Title 50, Fish, Game and Watercraft

There is no closed season for hunting or taking coyotes with weapons.

The department has the authority during any season of the year to permit the taking of any game animal and prescribe the method by which they may be taken when they cause damage to crops or property or when they pose a significant human health risk. Any animal taken under these c…

The following species constitute small game animals: raccoon, opossum, rabbit, squirrel, fox, quail, bobcat, beaver, mink, muskrat, skunk, otter, grouse, and weasel.

The department may declare a closed season for not over ten days at any one time in any area in the State when it appears on account of abnormal conditions that deer or other game cannot protect themselves. The department shall give notice of the closed season so declared by publ…

When in any county of the State there exist abnormal conditions that might affect the supply of game or there is an abnormal scarcity of game, the department, upon the written request of a majority of the legislative delegation, including the Senator, from such county, may shorte…

Whenever it appears that foxes are destroying birds, poultry, pigs, lambs, or other property in any county in this State or there is an apparent epidemic of rabies in any county, the department, upon the written request of a majority of the legislative delegation of any such coun…

Raccoons and squirrels may be killed by owners of property from July fifteenth to the regular open season on them if these animals are destroying crops.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service may allow the hunting of antlered and antlerless deer by those holding proper hunting licenses of this State on any sea island within any federally owned or controlled game reserve, national park, or game refuge during the open season f…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and at any time during the year, the owner, lessee, or person in lawful possession of land whereon an enclosure for running rabbits with dogs has been erected may trap fox, wildcat, bobcat, wolf, coyote, skunk, raccoons, and any other p…

When directed by the department, its employees may trap, by the use of steel or other traps, fox, wildcat, bobcat, wolf, coyote, skunk, raccoons, and any other predatory animals on any lands owned by the State or any of its boards, commissions, officers, institutions, or agencies…

The employees of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and those employees of the United States or the agencies thereof in charge of any national park, game reserve, or game refuge also have the right to trap predatory animals within the confines of such national park, game…

In order to more effectively control predatory animals, the employees of the department shall cooperate with the employees of the United States and its agencies in trapping programs and may accept aid and advice from federal employees.

For purposes of this section: (a) "Take" means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill. (b) "Protected wildlife" means any wildlife, part, product, egg, offspring nest, dead body, or part thereof which is managed or protected or the taking of which is specifically regulated by the depa…

(A) The department may issue permits for the taking of feral hogs while airborne in a helicopter if the department finds it is necessary to protect land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life, crops, or to meet wildlife management objectives. The department…

(A) Except as otherwise specified, the season for hunting and taking small game is Thanksgiving Day through March 1. (1) Game Zone 1: (a) rabbit: Thanksgiving Day through March 1, with weapons and dogs, day only; March 2 through the day before Thanksgiving Day, with dogs only, da…

The department may grant operating licenses for shooting preserves which are privately owned and operated under the terms and provisions as provided in this article.

No new preserve may be licensed by the department without the approval of the majority of the legislative delegation of the county in which such preserve is to be located.

The annual fee for obtaining a shooting preserve license is two hundred dollars for the first one hundred acres of shooting preserve area, plus fifty dollars for each additional one hundred acres or part of it. A separate application and fee is required for each area of contiguou…

In order to be licensed as a shooting preserve operator, the operator must own or lease a minimum of one hundred contiguous acres, including water areas. The preserve is not restricted to a maximum number of contiguous acres. Proof of ownership or leasehold interest and accurate …

Shooting preserve operators shall maintain a clearly defined boundary on which signs designating the area as a shooting preserve must be posted at intervals of one hundred fifty feet or less. Construction of a fence, as prescribed by the department, along the boundaries of the pr…

Legal shooting preserve species are pen-raised bobwhite quail, pheasants, and chukars. The department may designate additional species by regulation.

