Conn. Agencies Regs. § 26-66-1 - Behavior and Actions of Hunters
(a) The method of
taking wild birds and wild mammals by hunting shall be restricted to firearms,
high velocity air guns using a single ball or pellet type projectile, and
compound, long or recurved bow, or crossbow In designated areas, by special
permit, the commissioner may allow the use of modified versions of air guns or
archery implements to achieve wildlife management objectives. No arrow or
projectile which is coated with or contains any drugs, poison or known
tranquilizing substance may be used or possessed while engaged in archery
hunting.
(b) Any crossbow and bolt
combination to be used for hunting shall meet the following specifications:
(1) The draw weight of the crossbow shall be
not less than 125 pounds;
(2) The
crossbow shall have a permanent fixed rifle type stock, and a functional and/or
fully operational mechanical safety device;
(3) The bolt (arrow) length shall be not less
than eighteen inches, excluding the broadhead; and
(4) The broadhead shall have two or more
blades with a width not less than seven-eighths of an inch at the widest point.
In addition, any crossbow in a drawn and cocked position with a bolt loaded in
the crossbow shall be considered a loaded weapon.
(c) There shall be no hunting from one-half
hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, as provided by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, except that
raccoon and opossum hunting is permitted after sunset on state-owned lands
which are open to hunting and on privately owned lands where landowners do not
object, and provided the open season for hunting migratory game birds shall be
governed by the provisions of Section
26-66-4
of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(d) There shall be no hunting with firearms,
discharging of firearms or carrying of loaded firearms within five hundred feet
of any building occupied by people or domestic animals or used for storage of
flammable or combustible materials, unless written permission of owner of such
buildings is obtained and carried while hunting to allow closer shooting
distances, except that the above referred to distance shall be not less than
two hundred fifty feet unless written permission of owner of such buildings is
obtained and carried while hunting to allow closer shooting distances when
waterfowl is hunted in tidal water areas from land shooting positions or from
floating blinds anchored adjacent to land or from rock formations. The
provisions of this subsection shall not apply to landowners, their spouses or
lineal descendants when hunting within five hundred feet of buildings owned by
them or, when hunting waterfowl, within two hundred fifty feet of such
buildings, but shall apply when said persons are hunting within said distances
of buildings not so-owned.
(e) No
hunting weapon shall be discharged toward any person, building or domestic
animal when the same is within range or from or across the traveled portion of
any public roadway.
(f) Domestic
animals, agricultural crops, signs, fences, installations and facilities of
utility companies and other property shall not be damaged.
(g) No dogs shall be trained, run or
exercised or be permitted to run at large during the period from June first to
the opening of the upland hunting season on any land posted by the Department
or its agents against such activity.
(h) Hunting, trapping, fishing and/or
trespassing is prohibited on any wildlife refuge, closed area or safety zone
posted by the Department or its agents against such activity.
(i) Hunting is prohibited from the traveled
portion of a public road or on any road adjacent to any premises used for the
breeding, rearing, or holding in captivity of wildlife, or premises used for
zoological purposes, or posted by the Department or its agents against such
activity.
(j) No animals, except a
dog or bird of prey where permitted by law or regulation shall be used in
hunting or pursuing any wild bird or wild mammal. Permits to use birds of prey
may be issued at the discretion of the commissioner to those persons who are
engaged in federal, state or university cooperative research programs for the
reestablishment of wild populations of raptors.
(k) No motor vehicle shall be operated or
parked upon any public or private road, parking area, lane, passageway,
right-of-way, field or lot posted by the Department or its agents against such
activity.
(l) Discarding of
bottles, glass, cans, paper, junk, litter or trash is prohibited on lands and
waters open to hunting or otherwise under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection.
(m) Vehicles using department-controlled
parking areas shall be parked only in authorized places.
(n) At department-controlled boat launching
sites, no boat shall be moored or anchored in a manner that will obstruct or
interfere with the launching of other boats, and no boat shall be left
unattended in the water or beached on shore unless such boat has, in an exposed
area, the name and address of the owner of such boat painted or branded thereon
or in any legible manner attached thereto. Any boat anchored, moored, beached
or stored in violation of this subsection, and not removed within forty-eight
hours after notice has been served on the owner thereof, shall be subject to
impoundment at the expense of the owner, and such owner shall be subject to the
penalties provided for violations of the provisions of this subsection. For the
purpose of this subsection, notice shall be considered to have been served on
the owner when a warning card has been affixed to the owner's boat by a
representative of the Department.
(o) At department-controlled boat launching
areas on inland lakes and ponds, unattended boats left moored, anchored,
beached or stored after December fifteenth and before March first shall be
subject to impoundment at the expense of the owner and such owner shall be
subject to the penalties provided for violations of the provisions of this
subsection.
(p) Subject to the
provisions of subsection (c) of this section, no person shall hunt raccoons or
opossums from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise by the
use of a rifle, revolver, or pistol that uses centerfire ammunition or rim fire
ammunition having a cartridge case longer than that of a .22 caliber long rifle
cartridge case and the projectile of which is heavier than 20 grains or by use
of shotgun shells larger or heavier than number two shot. No person shall take
or attempt to take raccoons or opossums by the use of a light from a motor
vehicle.
(q) Rifles and handguns
using centerfire ammunition or rim fire ammunition having a cartridge case
longer than that of a .22 rim fire long rifle cartridge case and the projectile
of which is heavier than 20 grains and shotgun ammunition of loads larger or
heavier than number two shot shall not be possessed and pistols or revolvers
using ammunition larger or heavier than .22 rim fire long rifle cartridge shall
not be used for the purposes of hunting as defined in section 26-1 of the
Connecticut General Statutes on any private land during the private land
shotgun rifle deer season as specified in section
26-86a-6(b)(7)
of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. This provision relating to
rifle, shotgun and revolver ammunition shall not apply to persons holding valid
landowner, private land shotgun rifle and/or revolver deer permits.
Waterfowlers hunting from a boat, blind or stationary position may only use the
ammunition specified in section
26-66-4(q)
of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(r) No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or
kill any wildlife from September 1 through the last day of February without
wearing above the waist at least a total of four hundred square inches of
fluorescent orange clothing visible from all sides. This provision does not
apply to:
(1) archery deer hunting from
September 15 through the second Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and January 1
through January 31;
(2) archery
deer hunting from the second Wednesday before Thanksgiving through December 31
while hunting from an elevated tree stand more than 10 feet from the
ground;
(3) archery and firearms
turkey hunting;
(4) waterfowl
hunting from blinds or boats or from a stationary position;
(5) crow hunting from a blind or a stationary
position;
(6) hunting raccoon and
opossum from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before
sunrise;
(7) deer hunting by a
landowner on the landowner's own property; or
(8) coyote and fox hunting from a blind from
September 1 through the first Friday in October, and from January 1 through the
last day in February.
Notes
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