CHAPTER 115
WHITETAIL HUNTING PRESERVES
571—115.1(81GA,SF206) Definitions. As used in these rules:
“Annual activity report” means the Annual Report Form provided by the department.
“Boundary sign” means a sign prescribed by the department which, when posted, designates the registered hunting preserve boundaries.
“Documented event” means but is not limited to the birth, death, harvest, transfer, sale, purchase, escape or release of preserve whitetail.
“Privately owned” means the propagation and holding of whitetail whose origins are from privately owned populations.
“Registrant” means a person or organization that holds an interest in land including a title holder that registers annually to possess a whitetail hunting preserve operator’s registration issued by the Iowa department of natural resources.
“Transportation tag” means a self-adhesive, numbered tag for marking an individual whitetail carcass prior to transportation.
“Whitetail” means an animal belonging to the Cervidae family and classified as part of the virginianus species of the odocoileus genus.
“Whitetail hunting preserve operator’s annual registration” means a registration which authorizes the holder to establish a hunting preserve for the purpose of holding, propagating, and releasing privately owned whitetail for hunting purposes.
571—115.2(81GA,SF206) Hunting preserve operator’s registration. A hunting preserve operator’s registration may, following review and inspection, be issued to a person or organization that, upon application, complies with all requirements established in 2005 Iowa Acts, Senate File 206, section 17, and this chapter. The registration fee shall be $350 annually. Renewal registration fees shall be due and payable to the department no later than June 30 and must be accompanied by a completed annual report of the current fiscal year.
571—115.3(81GA,SF206) Boundary signs required. All registered hunting preserves shall provide, post, and maintain boundary signs which meet the following minimum specifications: 160 square-inch surface area; sign material of wood, steel, aluminum or heavy poly-plastic; and white/red sign color combination with the message “Registered Hunting Preserve.” Boundary signs shall be posted at each entrance and perimeter gate and at every boundary corner. If the facility operated prior to September 1, 2005, and was signed as a “Licensed Hunting Preserve,” those signs will satisfy the signing requirement. However, once existing sign supplies are depleted, new signs must read “Registered Hunting Preserve.”
571—115.4(81GA,SF206) Fencing required. All registered hunting preserves that possess a valid hunting preserve registration for whitetail shall construct and maintain a “deer-proof” boundary fence. Preserves shall have fencing constructed and maintained with a minimum fence height of eight feet above ground level. Fencing shall be inspected and approved by officers of the department prior to registration. Follow-up fence inspections by the department shall be allowed at any reasonable time by appointment or by providing the landowner or preserve registrant with at least 48 hours’ notice. Boundary fence gates shall remain closed at all times except for preserve maintenance activity, at which time no open gate shall be left unattended.
571—115.5(81GA,SF206) Records and annual report. All registered hunting preserves shall submit a completed annual activity report no later than June 30 of the current year to the Law Enforcement Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034. All registered hunting preserves shall retain sales/shipping receipts involving the purchase and delivery of any whitetail to the registrant. All registered hunting preserves shall record any transaction involving the sale or purchase of whitetail. All original sales receipts for harvested whitetail shall remain with the registrant as a part of the permanent record, and a copy shall be provided to the purchasing client. This record requirement shall also apply to any sale of live whitetail for private or commercial use, and the sale must be recorded immediately following the event.
571—115.6(81GA,SF206) Whitetail transportation tags. A numbered, self-adhesive transportation tag shall be placed on a leg of each whitetail harvested on a registered hunting preserve prior to a person’s moving the carcass in any manner. The client shall, upon taking a whitetail, immediately validate the transportation tag by including the following information in the space provided: species and sex of animal taken and the client’s signature. The client shall also notch or punch a hole in the corresponding blocks on the transportation tag designating the year, month and day the animal was taken. The transportation tag shall remain attached to the whitetail until the whitetail is processed for consumption. Transportation tags shall be purchased from the license bureau of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319- 0034, at a cost of $1 per tag.
571—115.7(81GA,SF206) Processed whitetail. Registered hunting preserves may prepare whitetail for clients by cleaning, dressing, preserving, and packaging the meat. Packaging material shall bear the transportation tag number, date the animal was killed, and hunting preserve name in a legible fashion on the outside of the package. The transportation tag shall remain with the meat during processing and shipment.
