‘An Act To Provide Greater Authority to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife over the Management of Wild Turkeys’
| SP0046 LD 98 |
Session - 128th Maine Legislature C "A", Filing Number S-102, Sponsored by
|
LR 593 Item 2 |
|
| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Provide Greater Authority to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife over the Management of Wild Turkeys’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §10953, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 236, §3, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §11155, sub-§1-C, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 387, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §11701, as amended by PL 2015, c. 127, §§4 and 5 and affected by §6, is further amended to read:
§ 11701. Authority of commissioner; wild turkey hunting
The commissioner may establish open seasons for hunting wild turkeys, designate areas that are open to the taking of wild turkeys in any part of the State, prescribe the form and regulate the number of permits to be issued, determine the number and sex of the birds to be harvested, establish bag limits, establish permit eligibility requirements, establish legal hunting times, specify the types of weapons to be used during any open wild turkey hunting season and make any other rules that the commissioner considers necessary for the protection of the wild turkey resource. The rules must permit the use of a crossbow during the spring an open season for hunting wild turkey hunting season , except that a person may not hunt wild turkey with a crossbow from October 1st until the first day of the open season established by the commissioner in the following year.
A person who violates this section commits a Class E crime for which the court shall impose a fine of not less than $500, none of which may be suspended. The court also shall impose a fine of $500 for each turkey unlawfully possessed, none of which may be suspended.
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §11751-A, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 552, §11 and affected by §15 and c. 655, Pt. C, §§2 and 6, is amended to read:
Sec. 5. 12 MRSA §11802, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 301, §25, is amended to read:
(1) Standing crops; or
(2) Foods that are left as a result of normal agricultural operations or as a result of a natural occurrence.
SUMMARY
This amendment replaces the bill and eliminates the spring and fall open seasons on wild turkey and the bag limits for wild turkey in those seasons. Current law allows the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish open seasons for hunting of wild turkey by rule. The amendment prohibits hunting of wild turkey with a crossbow from October 1st until the first day of the open season established by the commissioner in the following year. The amendment strikes the prohibition on killing or registering wild turkey after having killed or registered one wild turkey in any open season of that calendar year and instead prohibits killing or taking more than the number of wild turkey allowed during an open season established by rule by the commissioner.