Notwithstanding the limitations of Section 50-11-1250, a shooting preserve operator licensed as of December 31, 2005, to release pen-raised mallards or pen-raised turkeys may continue this privilege. All other provisions of this article shall apply. Once the current shooting pres…

The shooting season is a consecutive six-month period, beginning October first and continuing through the following March thirty-first.

There is no harvest limit on species designated as shooting preserve species.

All harvested designated shooting preserve species must be tagged before removal from a shooting preserve and the tags must remain affixed until the animal is prepared for consumption. If these species are packaged in bundles one tag is sufficient for the bundle, but the number o…

The department shall furnish no game for the stocking of any preserve provided for by this article.

A licensed shooting preserve operator may apply to the department for a permit to operate a quail call pen trap during the shooting preserve season for the purpose of recovering any quail that are not killed.

(A) Proper care must be given to all penned animals to assure: (1) Clean water is provided as necessary. (2) Food is wholesome, palatable, and free from contamination. (3) Animals are provided adequate cover and bedding to assure the safety of the animals during adverse environme…

Each shooting preserve operator shall maintain a record of the number of shooting preserve designated species released and the number of shooting preserve designated species harvested by month from October through March of each shooting preserve season. Each shooting preserve ope…

The violation of any of the sections of this article is a misdemeanor. The manager, owner, or licensee, or any of them, of any shooting preserve provided for in this article is responsible for any violation of this article and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of not l…

A "pen-raised quail" is one that is hatched and subsequently wholly raised and confined in a pen or coop.

With the approval of the department, any person may engage in the business of propagating pen-raised quail for commercial purposes upon compliance with this article.

A commercial quail breeder's license first must be obtained from the department. The license may be purchased at any time and is good only for the fiscal year, July first through June thirtieth, in which it is issued. The license fee is five dollars, and each license must be numb…

The keeper of a hotel, restaurant, boardinghouse, or club may sell pen-raised quail for food to be consumed on the premises and is not required to hold a license therefor.

The department, when it has evidence that any breeder is violating the intent of this article and is not cooperating with the department in a desirable manner, may revoke the breeder's license and may refuse to issue the license and seals or tags to the breeder. Where a person ha…

During a period in which raccoons, opossums, squirrels, or fox are allowed to be hunted without weapons, it is unlawful to take, or attempt to take, the animals.

Any person complying with this article may sell live pen-raised quail for propagating purposes or may sell the carcasses of the pen-raised quail for any purpose, including sale for food.

Before being offered for sale other than alive or for propagation purposes or shipped within the State, all packages or bags of pen-raised quail carcasses must be labeled, marked, or stamped, in such a way so as to give the following information: the hatchery in which the quail i…

When any pen-raised quail is sold or shipped into this State, the shipper or seller shall furnish the department with a copy of the invoice showing the number of the quail so shipped or sold and to whom the quail was shipped or sold. Any pen-raised quail sold or shipped in violat…

All pen-raised quail offered for sale must be killed otherwise than by shooting.

It is unlawful to trap wild quail for the purpose of obtaining birds to be pen-raised or to obtain wild quail eggs to be pen-raised or hatched.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of two hundred dollars or thirty days imprisonment for each offense and shall forfeit his license and tags and may not secure any additional lice…

(A) It is unlawful to bait, assist in baiting, or cause to be baited an area over which migratory birds are being hunted if the persons engaged in the hunting have a lawful right to hunt that area. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction…

(A) For purposes of this section a "day" means the twenty-four hours between one hour before sunrise one day and one hour before sunrise the following day. It is a measure of time for the purposes of setting a bag limit only. It is unlawful to exceed the small game bag limits as …

It is unlawful for any person to trap rabbits, except that a landlord or tenant may use not more than five rabbit boxes on lands on which he has exclusive control during the open season for rabbits as provided by law.

It is unlawful to keep any of the birds or animals forbidden to be sold by the terms of Sections 50-11-1910 and 50-11-1940 in cold storage or refrigerating plants, except in a private dwelling, unless the bird or animal in cold storage, or the package containing it, bears the nam…