Pheasant Shooting Preserve Regulations
made under subsection 113(1) of the
Wildlife Act
R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 504
O.I.C. 88-404 (effective May 1, 1988), N.S. Reg. 89/1988
amended to O.I.C. 2015-239 (effective July 23, 2015), N.S. Reg. 288/2015
Table of Contents
Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
Click here to go to the text of the regulations.
Citation
Definitions
Types of licence/fee
Qualifications
Shooting preserve area
Register
Licence exemption
Open seasons
Bag limits
Hunting method and equipment
Terms/conditions of licence
Repeal of old regulations
Effective date of new regulations
Citation
1 These regulations may be cited as the Pheasant Shooting Preserve Regulations.
Definitions
2 In these regulations
(a) “Act” means the Wildlife Act;
(b) “Department” means the Department of Lands and Forests;
(c) “Minister” means the Minister of Lands and Forests;
(d) “pheasant” means Phasianus colchicus, commonly known as ring-necked
pheasant;
(e) “pheasant shooting preserve” means an area of land on which pen reared
pheasants and other game birds approved by the Minister are kept or
released for hunting by such persons as are permitted by the pheasant
shooting preserve operator;
(f) “pheasant shooting preserve operator” includes any person licensed under
these regulations to operate a pheasant shooting preserve;
(g) “pheasant shooting preserve operator’s licence” means a licence issued
pursuant to these regulations conferring on the holder thereof the privilege
of operating a pheasant shooting preserve;
(h) “quail” means Colinus virginianus, commonly known as bobwhite quail.
Types of licence/fee
3 (1) The Minister may issue a pheasant shooting preserve operator’s licence at the rate
of $62.26 per year.
(2) No person shall operate a pheasant shooting preserve unless the person is the
holder of a valid pheasant shooting preserve operator’s licence issued pursuant to
these regulations.
(3) A licence issued pursuant to these regulations expires on the last day of March next
following the date of issuance and may be renewed at the discretion of the
Minister.
Qualifications
4 (1) Any person eighteen years of age or over may apply for a pheasant shooting
preserve operator’s licence.
(2) Every application shall be submitted in writing on a form prescribed by the
Minister.
(3) No person shall keep or release game birds other than pheasants at a shooting
preserve without the prior written approval of the Minister.
(4) A person who applies to operate or is operating a pheasant shooting preserve must
own or have a legal right to use a minimum of 100 acres of land capable of
providing adequate cover to released birds.
Shooting preserve area
5 (1) No pheasant shooting preserve shall be located on Crown lands.
(2) An applicant for a pheasant shooting preserve licence must provide the Minister
with
(a) a plan of the lands proposed to be included in the reserve, including a
boundary diagram and description of the lands, in a form acceptable to the
Minister; and
(b) proof that the applicant owns the lands or has written permission from the
owner of the lands to use the lands for a pheasant shooting preserve.
(3) The cost of the plan shall be borne by the applicant.
(4) Any alterations to boundaries identified in a plan submitted under clause (2)(a)
must be submitted in writing to the Minister and approved in writing by the
Minister.
(5) [repealed]
(6) The perimeter boundary of a pheasant shooting preserve shall be posted with signs
that are clearly visible in daylight under normal conditions and that are posted at a
distance of not more than 150 feet apart.
(7) No pheasant shooting preserve shall be larger than 1000 acres.
Register
6 (1) A pheasant shooting preserve operator shall
(a) maintain a daily register showing the name and address of any person
hunting on the pheasant shooting preserve; and
(b) maintain a daily register showing the number of pheasants and other game
birds approved by the Minister released each day and the number taken.
(2) [repealed]
(3) A pheasant shooting preserve operator shall at all reasonable times make records
pertaining to the pheasant shooting preserve available for inspection upon request
by a conservation officer.
Licence exemption
7 (1) Any person who is the holder of a valid base licence, when permitted by a pheasant
shooting preserve operator to hunt on a pheasant shooting preserve may hunt, take
or kill or attempt to hunt, take or kill pheasants or other game birds approved by
the Minister without a Small Game Hunting Licence or permit.
(2) Except as provided in these regulations, any person who hunts, takes or kills or
attempts to hunt, take or kill wildlife on a pheasant shooting preserve is subject to
the provisions of the Act and regulations made pursuant thereto.
Open seasons
8 (1) The open season to take, hunt or kill pheasants or other game birds approved by
the Minister on a pheasant shooting preserve is the period of time from the first
day of August to the last day of March next following, both dates inclusive, and,
except as provided in Section 11[10A] of the General Wildlife Regulations made
under the Act, excluding Sundays.
(2) Despite subsection (1), any person who holds a valid Dog Field Trial Permit may
hunt, take or kill pen reared pheasants or other game birds approved by the
Minister during the operation of a dog field trial.
Bag limits
9 (1) Bag limits and possession limits prescribed in the Small Game Hunting
Regulations under the Act shall not apply to pheasants or other game birds
approved by the Minister which are pen reared and released on a pheasant shooting
preserve.
(2) A game animal other than one described in subsection (1) may be taken, hunted or
killed by any person on a pheasant shooting preserve provided the person
(a) holds a valid licence or permit issued under the Act or regulations to take
the game animal; and
(b) complies with the open season, bag limit and possession limits prescribed
under the Act or regulations for the game animal.
(3) It shall be an offence for any person to violate any of the provisions outlined in
subsection (2) while hunting on a pheasant shooting preserve.
(4) No pheasant shooting preserve operator shall take or allow to be taken on that
operator’s pheasant shooting preserve more game birds than have been released on
the preserve in that operating season.
Hunting method and equipment
10 (1) No person shall remove from a pheasant shooting preserve a pheasant or other
game bird approved by the Minister unless the game birds are identified with a
band or tag bearing the licence number of the pheasant shooting preserve operator.
(2) No pheasant shooting preserve operator shall fail to provide a tag or band required
under subsection (1).
(3) Except as provided in the Act or regulations, no person shall carry a firearm or
bow on a pheasant shooting preserve or take, hunt or kill or attempt to take, hunt or
kill any wildlife on a pheasant shooting preserve other than pen reared game birds
released thereon.
(4) No pheasant shooting preserve operator shall fail
(a) to keep the pheasant shooting preserve in a clean and sanitary condition;
(b) to report to the Minister the outbreak of any disease affecting any pheasants
or other game birds kept on the pheasant shooting preserve; and
(c) to post a quarantine notice at the entrance to the pheasant shooting preserve
when any contagious or infectious disease breaks out affecting pheasants or
other game birds kept on the pheasant shooting preserve.
(5) A conservation officer may enter a pheasant shooting preserve to enforce the
provisions of the Act and regulations, to inspect any wildlife kept or taken on the
pheasant shooting preserve and to inspect facilities in which game birds are kept.
(6) A pheasant shooting preserve operator who releases quail must make every effort
to re-capture unharvested quail by the use of a quail recall box, which is a holding
cage that has 2 or more separate compartments and that, for purposes of attracting
the unharvested quail, already has quail in at least 1 compartment.
Terms/conditions of licence
11 It shall be an offence for any person to contravene any term or condition contained in a
licence issued under these regulations.
12 [repealed]
Repeal of old regulations
13 Regulations made by Order in Council 79-838 dated the 10th day of July, 1979, as
amended, respecting pheasant hunting preserves are rescinded as and from the 1st day of
May, 1988.
Effective date of new regulations
14 These regulations shall come into force on and after the 1st day of May, 1988.
The
following regulations are not yet in force and are not included in the current
consolidation: