                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

UNLAWFUL TO HUNT, TRAP, POSSESS, SELL, OR TRANSPORT WILD BIRDS AND WILD ANIMALS
EXCEPT AS PERMITTED; EXCEPTION; PENALTY (§ 29.1-521)

A. The following is unlawful:

   1. To hunt or kill on Sunday (i) any wild bird or wild animal, including any
   nuisance species, with a gun, firearm, or other weapon, within 200 yards of a
   place of worship or any accessory structure thereof or (ii) any deer or bear
   with a gun, firearm, or other weapon with the aid or assistance of dogs.

   2. To destroy or harass the nest, eggs, dens, or young of any wild bird or
   wild animal, except nuisance species, at any time without a permit as required
   by law.

   3. To hunt or attempt to kill or trap any species of wild bird or wild animal
   after having obtained the daily bag or season limit during such day or season.
   However, any properly licensed person, or a person exempt from having to
   obtain a license, who has obtained such daily bag or season limit while
   hunting may assist others who are hunting game by calling game, retrieving
   game, handling dogs, or conducting drives if the weapon in his possession is
   an unloaded firearm, a bow without a nocked arrow, an unloaded slingbow, an
   unloaded arrowgun, or an unloaded crossbow. Any properly licensed person, or
   person exempt from having to obtain a license, who has obtained such season
   limit prior to commencement of the hunt may assist others who are hunting game
   by calling game, retrieving game, handling dogs, or conducting drives,
   provided he does not have a firearm, bow, slingbow, arrowgun, or crossbow in
   his possession.

   4. To knowingly occupy any baited blind or other baited place for the purpose
   of taking or attempting to take any wild bird or wild animal or to put out
   bait or salt for any wild bird or wild animal for the purpose of taking or
   killing it. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a person charged with
   violating this subdivision knows that he is occupying a baited blind or other
   baited place for the purpose of taking or attempting to take any wild bird or
   wild animal. However, this shall not apply to baiting nuisance species of
   animals and birds, or to baiting traps for the purpose of taking fur-bearing
   animals that may be lawfully trapped.

   5. To kill or capture any wild bird or wild animal adjacent to any area while
   a field or forest fire is in progress.

   6. To shoot or attempt to take any wild bird or wild animal from an automobile
   or other vehicle, except (i) as provided in &#xA7; 29.1-521.3 or (ii) for the
   killing of nuisance species as defined in &#xA7; 29.1-100 on private property
   by the owner of such property or his designee from a stationary automobile or
   other stationary vehicle.

   7. To set a trap of any kind on the lands or waters of another without
   attaching to the trap: (i) the name and address of the trapper; or (ii) an
   identification number issued by the Department.

   8. To set a trap where it would be likely to injure persons, dogs, stock, or
   fowl.

   9. To fail to visit all traps once each day and remove all animals caught, and
   immediately report to the landowner as to stock, dogs, or fowl that are caught
   and the date. However, the Director or his designee may authorize employees of
   federal, state, and local government agencies, and persons holding a valid
   Commercial Nuisance Animal Permit issued by the Department, to visit
   body-gripping traps that are completely submerged at least once every 72
   hours, and the Board may adopt regulations permitting trappers to visit traps
   less frequently under specified conditions. The Board shall adopt regulations
   permitting trappers to use remote trap-checking technology to check traps
   under specified conditions.

   10. To hunt, trap, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill,
   possess, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, by
   any means whatever, receive for transportation or export, or import, at any
   time or in any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part
   thereof, except as specifically permitted by law and only by the manner or
   means and within the numbers stated. However, the provisions of this section
   shall not be construed to prohibit the (i) use or transportation of legally
   taken turkey carcasses, or portions thereof, for the purposes of making or
   selling turkey callers; (ii) the manufacture or sale of implements, including
   tools or utensils made from legally harvested deer skeletal parts, including
   antlers; (iii) the possession of shed antlers; or (iv) the possession,
   manufacture, or sale of other parts or implements authorized by regulations
   adopted by the Board.

   11. To offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, or purchase, at any time or in
   any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof,
   except as specifically permitted by law, including subsection D of &#xA7;
   29.1-553. However, any nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under
   &#xA7; 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that is (i) organized to provide
   wild game as food to the hungry and (ii) authorized by the Department to
   possess, transport, and distribute donated or unclaimed meat to the hungry may
   pay a processing fee in order to obtain such meat. Such fee shall not exceed
   the actual cost for processing the meat. In addition, any nonprofit
   organization exempt from taxation under &#xA7; 501(c)(3) of the Internal
   Revenue Code that is (a) organized to support wildlife habitat conservation
   and (b) approved by the Department shall be allowed to offer wildlife mounts
   that have undergone the taxidermy process for sale in conjunction with
   fundraising activities. A violation of this subdivision shall be punishable as
   provided in &#xA7; 29.1-553.

   12. To offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, or purchase a hunt
   guaranteeing the killing of a deer, bear, or wild turkey. Nothing in this
   subdivision shall prevent a landowner from leasing land for hunting. A
   violation of this subdivision shall be punishable as provided in &#xA7;
   29.1-553.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any American Indian who
produces verification that he is an enrolled member of a tribe recognized by the
Commonwealth, another state, or the U.S. government, may possess, offer for
sale, or sell to another American Indian, or offer to purchase or purchase from
another American Indian, parts of legally obtained fur-bearing animals,
nonmigratory game birds, and game animals, except bear. Such legally obtained
parts shall include antlers, hooves, feathers, claws, and bones.
			&#8220;Verification&#8221; as used in this section shall include (i) display
of a valid tribal identification card, (ii) confirmation through a central
tribal registry, (iii) a letter from a tribal chief or council, or (iv)
certification from a tribal office that the person is an enrolled member of the
tribe.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Department may
authorize the use of snake exclusion devices by public utilities at their
transmission or distribution facilities and the incidental taking of snakes
resulting from the use of such devices.

D. A violation of subdivisions A 1 through 10 shall be punishable as a Class 3
misdemeanor.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 29-143; 1962, c. 469; 1974, c. 302; 1979, c. 264; 1987,
c. 488; 1988, c. 175; 1989, c. 421; 1990, c. 237; 1994, cc. 244, 436; 1997, c.
249; 1998, c. 415; 2000, c. 13; 2001, cc. 26, 60; 2004, c. 862; 2005, cc. 170,
533, 534; 2006, cc. 20, 215; 2008, cc. 160, 161; 2010, c. 10; 2014, cc. 152,
482; 2015, c. 47; 2016, cc. 10, 62, 121, 372; 2017, c. 530; 2018, cc. 113, 557,
558, 620; 2019, c. 151; 2020, cc. 315, 631; 2022, c. 98.