2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 26 - Fisheries and Game › Chapter 490 - Fisheries and Game › Section 26-86a. - Game management. Deer hunting; permitted weapons, locations, bag limits. Consent forms; permits, selection process.

(a) The commissioner shall establish by regulation adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 standards for deer management, and methods, regulated areas, bag limits, seasons and permit eligibility for hunting deer with bow and arrow, muzzleloader and shotgun, except that no such hunting shall be permitted on Sunday by any means other than with bow and arrow on private property pursuant to section 26-73. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a firearm without first obtaining a deer permit from the commissioner in addition to the license required by section 26-27. Application for such permit shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner and containing such information as he may require. Such permit shall be of a design prescribed by the commissioner, shall contain such information and conditions as the commissioner may require, and may be revoked for violation of any provision of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. As used in this section, “muzzleloader” means a rifle or shotgun of at least forty-five caliber, incapable of firing a self-contained cartridge, which uses powder, a projectile, including, but not limited to, a standard round ball, mini-balls, maxi-balls and Sabot bullets, and wadding loaded separately at the muzzle end, and “rifle” means a long gun the projectile of which is six millimeters or larger in diameter. The fee for a firearms permit shall be nineteen dollars for residents of the state and sixty-eight dollars for nonresidents, except that any nonresident who is an active full-time member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, may purchase a firearms permit for the same fee as is charged a resident of the state. The commissioner shall issue, without fee, a private land deer permit to the owner of ten or more acres of private land and the husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling and any lineal descendant of such owner, provided no such owner, husband or wife, parent, grandparent, sibling or lineal descendant shall be issued more than one such permit per season. Such permit shall allow the use of a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow and arrow on such land from November first to December thirty-first, inclusive. Deer may be so hunted at such times and in such areas of such state-owned land as are designated by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and on privately owned land with the signed consent of the landowner, on forms furnished by the department, and such signed consent shall be carried by any person when so hunting on private land. The owner of ten acres or more of private land may allow the use of a rifle to hunt deer on such land during the shotgun season. The commissioner shall determine, by regulation, the number of consent forms issued for any regulated area established by said commissioner. The commissioner shall provide for a fair and equitable random method for the selection of successful applicants who may obtain shotgun and muzzleloader permits for hunting deer on state lands. Any person whose name appears on more than one application for a shotgun permit or more than one application for a muzzleloader permit shall be disqualified from the selection process for such permit. No person shall hunt, pursue, wound or kill deer with a bow and arrow without first obtaining a bow and arrow permit pursuant to section 26-86c. “Bow and arrow”, as used in this section and in section 26-86c, means a bow with a draw weight of not less than forty pounds. The arrowhead shall have two or more blades and may not be less than seven-eighths of an inch at the widest point. No person shall carry firearms of any kind while hunting with a bow and arrow under this section and section 26-86c.
(b) Any person who takes a deer without a permit shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days or more than six months or shall be both fined and imprisoned, for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or shall be both fined and imprisoned.
(1959, P.A. 227, S. 1, 2; 1961, P.A. 337; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 276; P.A. 74-151, S. 3, 7; P.A. 77-86; P.A. 78-135, S. 1; P.A. 79-491, S. 1, 2; P.A. 83-440; P.A. 85-20; P.A. 87-180, S. 2; P.A. 88-98, S. 3, 6; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-3, S. 9, 21; P.A. 93-408, S. 2; P.A. 95-352, S. 2; P.A. 97-250, S. 5; May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-1, S. 98; P.A. 03-276, S. 2; 03-278, S. 88; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 458; P.A. 10-3, S. 48; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 15-204, S. 2.)
History: 1961 act changed opening date for bow and arrow season from December first to November first; 1971 act replaced state board of fisheries and game with commissioner of environmental protection; P.A. 74-151 greatly expanded provisions, including provisions re use of muzzleloaders and shotguns, deleted specific dates for bow and arrow season previously in force and deleted requirement that arrows used bear full name and address of their owner; P.A. 77-86 provided that persons submitting more than one application for muzzleloader or shotgun permits will be disqualified and that those who are issued a shotgun permit shall be ineligible for such permit the following year; P.A. 78-135 added Subsec. (b) re penalties for taking deer without permit; P.A. 79-491 clarified provisions, substituted references to firearms permits for references to separate muzzleloader and shotgun permits, defined rifle for purposes of section, authorized issuance of “private land deer permit”, authorized owners of ten acres or more to allow use of rifles in hunting on their land, authorized commissioner to determine number of consent forms issued for any regulated area and deleted provisions making those issued shotgun permits ineligible for such a permit the following year and prohibiting taking of more than one deer, since regulated areas, bag limits, separate seasons and permit eligibility are to be regulated by commissioner; P.A. 83-440 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize the commissioner to issue private land deer permits to parents and grandparents of landowners, to remove provision linking issuance of permits in numbers linked to the amount of acreage owned, to remove the limitation on the number of deer that may be taken pursuant to a private land deer permit and to exempt archery deer hunters, raccoon and opossum hunters and those hunting deer on their own land from wearing fluorescent clothing while hunting; P.A. 85-20 amended Subsec. (a) by eliminating the limit on consent forms issued by a landowner and exempting persons engaged in archery turkey hunting from the requirement of wearing fluorescent orange clothing; P.A. 87-180 amended Subsec. (a) by authorizing concurrent archery and firearms deer hunting seasons and requiring that fluorescent orange clothing be worn by archery hunters during concurrent season; P.A. 88-98 deleted requirements for fluorescent orange clothing; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-3 amended Subsec. (a) to delete a requirement that deer hunters using a bow and arrow also obtain a general hunting permit pursuant to Sec. 26-27; P.A. 93-408 deleted a specification for round ball ammunition in the definition of muzzleloader; P.A. 95-352 amended Subsec. (a) to allow for free private land deer permits for siblings of the landowners; P.A. 97-250 amended Subsec. (a) to allow taking of deer under this section with bow and arrow by persons holding private land deer permits; May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-1 amended Subsec. (a) to increase fee for firearms permit from $10 to $14 for residents and from $30 to $50 for nonresidents, effective January 1, 2003; P.A. 03-276 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes, to replace “ball” with “a projectile, including, but not limited to, a standard round ball, mini-balls, maxi-balls and Sabot bullets”, to delete “which uses centerfire ammunition and”, to add exception re an active full-time member of the armed forces, and to replace provision re capability of a bow to propel a certain type of arrow with “a draw weight of not less than forty pounds”, effective July 1, 2003; P.A. 03-278 made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective July 9, 2003; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (a) to increase fees from $14 to $28 for residents and from $50 to $100 for nonresidents; P.A. 10-3 amended Subsec. (a) by reducing fee for residents from $28 to $19 and for nonresidents from $100 to $68 and by making a technical change, effective April 14, 2010; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 15-204 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re deer hunting on Sunday on private property by means of bow and arrow.
See Sec. 26-66(22) re the wearing of fluorescent orange clothing.