Relating to the established season for hunting game birds on a preserve, and making penalties applicable

This bill relates to the established season for hunting game birds on a preserve. Under current law, a person shall not take a game bird on a hunting preserve except during the established hunting preserve season, which begins on September and ends on March 31. The bill allows a game bird hunting preserve operator to apply for a variance to extend the season beyond March if the monthly precipitation is above average for the county in which the preserve is located for at least two months out of the months of January, February, and March of that season. The bill requires the state climatologist to provide official national weather service and community collaborative rain, hail and snow network data to the department of natural resources to determine whether a variance to the established season shall be granted. The bill prohibits the department from granting a variance that extends the season beyond April of the year for which the variance is requested. A person hunting on a game bird hunting preserve on a date after March pursuant to an extension granted pursuant to the bill shall only hunt for and take chukars, quail, or rooster pheasants. The bill also makes a change to the definition of “game bird” to reflect a recent reorganization of bird classification. A person who violates the bill is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855.