STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6281
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GABRYSZAK, GUNTHER -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to hunt-
ing or trapping of elk and moose
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 and paragraph b of subdivision
2 4 of section 11-0103 of the environmental conservation law, paragraph b
3 of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 427 of the laws of 1988, are
4 amended to read as follows:
5 b. "Big game" means deer, bear, moose, elk[, except captive bred and
6 raised North American elk (Cervus elaphus)], caribou and antelope.
7 b. "Domestic game animal" means white-tailed deer or elk propagated
8 under a domestic game animal breeder's license pursuant to section
9 11-1905 or propagated on a preserve or island outside the state under a
10 law similar in principle to title 19 of this article.
11 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 11-0505 of the environmental conserva-
12 tion law, as amended by chapter 135 of the laws of 1982, is amended to
13 read as follows:
14 3. No deer, elk, moose or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon
15 land inhabited by deer, elk, moose or bear. No salt lick shall be made,
16 set or used upon land inhabited by deer, elk, moose or bear, except that
17 the department may do so on state wildlife refuges and wildlife manage-
18 ment areas.
19 § 3. Section 11-0521 of the environmental conservation law is amended
20 by adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
21 4. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, in the
22 case of elk or moose, the department may issue a license by rule or
23 regulation to allow the taking of individual animals that are deemed to
24 be destructive.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01965-03-3
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1 § 4. Section 11-0529 of the environmental conservation law, subdivi-
2 sions 1 and 4 as amended by chapter 911 of the laws of 1990 and subdivi-
3 sions 2 and 5 as amended by chapter 610 of the laws of 2006, is amended
4 to read as follows:
5 § 11-0529. Cats hunting birds; dogs pursuing deer or killing other wild-
6 life in certain areas.
7 1. Any person over the age of twenty-one years possessing a hunting
8 license may, and environmental conservation officers and peace officers,
9 acting pursuant to their special duties, or police officers shall
10 humanely destroy cats at large found hunting or killing any protected
11 wild bird or with a dead bird of any protected species in its
12 possession.
13 2. Every environmental conservation officer, forest ranger and member
14 of the state police may kill any dog (a) actively pursuing or killing
15 deer, elk or moose within the Adirondack or Catskill parks, at any time;
16 (b) pursuing or killing any game or wildlife on a state-owned game farm
17 or wildlife refuge; or (c) pursuing or killing any game or wildlife on a
18 state-owned or leased wildlife management area, except a dog being
19 legally used for hunting small game or for dog training.
20 3. Every park patrolman, park ranger and member of the state police,
21 county police and town police may kill any dog pursuing or killing deer,
22 elk or moose within any state park or state park reservation at any
23 time.
24 4. At any time (a) any environmental conservation officer, dog warden,
25 forest ranger or member of the state police, anywhere in the state, (b)
26 any member of any town police within the limits of the town of which
27 such member is an officer, (c) any member of the Westchester County
28 Parkway police on any park, parkway or reservation owned or controlled
29 by the county of Westchester or (d) any member of a police force or
30 department of any county, city, town or village in which such member has
31 jurisdiction and is regularly employed may kill any dog pursuing or
32 killing deer, elk or moose and any coyote killing a domestic animal.
33 5. No action for damages shall lie against any authorized person for
34 the killing of a cat, dog or coyote as provided in this section, except
35 in the case of killing a hunting dog used pursuant to the provisions of
36 section 11-0928 of this article.
37 § 5. Section 11-0713 of the environmental conservation law is amended
38 by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
39 6. The commissioner may, by rule and regulation, establish a license
40 lottery for elk and moose when conditions warrant control of individual
41 animals or when such big game animals constitute a nuisance population.
42 § 6. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 11-0719
43 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 289 of the
44 laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
45 (2) is convicted of a violation of the Fish and Wildlife Law involving
46 the illegal taking of a deer, elk, cow or calf elk, moose or bear, or
47 signs an acknowledgment of any such violation of that law for the
48 purpose of effecting a settlement by civil compromise or by stipulation;
49 or
50 § 7. Paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 11-0901 of the environ-
51 mental conservation law, as amended by chapter 911 of the laws of 1990,
52 is amended to read as follows:
53 b. Wild deer, elk, moose and bear shall not be taken except by gun or
54 by long bow. Where an open season, set forth in the table of open
55 seasons in section 11-0907 of this title or otherwise established by law
56 or fixed by regulation, is specified as an open season for taking such
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1 game by shotgun or long bow only, or is specified as an open season for
2 taking such game by long bow only, they shall not be taken except as so
3 specified.
