HUNTING ON GAME REFUGES.

97A.091 HUNTING ON GAME REFUGES. § Subdivision 1.Hunting and possession of firearms. Except as provided in subdivision 2, a person may not take a wild animal, except fish, within a state game refuge. A person may not carry within a refuge: (1) a firearm unless the firearm is unloaded and contained in a case, or unloaded and broken down; or (2) an uncased bow. § Subd. 2.When hunting allowed. (a) The commissioner may allow hunting of a protected wild animal species within any portion of a state game refuge, including a state park. Hunting may be allowed under this paragraph only if the commissioner finds: (1) the population of the species exceeds the refuge's carrying capacity; (2) the species is causing substantial damage to agricultural or forest crops in the vicinity; (3) the species or other protected wild animals are threatened by the species population; or (4) a harvestable surplus of the species exists. (b) The commissioner may allow hunting of unprotected wild animals in a game refuge. (c) The commissioner may prescribe rules for any hunting allowed within a refuge. (d) In any selection process for permits to take deer within a game refuge, the commissioner may designate a certain number of permits that are available only to applicants who are age 70 or over or are qualified for a special permit under section 97B.055, subdivision 3, or 97B.106. § Subd. 3.Trap or target shooting. The commissioner may issue special permits, without fee, to the owner or lessee of privately owned land within the boundaries of a state game refuge for trap or target shooting. History: 1986 c 386 art 1 s 17; 1993 c 231 s 8,9; 1994 c 561 s 13