481A.38  Prohibited acts — restrictions on the taking of wildlife — special licenses.
  It is unlawful for a person to take, pursue, kill, trap or ensnare, buy, sell, possess, transport, or attempt to so take, pursue, kill, trap or ensnare, buy, sell, possess, or transport any game, protected nongame animals, fur-bearing animals or fur or skin of such animals, mussels, frogs, spawn or fish or any part thereof, except upon the terms, conditions, limitations, and restrictions set forth herein, and administrative rules necessary to carry out the purposes set out in section 481A.39, or as provided by the Code.
  1.  a.  The commission may upon its own motion and after an investigation, alter, limit, or restrict the methods or means employed and the instruments or equipment used in taking wild mammals, birds subject to section 481A.48, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, if the investigation reveals that the action would be desirable or beneficial in promoting the interests of conservation, or the commission may, after an investigation when it is found there is imminent danger of loss of fish through natural causes, authorize the taking of fish by means found advisable to salvage imperiled fish populations.
  b.  The commission shall adopt a rule permitting a crossbow to be used only by individuals with disabilities who are physically incapable of using a bow and arrow under the conditions in which a bow and arrow is permitted. The commission shall prepare an application to be used by an individual requesting the status. The application shall require the individual’s physician or physical therapist licensed under chapter 148A to sign a statement declaring that the individual is not physically able to use a bow and arrow.
  2.  If the commission finds that the number of hunters licensed or the type of license issued to take deer or wild turkey should be limited or further regulated, the commission shall adopt procedures, by rule, for issuing the licenses. This subsection does not apply to the hunting of wild turkey on a hunting preserve licensed under chapter 484B.
  3.  The department and the commission shall exercise regulatory authority regarding seasons, bag limits, possession limits, locality, the method of taking, or the taking of fish and wildlife within the boundaries of the Sac and Fox tribe settlement in Tama county only to the extent provided in a written agreement between the tribal council of the Sac and Fox tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa and the department. The written agreement shall not be construed to supersede or impair the regulatory authority exercised by the commission pursuant to the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the federal Migratory Bird Stamp Hunting Act, the federal Endangered Species Act, or other federal law, and shall not be construed to supersede or impair the regulatory authority exercised by the Sac and Fox tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa pursuant to any federal act, statute, or law. The department and the commission shall not unreasonably fail to enter into an agreement and shall pursue such an agreement in an expedient manner. This subsection shall become effective upon signing of the written agreement by the director of the department and the chairperson of the Sac and Fox tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
[R60, §4381; C73, §4048; C97, §2551, 2555; S13, §2562-c, 2563-j, -k, -m, -n; SS15, §2540, 2551, 2555, 2562-b, -c, 2563-a1, -a2, -u; C24, 27, 31, §1718, 1719, 1755, 1767, 1774; C35, §1718-c1; C39, §1794.001; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §109.38; 82 Acts, ch 1037, §1]
84 Acts, ch 1213, §1; 84 Acts, ch 1260, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1216, §12; 89 Acts, ch 87, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1109, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1160, §18
C93, §481A.38
96 Acts, ch 1129, §97; 99 Acts, ch 39, §1; 2001 Acts, ch 134, §1, 2; 2007 Acts, ch 189, §1, 2; 2011 Acts, ch 25, §143; 2023 Acts, ch 106, §1
Referred to in §456A.24, 481A.24, 481A.48, 481A.67, 483A.24, 483A.28, 805.8B(3)(f), 805.8B(3)(g)
See also §481A.23 and 481A.32
For applicable scheduled fines, see §805.8B, subsection 3, paragraphs f and g 
Subsection 1, paragraph b amended