4 § 8. Paragraph a and the opening paragraph of paragraph b of subdivi-
5 sion 4 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conservation law, as
6 amended by chapter 600 of the laws of 1993, are amended to read as
7 follows:
8 a. Wild deer, elk, moose and bear shall not be taken in water.
9 No person shall hunt deer, elk or moose:
10 § 9. The opening paragraph of paragraph d and subparagraph 1 of para-
11 graph e of subdivision 4 of section 11-0901 of the environmental conser-
12 vation law, as amended by chapter 600 of the laws of 1993, are amended
13 to read as follows:
14 The use upon land inhabited by deer, elk, moose or bear of a jack-
15 light, spotlight or other type of artificial light by any person who is
16 or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at the time of such
17 use, of a long bow, a crossbow or firearm of any kind, shall be presump-
18 tive evidence that such person is hunting deer, elk, moose or bear with
19 the aid of such light, in violation of this subdivision, unless:
20 (1) No person shall use a jacklight, spotlight or other type of arti-
21 ficial light upon lands inhabited by deer, elk, moose or bear within
22 five hundred feet from a dwelling house, farm building or farm structure
23 actually occupied or used, for the purpose of locating, spotting, harry-
24 ing, worrying or otherwise disturbing deer or bear.
25 § 10. Section 11-0907 of the environmental conservation law is amended
26 by adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
27 10. The commissioner is authorized to establish, by rule and regu-
28 lation; licenses, seasons, manner of taking, tag limits and license fees
29 for big game not specifically designated by this section.
30 § 11. Paragraphs a and b of subdivision 3 of section 11-0909 of the
31 environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 911 of the laws of
32 1990, are amended to read as follows:
33 a. Wild deer, elk, moose and bear, wild upland game birds, and small
34 game other than bobcat, mink, muskrat, raccoon, coyote, fox and skunk,
35 taken in any open season, shall be taken only between the hours of
36 sunrise and sunset, unless otherwise provided in regulations of the
37 department.
38 b. The department shall have the authority to establish by regulation
39 hours of hunting wild deer, elk, moose and bear, wild upland game birds,
40 and small game, other than bobcat, mink, muskrat, raccoon, coyote, fox
41 and skunk, during the open season provided therefor.
42 § 12. The section heading, paragraph a of subdivision 1 and subdivi-
43 sion 2 of section 11-0911 of the environmental conservation law, para-
44 graph a of subdivision 1 as added by section 8 of part D of chapter 61
45 of the laws of 2000, are amended to read as follows:
46 Procedure on taking [wild deer and bear; transportation of wild deer]
47 and transporting big game.
48 a. When [a wild deer] big game is taken the taker shall immediately
49 fill in, using ink, ball point pen or indelible pencil, the [deer] tags
50 issued to the taker as provided in regulations of the department. The
51 taker shall immediately cut out or mark the month and date of kill on
52 the tag and shall attach it to the [deer] animal, except that it need
53 not be attached to the [deer] animal while it is being dragged or phys-
54 ically carried by the taker to a camp or point where other transporta-
55 tion is available. The taker shall report details of the location and
56 date of harvest and data on the [deer] animal as required by regulation.
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1 2. The taker shall remove his [deer] or her big game animal out of the
2 woods or open country to a camp or other inhabited location by midnight
3 of the day immediately following the expiration of the open season in
4 the county or part of a county in which the [deer] animal was taken.
5 § 13. Section 11-0911 of the environmental conservation law is amended
6 by adding a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
7 8. No person taking, possessing or transporting elk or moose shall
8 fail to comply with any requirements established by rule or regulation
9 pursuant to this section.
10 § 14. Section 11-0915 of the environmental conservation law, as
11 amended by chapter 190 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as
12 follows:
13 § 11-0915. Disposal of [deer, moose and bear] big game killed uninten-
14 tionally by collision.
15 The owner of a motor vehicle which has been damaged by unintentional
16 collision with a deer, elk, moose or bear shall be entitled to possess
17 such [deer, moose or bear] big game under the following conditions:
18 1. The accident is reported to an environmental conservation officer,
19 a member of the State Police, a member of the sheriff's department in
20 which the accident occurred or, if the accident occurred on lands under
21 the jurisdiction of the office of parks, recreation and historic preser-
22 vation, to an officer of the regional park police having law enforcement
23 responsibilities on such lands, or to any police officer of a city, town
24 or village located in the county of such accident within [24] twenty-
25 four hours thereafter.
26 2. The officer shall investigate and, if he finds the deer, elk, moose
27 or bear has been killed or so injured as to require that it be killed
28 and the damage has been done as alleged, he shall issue a permit to the
29 owner of the motor vehicle entitling such owner to possess the carcass.
30 Such permit shall authorize the owner of the motor vehicle to transfer
31 the carcass to a designated person.
32 3. Whenever the owner of such damaged motor vehicle declines to
33 possess such deer, elk, moose or bear, the officer may in his
34 discretion, issue a permit to possess the carcass to any other party
35 requesting such possession.
36 § 15. Section 11-0921 of the environmental conservation law, as
37 amended by chapter 213 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as
38 follows:
39 § 11-0921. Surrender of game unfit for human consumption; permit for
40 taking another of species surrendered.
41 When a wild turkey, wild deer, wild elk, wild moose or wild bear is
42 taken by a person holding a license or permit and, upon presentation to
43 an environmental conservation officer or other authorized employee of
44 the department, it is shown to the satisfaction of such officer or
45 authorized employee that its flesh was unfit for human consumption at
46 the time it was killed, the taker may surrender the carcass to the offi-
47 cer or authorized employee and the officer or authorized employee shall
48 issue the taker a special permit to take another specimen of the same
49 species as surrendered and for which the season is still open.
50 § 16. Section 11-0923 of the environmental conservation law, paragraph
51 a of subdivision 1 and subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 160 of the
52 laws of 1979, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 312 of the laws of
53 1980 and subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 600 of the laws of 1993, is
54 amended to read as follows:
55 § 11-0923. Dogs.
56 1. No owner or trainer of a dog shall:
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1 a. allow it to hunt deer, elk or moose, or to run at large on enclosed
2 lands on which wildlife or domestic game is possessed under license
3 issued pursuant to the Fish and Wildlife Law or in any state park, state
4 park reservation, state-owned game farm or wildlife refuge or state-
5 owned or leased wildlife management area;
6 b. allow it to run at large in fields or woods inhabited by deer, elk
7 or moose outside the limits of any city or village, except on lands
8 actually farmed or cultivated by the owner or trainer of the dog or a
9 tenant of such owner or trainer.
10 2. No owner or trainer of a dog shall take it afield for training on
11 wild game except from August [16] sixteen to April [15] fifteen or as
12 otherwise permitted by department order.
13 3. Dogs may be trained on artificially propagated game which is shack-
14 led, or led or confined game, legally possessed, or on training dummies
15 or other artificial devices at any time on lands owned or leased by the
16 owner or trainer of the dog or on lands for which he has written permis-
17 sion of the owner or lessee, provided such training is done in a manner
18 to preclude any disturbances injurious to wildlife.
19 4. During the training of a dog, the trainer and any person in his
20 company shall not possess afield a firearm loaded with ammunition other
21 than blank shells or blank cartridges, or inflict any injury to animals
22 or game birds contrary to law.
23 5. Dogs hunting deer, elk or moose, or hunting any wildlife or domes-
24 tic game on enclosed lands described in paragraph a of subdivision 1 of
25 this section or on a state game farm or wildlife refuge or wildlife
26 management area, may be killed as provided in section 11-0529 of this
27 article.
28 6. Wildlife, except skunk, deer, elk, moose and bear, may be taken
29 with the aid of a dog, provided, however, that the department is author-
30 ized to establish a training season during which only persons licensed
31 by the department pursuant to section 11-0928 of this article may train
32 tracking dogs on bear. Such season shall not begin before July first and
33 shall end at least eight days in advance of any open hunting season for
34 bear and no person participating in such training shall possess a
35 firearm of any kind or a longbow. Nothing in this subdivision shall be
36 construed to invalidate or otherwise affect a permit to track or take
37 bear issued pursuant to subdivision one of section 11-0521 of this arti-
38 cle.
39 § 17. Subdivisions 6 and 7 of section 11-0931 of the environmental
40 conservation law, subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 97 of the laws of
41 1978, are amended to read as follows:
42 6. No person while engaged in hunting deer, elk, moose or bear pursu-
43 ant to a bowhunting stamp, and no person accompanying him or her or a
44 member of his or her party, while he or she is so engaged during a
45 special longbow season, shall have in his or her possession a firearm of
46 any kind, and no person while engaged in hunting deer or bear pursuant
47 to a muzzle-loading stamp, and no person accompanying him or her or a
48 member of his or her party, while he or she is so engaged during a
49 special muzzle-loading firearm season, shall have in his or her
50 possession a firearm of any kind other than a muzzle-loading firearm.
51 7. During any open season for deer, elk, moose or bear, a person
52 afield shall not possess shotgun shells loaded with a slug or ball
53 unless he or she holds a valid license or permit to take deer, elk,
54 moose or bear.
55 § 18. This act shall take effect on the first of November next
56 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
