Methods of Taking

Division 4, Part 1, Chapter 1, Article 1 of the Fish and Game Code deals with methods of taking applicable to birds and mammals in the State of California.

Section 3000 makes it unlawful to take any bird or mammal, except a nongame mammal, between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking, except as otherwise provided in this code or under such regulations as the commission may adopt.

Section 3001 makes it unlawful to take birds or mammals with firearms, BB devices, crossbows, or with bow and arrow when intoxicated.

Section 3002 makes it unlawful to shoot at any game bird or mammal, including a marine mammal, from a powerboat, sailboat, motor vehicle, or airplane.

Section 3003 makes it unlawful for a person to shoot, shoot at, or kill a bird or mammal with a gun or other device accessed via an Internet connection in this state. It is unlawful for a person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other business entity to do either of two specified actions.

It is unlawful to possess or confine a bird or mammal in furtherance of an activity prohibited by this section. It is unlawful for a person in this state to import into, or export from, this state a bird or mammal that is killed by a device accessed via an Internet connection.

Section 3003.1 makes it unlawful for any person to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal with any body-gripping trap, which is defined.

It is unlawful for any person to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, or to offer to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, the raw fur of any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal that was trapped in this state, with a body-gripping trap.

It is unlawful for any person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, padded or otherwise, to capture any game mammal, exotic game mammal, fur-bearing mammal, nongame mammal, or protected mammal, or any dog or cat.

Section 3003.2 prohibits any person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, from poisoning or attempting to poison any animal by using sodium fluoroacetate or sodium cyanide.

Section 3003.5 makes it unlawful to pursue, drive, or herd any bird or mammal with any motorized water, land, or air vehicle, including a motor vehicle, airplane, powerboat, or snowmobile, except in any of three specified circumstances.

Section 3004 makes it unlawful for a person, other than the owner, person in possession of the premises, or a person having the express permission of the owner or person in possession of the premises, while within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building, or within 150 yards of a barn or other outbuilding used in connection with an occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building, to either hunt or discharge a firearm or other deadly weapon while hunting. The 150-yard area is a “safety zone.”

Section 3004.5 requires nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as determined by the commission, when taking big game with rifle or pistol, and when taking coyote, within the California condor range. The term “California condor range” is defined.

Section 3005 makes it unlawful to take birds or mammals with any net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, or to possess birds or mammals so taken, whether taken within or without this state, except as provided in this code or, when relating to ongoing mining operations, in accordance with a mitigation plan approved by the department.

Section 3005.5 makes it unlawful to capture any game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer, or to possess or confine any live game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer taken from the wild, except as provided by this code or regulations made pursuant to this code.

Section 3006 provides that a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may be killed only with the approval of the department, and pursuant to any regulation that the commission may adopt. The carcass of a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may not be sold, and must be disposed of as directed by the department.

Section 3007 makes it unlawful to take a bird or mammal without a license or entitlement to do so.

Section 3008 provides that the physical control of a dog by its owner while the dog is engaged in hunting in an area where the owner is otherwise authorized to hunt, is required to be as required by this code or regulations made pursuant thereto. Dogs which are used for hunting which have been vaccinated for rabies in their county of residence.

Section 3009 states that every person who while taking any bird or mammal kills or injures another person by the use of any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, or other weapon or device used in taking and who knowingly either abandons the person or fails to render to the injured person all necessary aid possible under the circumstances is guilty of a felony.

Section 3010 makes it unlawful for any person to take any pheasant within 300 yards of any vehicle from which pheasants are being released into an area for hunting while pheasants are being released.

Section 3011 specifies that no person, including employees of the state, federal or county government, is allowed to take bear with iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps.

Section 3012 makes it unlawful to use any recorded or electrically amplified bird or mammal calls or sounds, or recorded or electrically amplified imitations of bird or mammal calls or sounds, to assist in taking any bird or mammal, except nongame birds and nongame mammals as permitted by regulations of the commission.