484B.1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Commission" means the natural resource commission.

2. "Department" means the department of natural resources.

3. "Director" means the director of the department.

4. "Game birds" means pen-reared birds of the family gallinae and mallard ducks.

5. "Hunting preserve" means property and facilities either privately owned or leased for holding, rearing, releasing, or processing captive-raised game for the purpose of hunting, for a fee, over an extended season.

6. "Pen-reared" means the propagation and holding of game birds and game animals whose origins are from captive populations.

7. "Season" means hunting preserve season.

8. "Ungulate" means hoofed nondomesticated mammal.

484B.10 Season--hunting license.

1. A person shall not take a game bird or ungulate upon a hunting preserve, by shooting in any manner, except during the established season or as authorized by section 481A.56. The established season shall be September 1 through March 31 of the succeeding year, both dates inclusive. The owner of a hunting preserve shall establish the hunting season for nonnative, pen-reared ungulates on the hunting preserve.

2. Waterfowl shall not be shot over any area where pen- reared mallards may serve as live decoys for wild waterfowl. All persons hunting game birds or ungulates upon a licensed hunting preserve shall secure a hunting license to do so in accordance with the game laws of Iowa, with the exception that an unlicensed person may secure an annual hunting preserve license restricted to hunting preserves only for a license fee of five dollars. All persons who hunt on hunting preserves shall pay the wildlife habitat fee.

484B.11 Health requirements--game birds.

All game birds, including breeders and nonbreeders; or their chicks or unhatched eggs either purchased, propagated, confined, released, or sold by a licensed hunting preserve shall be free of diseases considered significant for wildlife, poultry, or livestock and shall comply with all game bird, mallard, and turkey requirements as designated by the national poultry improvement plan (NPIP) and in accordance with the United States department of agriculture and requirements of the Iowa department of agriculture and land stewardship.

484B.12 Health requirements--ungulates.

All ungulates other than livestock as described by the Iowa department of agriculture and land stewardship which are purchased, propagated, confined, released, or sold by a licensed hunting preserve shall be free of diseases considered significant for wildlife, poultry, or livestock. The Iowa department of agriculture and land stewardship shall administer the inspection and disease control regulations of ungulates that are livestock.

484B.13 License refusal.

The department may either refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or suspend or revoke a hunting preserve license if the department finds that the licensed area or the operator or employees of the licensed area are not in compliance with this chapter, or that the property or area is operated in violation of this chapter or administrative rules adopted under this chapter.

484B.14 Penalties.

A person who violates a provision of this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

484B.2 Rules.

The commission may adopt rules under chapter 17A as necessary to carry out this chapter.

484B.3 Authority of the director.

The director shall develop, administer, and enforce hunting preserve programs and requirements within the state which implement the provisions of this chapter and the rules adopted by the commission.

484B.4 Application and license requirements.

1. A person who owns or controls by lease or otherwise for five or more years, a contiguous tract of land having an area of not less than three hundred twenty acres, and who desires to establish a hunting preserve, to propagate and sell game birds and their young or unhatched eggs, and shoot game birds and ungulates on the land, under this chapter or the rules of the commission, shall make application to the department for an operator's license. The application shall be made under oath of the applicant or under oath of one of its principal officers if the applicant is an association, corporation, or copartnership. Under the authority of this license, any property or facilities to be used for propagating, holding, processing, or pasturing of game birds or ungulates shall not be required to be contained within the contiguous land area used for hunting purposes. The application shall be accompanied by an operator's license fee of two hundred dollars.

2. Upon receipt of an application, the department or its authorized agent shall inspect the proposed hunting preserve and facilities described in the application. If the department finds that the proposed hunting preserve meets the following requirements, the department may approve the application and issue a hunting preserve operator's license for the operation of the property and facilities described in the application with the rights and subject to the limitations in this chapter and the rules adopted by the commission:

a. The proposed hunting preserve contains at least three hundred twenty acres but not more than two thousand five hundred sixty acres.

b. The area of the proposed hunting preserve is contiguous.

c. The total area of all licensed hunting preserves and the proposed hunting preserve will not exceed three percent of the land area of the county.

d. The game birds or ungulates released on the preserve will not be detrimental to wildlife.

e. The proposed hunting preserve will not interfere with the normal activities of migratory birds.

3. All hunting preserve operator's licenses shall expire on March 31 of each year.

484B.5 Boundaries signed--fenced.

Upon receipt of a hunting preserve license, the licensee shall promptly sign the licensed property with signs prescribed by the department. A licensee holding and releasing ungulates shall construct and maintain boundary fences prescribed by the department so as to enclose and contain all released ungulates and exclude all ungulates which are property of the state from becoming a part of the hunting preserve enterprise.

484B.6 Game birds released.

The licensee of a licensed hunting preserve may take, or authorize to be taken within the season, the numbers of game birds as provided in this section:

1. A licensed hunting preserve may take up to eighty percent of the total number of pheasant and quail released. One hundred percent of all other game birds released may be taken.

2. A minimum of five hundred game birds shall be released during the hunting preserve season by each licensed hunting preserve authorized to release game birds.

3. A licensee operating two or more licensed hunting preserve areas shall release a cumulative minimum of eight hundred game birds during the hunting preserve season.

4. If hen ring-necked pheasants are shot on the licensed hunting preserve, no less than thirty-five percent of all ring-necked pheasants released shall be hens.

484B.7 Records--reports--inspections.

1. Each hunting preserve licensee shall keep the records and make the reports required on forms prepared and provided by the department. All records shall be open for inspection at any reasonable time by the department or its authorized agents.

2. Each licensee shall file an annual report with the department on or before April 30. The report shall detail the hunting preserve operations during the preceding license year. The original report shall be forwarded to the department and a copy shall be retained in the hunting preserve's file for three years from the date of expiration of the hunting preserve's last license issued. Records required by this section shall be entered in the annual report record within twenty-four hours of the event. Failure to keep or submit the required records and reports is grounds for refusal to renew a license for the succeeding year. An on-site inspection of property and facilities shall be conducted by an authorized agent of the department prior to the initial issuance of a hunting preserve license. The hunting preserve may be reinspected by an agent of the department at any reasonable time. A licensed hunting preserve shall maintain adequate facilities for all designated birds and ungulates held under the hunting preserve license.

484B.8 Game bird transportation tags--markings.

The department shall prepare transportation tags suitable for use upon the legs of game birds described in this chapter. The tags shall be of a type which are not removable without breaking and mutilating the tag. The tags shall be used to designate all game birds taken by hunters upon a licensed hunting preserve. The department shall provide licensees with the tags. All dead game birds removed from a licensed hunting preserve shall have a hunting preserve tag affixed to one leg prior to being transported from the licensed hunting preserve, except as otherwise provided by rule of the commission. All mallards released for hunting purposes shall be physically marked by the removal of the hind toe from the right foot at not more than four weeks of age, so as to provide for permanent identification. Game bird tags issued to a hunting preserve are not transferable.

484B.9 Ungulate transportation tags --markings.

The department shall prepare transportation tags suitable for use upon the carcass of ungulates described in this chapter. The tags shall be used to designate all ungulates taken by hunters upon a licensed hunting preserve. The department shall provide licensees with the tags. All ungulates taken on a licensed hunting preserve shall be tagged with a numbered tag prior to being removed from the hunting preserve. The hunter shall tag the ungulate taken in accordance with the rules as determined by the department. The tag shall remain attached to the carcass of the dead ungulate until processed for consumption. The hunter shall be provided with a bill of sale by the licensee. The bill of sale shall remain in the possession of the hunter. Ungulate tags issued to a hunting preserve are not transferable.