House File 461
HOUSE FILE
BY BOGGESS
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to deer hunting and providing penalties.
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
3 TLSB 2289YH 80
4 av/cf/24
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 483A.8, subsection 3, Code 2003, is
1 2 amended to read as follows:
1 3 3. A nonresident hunting deer is required to have a
1 4 nonresident hunting license and a nonresident deer license and
1 5 must pay the wildlife habitat fee. The commission shall
1 6 annually limit to eight fifteen thousand five hundred licenses
1 7 the number of nonresidents allowed to have deer hunting
1 8 licenses. Of the first six thousand nonresident deer licenses
1 9 issued, not more than thirty=five percent of the licenses
1 10 shall be bow season licenses and, after the first six thousand
1 11 nonresident deer licenses have been issued, all additional
1 12 licenses shall be issued for antlerless deer only. The
1 13 commission shall allocate the nonresident deer hunting
1 14 licenses issued among the zones based on the populations of
1 15 deer. However, a nonresident applicant may request one or
1 16 more hunting zones, in order of preference, in which the
1 17 applicant wishes to hunt. If the request cannot be fulfilled,
1 18 the applicable fees shall be returned to the applicant. A
1 19 nonresident applying for a deer hunting license must exhibit
1 20 proof of having successfully completed a hunter safety and
1 21 ethics education program as provided in section 483A.27 or its
1 22 equivalent as determined by the department before the license
1 23 is issued.
1 24 Sec. 2. Section 483A.8, Code 2003, is amended by adding
1 25 the following new subsection:
1 26 NEW SUBSECTION. 6. Notwithstanding subsection 2, the
1 27 commission shall provide, by rule, for the issuance to an
1 28 applicant of a deer hunting license accompanied by two tags
1 29 for a regular gun season, each tag to be used only once, and
1 30 one of the tags to be used only to take an antlerless deer.
1 31 The rules shall specify the number of deer hunting licenses
1 32 accompanied by two tags which may be issued and the season and
1 33 zone in which each such license is valid.
1 34 Sec. 3. Section 483A.24, Code 2003, is amended by adding
1 35 the following new subsection:
2 1 NEW SUBSECTION. 15. a. As used in this subsection:
2 2 (1) "Administrator" means a county sheriff,
2 3 superintendent, warden, or other chief executive officer of a
2 4 public institution in this state.
2 5 (2) "Establishment" means an establishment as defined in
2 6 section 189A.2 where animals or poultry are prepared for food
2 7 purposes or where wild deer may be processed or dressed for
2 8 human consumption.
2 9 (3) "Public institution" means a county jail in this
2 10 state, a state institution listed under section 218.1,
2 11 subsections 1 through 8, or state institution listed under
2 12 section 904.102, subsections 1 through 10.
2 13 b. The natural resource commission shall provide, by rule,
2 14 for the distribution of free antlerless deer hunting licenses
2 15 annually to resident or nonresident hunters. The free
2 16 licenses shall be in addition to hunting licenses allocated
2 17 for resident and nonresident hunters as otherwise provided in
2 18 this chapter and shall be equivalent to the least restrictive
2 19 license issued pursuant to section 481A.38. The department
2 20 shall allocate not more than two hundred free antlerless deer
2 21 hunting licenses pursuant to this subsection.
2 22 c. The commission shall issue the free licenses to
2 23 resident or nonresident hunters who agree to deliver the
2 24 harvested deer to a designated food establishment. Each
2 25 resident or nonresident hunter accepting the free license
2 26 shall be otherwise qualified to hunt deer in this state. A
2 27 wildlife habitat fee shall not be required. The commission
2 28 shall establish, by rule, the procedures for allocating the
2 29 free hunting licenses to resident or nonresident hunters. The
2 30 rules shall also include procedures for selecting designated
2 31 organizations, associations, and groups interested in the
2 32 sport of deer hunting to assist the commission in allocating
2 33 the licenses, and advertising the availability of the free
2 34 hunting licenses and the conditions attached to the receipt of
2 35 the licenses. The rules shall be adopted pursuant to chapter
3 1 17A.
3 2 d. The commission shall contract with one or more
3 3 establishments to receive and process the harvested deer. The
3 4 deer meat shall be used as food for the inmates or patients of
3 5 the public institutions participating in the antlerless deer
3 6 hunting program authorized in this subsection.
3 7 e. A person violating a providing of this subsection or a
3 8 rule adopted pursuant to this subsection is guilty of a simple
3 9 misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation as provided in
3 10 section 483A.42.
3 11 EXPLANATION
3 12 This bill relates to deer hunting in the state. The bill
3 13 authorizes the natural resource commission to adopt rules for
3 14 the issuance to an applicant of deer hunting licenses with two
3 15 tags for a regular gun season if one of the tags is valid only
3 16 to take an antlerless deer. The rules shall specify the
3 17 number of deer licenses with two tags which may be issued and
3 18 the season and zone in which each license is valid.
3 19 The bill changes the number of nonresident deer hunting
3 20 licenses which may be issued each year from 8,500 to 15,000.
3 21 The bill provides that the natural resource commission
3 22 shall adopt rules allocating not more than 200 free antlerless
3 23 deer hunting licenses to resident and nonresident deer hunters
3 24 who agree to deliver the harvested deer to an establishment
3 25 that prepares animals for food purposes or where wild deer may
3 26 be processed or dressed for human consumption that is under
3 27 contract with the commission to be processed for consumption
3 28 at a participating public institution such as a county jail;
3 29 state institutions including the Glenwood state resource
3 30 center, the Woodward state resource center, mental health
3 31 institutes in Cherokee, Clarinda, Independence, and Mount
3 32 Pleasant, the state training school, and the Iowa juvenile
3 33 home; and state correctional institutions.
3 34 The bill provides that the commission rules shall provide
3 35 procedures for selecting designated organizations,
4 1 associations, and groups interested in the sport of deer
4 2 hunting to assist the commission in allocating the free
4 3 licenses. The bill also directs the commission to adopt rules
4 4 establishing procedures for advertising the availability of
4 5 the free licenses and the conditions attached to their use.
4 6 LSB 2289YH 80
4 7 av/cf/24