571—115.8(81GA,SF206) Health requirements—whitetail. No whitetail shipped or transported into or within Iowa shall be affected with or recently exposed to any infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, or originate from a quarantined area. All whitetail shipped or transported into or within Iowa for hunting preserve purposes must be in compliance with all movement requirements, including but not limited to health certificate requirements, as prescribed by the department and the department of agriculture and land stewardship as established in 21—65.9(163) and 21—66.14(163). All veterinary inspection certificates shall be retained by the registrant for a period of no less than five years.
571—115.9(81GA,SF206) Chronic wasting disease testing.
	115.9(1) Testing required. A person who keeps whitetail under this chapter shall have chronic wasting disease tests performed on the following:
	a. 	Any whitetail that dies or is killed on the premises. A person trained and authorized shall collect the test sample and shall submit the sample for testing at an approved laboratory. This paragraph does not apply to whitetail less than six months old.
	b. 	Any whitetail that is shipped to slaughter from the herd premises. A person trained and authorized shall collect the test sample after the whitetail is slaughtered and shall submit the sample for testing at an approved laboratory. This paragraph does not apply to whitetail less than six months old.
	c. 	Testing under this subrule shall not qualify the herd for certification in the chronic wasting disease program administered by the department of agriculture and land stewardship. No live animals will be allowed to leave the hunting preserves.
	115.9(2) Collecting test samples. One of the following persons shall collect a test sample and submit it for testing:
	a. 	A certified veterinarian.
	b. 	An employee of the department authorized by the department.
	c. 	A person approved by the department. Before a person collects a test sample, that person shall complete training approved by the department. The person shall comply with standard veterinary procedures when collecting a test sample.
	115.9(3) Reporting disease findings. Whenever any person receives a laboratory test result for chronic wasting disease, that person shall immediately report that result to the department. The person shall report by telephone, fax or other rapid means within one day after receiving the test result and shall report in writing within ten days. The person shall provide a copy of the test result to the owner of the tested whitetail. This reporting requirement applies to any laboratory test result for chronic wasting disease. Telephone and fax reports should be made to the following numbers: telephone (515)281-6156 or fax (515)281-6794. Written reports should be sent to Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 502 E. 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034, Attn: Wildlife Bureau.
571—115.10(81GA,SF206) Positive chronic wasting disease test results. A positive test result for chronic wasting disease will result in a minimum of a five-year quarantine on the preserve and all remaining animals located within the infected preserve. No animal movement in or out of the preserve shall occur during the quarantine period. The preserve operator, the operator’s veterinarian if requested, and a designated epidemiologist shall develop a plan for eradicating chronic wasting disease in each affected herd. The plan must be designed to reduce and then eliminate chronic wasting disease from the herd; to prevent the spread of the disease to other herds, both privately owned and wild; and to prevent reintroduction of chronic wasting disease after the herd is released from quarantine. The herd plan must be developed and signed within 30 days after the determination that the herd is infected. The plan must be formalized as a memorandum of agreement between the preserve operator, the department and the state veterinarian’s office. Disposal of infected animals must be in accordance with 571—104.11(481A). Premises must be cleaned and disinfected under department supervision within 15 days after affected animals have been removed.
571—115.11(81GA,SF206) General conditions for registration.
	1.	Records shall be available for inspection by officers of the department during any reasonable hours.
	2.	All records and reports shall be kept current and shall reflect a true and accurate account of the registrant’s activities.
	3.	The department’s law enforcement bureau shall be notified within 30 days in writing if the registrant ceases operation as a hunting preserve, at which time all unused whitetail transportation tags shall be returned to the department.
	4.	A registrant shall renew the hunting preserve operator’s registration and recertify no later than June 30. Registration renewal and recertification requests received by the department after June 30 shall be considered delinquent.
	5.	The department shall not renew a hunting preserve operator’s registration unless a completed annual report, including all documented events for the reporting period, has been received by the department prior to the reporting deadline.
	6.	For purposes of this chapter, there shall be a continuous open season on whitetail enclosed on registered preserves.
	7.	Individuals may use centerfire rifles, pistols, crossbows, modern or traditional archery equipment, muzzleloaders, or shotguns to hunt and harvest preserve whitetail.
These rules are intended to implement 2005 Iowa Acts, Senate File 206, sections 14 to 26.
[Filed emergency 9/29/05—published 10/26/05, effective 9/29/05]