PRESS RELEASE - August 13, 2004
2004 Bird Shooting Season starts August 21
The 2004 Bird Shooting Season will begin on August 21 and run until September 26. The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is reminding hunters that the prescribed times for hunting are Saturdays, sunrise to 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to sunset, and Sundays, sunrise to 9:00 a.m.
During this period, only the four birds specified maybe shot and at all times hunters must ensure that they stay within the prescribed bag limits. Only the following birds may be shot: the Pea Dove (Zenaida aurita), the White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica), Bald-pate (Columba leucocephala) and Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura).
Hunters are being advised that the bag limit remains at a total of twenty birds at each shoot, except for the Bald-pate, of which no more than fifteen may be hunted in any shoot. Overshooting is an offence under the Wild Life Protection Act.
Hunting birds without a permit is a breach of the Wild Life Protection Act and carries a maximum penalty of $100,000 and or twelve months in prison. The Act also prohibits the use of a trap to catch, or the use of a sling-shot/catapult to shoot birds. While in the field, each hunter MUST have in his or her possession, his/her gun licence and a valid Bird Hunter’s Licence from Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA).
Hunters are also being reminded that shooting is prohibited in the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park and in game reserves.
|
