HB 21

To amend Section 9-11-244 and 9-11-245 of the Code of Alabama 1975, relating to hunting; to allow the taking of whitetail deer or feral swine by means of bait when a person purchases a baiting privilege license from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Section 1

Sections 9-11-244 and 9-11-245 of the Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§9-11-244.

No (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no person at any time shall take, catch, kill or attempt to take, catch or kill any bird or animal protected by law or regulation of the State of Alabama by means, aid or use, directly or indirectly, of any bait such as shelled, shucked or unshucked corn or of wheat or other grain, salt or any other feed whatsoever that has been so deposited, placed, distributed or scattered as to constitute for such birds or animals a lure, attraction or enticement to, on or over the area where such hunter or hunters are attempting to kill or take them; provided, that such birds or animals may be taken under properly shocked shucked corn and standing crops of corn, wheat or other grain or feed and grains scattered solely as a result of normal agricultural harvesting and provided further, migratory birds may be hunted under the most recent provisions established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources within the limits of the federal regulations.

(b) This section shall not apply to a person hunting whitetail deer or feral swine with the aid of bait on privately owned or leased lands; provided that the person has purchased, and is in the possession of, a bait privilege license from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The annual bait privilege license fee shall be fourteen dollars ($14), plus an issuance fee of one dollar ($1). These fees shall be subject to adjustment as provided in Section 9-11-68. The bait privilege license shall be procured in the same manner as an annual hunting license, with the issuance fee for the bait privilege license paid to and retained by the issuing office or agency. A person who is exempt from purchasing a hunting license is not exempt from the requirement to purchase a bait privilege license pursuant to this section.

(c) The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources may adopt rules to implement the act adding this amendatory language.

§9-11-245.

No person shall at any time make use of any pitfall, deadfall, baited field, cage, trap, net, pen, baited hook, snare, poison, explosive, or chemical for the purpose of injuring, capturing, or killing birds or animals protected by law or regulation of this state. This section shall not prevent the trapping of animals classified as fur-bearing animals by a duly licensed fur catcher. It shall be legal to use a scaffold for gun hunting of all legal game species except wild turkey and to use a scaffold for bow hunting of all legal game species."

Section 2

This act shall become effective immediately following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.