HF 657 (LSB 2414HV (2) 88)

HOUSE FILE 657

BY  COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 363)

A BILL FOR

An Act allowing the use of a leashed dog to track and retrieve a wounded deer and providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  481A.56A  Retrieval of wounded deer by leashed dogs.
   A person having a valid hunting license and a valid deer hunting license who has wounded a deer while hunting may use a dog to track and retrieve the wounded deer. A dog being used for tracking a wounded deer and a person using a dog for tracking a wounded deer shall both be certified in deer blood tracking. Any person using a dog for tracking wounded deer must maintain physical control of the dog at all times during the search by means of a maximum fifty-foot lead attached to the dog’s collar or harness. The person may dispatch the deer using a legal method of take authorized by the person’s deer hunting license. A person shall not use that method of take to hunt, wound, or kill any animal other than the deer that the hunter is tracking, except in self-defense. Tracking a wounded deer is permissible at night, but no person tracking a wounded deer shall be in possession of a firearm or archery device outside of legal deer hunting hours. A person shall obtain permission from the owner or tenant of private property before using a dog to track a wounded deer on the private property. The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement this section.
    Sec. 2.  Section 805.8B, subsection 3, Code 2019, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  r.  For violations of section 481A.56A, the scheduled fine is two hundred fifty dollars.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill creates new Code section 481A.56A to allow a hunter with a valid hunting license and deer hunting license who wounds a deer while hunting to use a dog to track and retrieve the wounded deer. The bill provides that a dog being used for tracking a wounded deer and a person using a dog for tracking a wounded deer shall both be certified in deer blood tracking. Any person using a dog for tracking a wounded deer must maintain physical control of the dog at all times during the search by means of a maximum 50-foot lead attached to the dog’s collar or harness. The person may dispatch the deer using a legal method of take authorized by the person’s valid deer hunting license. The bill provides that a person must obtain permission from the owner or tenant before using a dog to track a wounded deer on private property, and that the natural resource commission shall adopt rules pursuant to Code chapter 17A to implement the bill’s provisions.
   A violation of the new provisions is punishable by a scheduled fine of $250.