West Virginia Code 20-2-27 – Necessity for license
(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, no resident who has reached his or her 15th birthday and who has not reached his or her 65th birthday before January 1, 2012, and no nonresident shall at any time take, hunt, pursue, trap for, kill or chase any wild animals, wild birds, or fish for, take, kill or catch any fish, amphibians or aquatic life of any kind whatsoever in this state without first having secured a license or permit and then only during the respective open seasons, except that a nonresident who has not reached his or her 15th birthday may fish for, take, kill or catch any fish, amphibians or aquatic life of any kind whatsoever in this state without first having secured a license or permit. A person under the age of 15 years shall not hunt or chase any wild animals or wild birds upon lands of another unless accompanied by a licensed adult.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 20-2-27
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Game: means game animals, game birds and game fish as herein defined. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Hunt: means to pursue, chase, catch or take any wild birds or wild animals. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Lands: means land, waters and all other appurtenances connected therewith. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Nonresident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has not been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days immediately prior to the date of his or her application for a license or permit except any full-time student of any college or university of this state, even though he or she is paying a nonresident tuition. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Person: except as otherwise defined elsewhere in this chapter, means the plural "persons" and shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or other legal entities. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Preserve: means all duly licensed private game farmlands, or private plants, ponds or areas, where hunting or fishing is permitted under special licenses or seasons other than the regular public hunting or fishing seasons. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Resident: means any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has been a domiciled resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days or more immediately prior to the date of his or her application for license or permit. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Take: means to hunt, shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, catch, capture, keep in captivity, gig, spear, trap, ensnare, wound or injure any wildlife, or attempt to do so. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wild animals: means all mammals native to the State of West Virginia occurring either in a natural state or in captivity, except house mice or rats, and includes coyotes and porcupines and all species of cervids. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wild birds: shall include all birds other than: (a) Domestic poultry &mdash. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
- Wildlife: means wild birds, wild animals, game and fur-bearing animals, fish (including minnows), reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans and all forms of aquatic life used as fish bait, whether dead or alive. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
(b) A resident or nonresident member of any club, organization, or association or persons owning or leasing a game preserve or fish preserve, plant, or pond in this state shall not hunt or fish therein without first securing a license or permit as required by law: Provided, That resident landowners or their resident children, or bona fide resident tenants of land, may, without a permit or license, hunt and fish on their own land during open seasons in accordance with laws and rules applying to such hunting and fishing unless the lands have been designated as a wildlife refuge or preserve.
(c) Licenses and permits shall be of the kinds and classes set forth in this article and shall be conditioned upon the payment of the fees established for the licenses and permits.
(d) The list of names, addresses and other contact information of all licensees compiled and maintained by the division as a result of the sale and issuance of any resident or nonresident licenses or stamps under this chapter is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, §29B-1-1, et seq., of this code: Provided, That the records specified in this section shall be available to all law-enforcement agencies and other governmental entities authorized to request or receive such records.