s…