Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
In accordance with the authority found in M.G.L. c. 131, § 5,
and subject to 321 CMR 3.02(5), the annual open seasons for the hunting and
trapping of certain mammals are hereby adopted.
(a)Definitions: For the purposes of 321 CMR
3.02(5), the following words or phrases shall have the following meanings.
Beaver dam means an obstruction comprised of an aggregate of
sticks and mud, which may additionally include natural vegetation or stones,
constructed by beaver and which impounds or has impounded the flowage of water
along a stream or other water body or through or over a water control
structure.
Beaver lodge means a den comprised of an aggregate of sticks
and mud which is constructed or built by beaver and which is either
free-standing in water or connected to an embankment, but excluding holes or
burrows which lack a visible or external aggregate of sticks and mud.
Bobcat means the bobcat or wildcat (Felis [Lynx]
rufus) but not the lynx or Canada lynx (Felis [Lynx]
canadensis).
Box or cage type trap means a trap that confines the whole
animal without grasping any part of the animal.
Conibear type trap means "Conibear"-model traps and similar
body-gripping traps and devices, whether or not enclosed in or comprising part
of a box, tube, or other enclosing device.
Director means the Director of the Massachusetts Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife or his authorized agent.
Division means the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and
Wildlife.
Environmental Police Officer or EPO means the Office of the
Division of Law Enforcement, deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of
enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers, and
such other enforcement officers of the Office of Law Enforcement as may be
appointed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21A, § 10A.
Fox means the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the
gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).
Fur-bearing mammals means all mammals in the Class Mammalia, as
defined in M.G.L. c. 131, § 1.
Gender means, unless the context requires otherwise, that words
importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.
Green pelt means a pelt which has not been dried, cured, or
tanned.
Hunt, for the purposes of 321 CMR 3.02(5)(b)1. through 3.,
"hunted" or "kill or take by hunting" means a process excluding the use of
traps.
Online means a Division of Fisheries and Wildlife licensing and
game harvest reporting system accessible at the MassWildlife website that
allows for automated licensing and game harvest reporting, including issuance
of an official seal via the internet.
Raw pelt means a green pelt which has been dried, fleshed, or
cured.
State means the several states, territories, and possessions of
the United States of America, and any foreign nation and any political
subdivision, possession, or occupied area thereof.
Weasel means the ermine or short-tailed weasel (Mustela
erminea) and the long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata).
Zone or Zones means the Massachusetts wildlife management zones
as described in 321 CMR 3.02(4)(o).
(b)Management Measures. Notwithstanding any
municipal bylaw or ordinance to the contrary, the following management measures
are hereby adopted and effective.
1. No trap
may be used, set, placed, maintained, or possessed for the purpose of capturing
fur-bearing mammals pursuant to 321 CMR 3.02(5), except for box or cage type
traps or common type rat traps.
2.
Opossum and raccoon may be hunted throughout Massachusetts, with
or without the use of dogs, except as provided in M.G.L. c. 131, § 70, from
October 1 to the following January 31, both dates inclusive, except that
raccoon and opossum may be taken only by trapping during the shotgun deer
season as specified in 321 CMR 3.02(4)(b)3.a.
3.
During the period from sunset of one day to sunset of the
following day, a person shall not kill or take by hunting more than three
raccoons, nor shall two or more persons hunting in one party kill or take by
hunting more than six raccoons.
4.
A person shall not remove or attempt to remove a beaver, bobcat,
coyote, fisher, fox, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, or river otter from any
hole in the ground, stone wall, from within any ledge, or from under any stone,
or from any hole in any log or tree.
5.
Coyote, fox, and weasel may be taken by trapping throughout
Massachusetts from November 1 to the following November 30.
6. Bobcat may be taken by trapping only in
Zones 01 through 08 from November 1 to the following November 30.
7. Fisher may be taken by trapping throughout
Massachusetts from November 1 to the following November 22.
8. Mink and river otter may be taken by
trapping throughout Massachusetts from November 1 to the following December 15.
9. Muskrat may be taken by trapping
throughout Massachusetts from November 1 to the following last day of February.
10. Beaver may be taken by trapping
throughout Massachusetts from November 1 to the following April 15.
11. Raccoon, opossum, and skunk may be taken
by trapping throughout Massachusetts from November 1 to the following last day
of February.
12. In addition to the
provisions of 321 CMR 3.02(5)(b)5. through 10., all beaver, bobcat, coyote,
fisher, fox, wild mink, and river otter taken or salvaged shall be brought to a
designated representative of the Division and sealed with an official seal by
said representative, or the person who took or salvaged the beaver, bobcat,
coyote, fisher, fox, wild mink, and river otter shall access the Online system
to report the take or salvage. The person shall receive an Online system
confirmation number, which shall be the official seal issued by the Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife, and affix it to the beaver, bobcat, coyote, fisher,
fox, wild mink, and river otter taken or salvaged. The official seal shall be
non-transferable and shall be valid only for the animal or carcass to which it
is applied.
The official seal shall remain attached to the pelt or animal
until the pelt is dressed or tanned, or prepared for mounting by a taxidermist,
or the animal is otherwise disposed of. Coyote and fox must be sealed no later
than 48 hours after the animal is killed. Beaver, bobcat, fisher, mink, and
river otter shall be sealed no later than four working days after the closing
day of the open season for that species. Working days are defined as the days
Monday through Friday, except legal state holidays as defined in M.G.L. c. 4, §
7(18).
13. No raw beaver,
bobcat, coyote, fisher, fox, gray wolf, lynx, marten, mink, or river otter
pelt, regardless of state of origin, shall be sold, exchanged, bartered, or
offered for sale, exchange, or barter within Massachusetts unless said pelt
bears an official tag, seal, or stamp issued or applied by the state within
which said beaver, bobcat, coyote, fisher, fox, gray wolf, lynx, marten, mink,
or river otter was taken, or by another governmental jurisdiction empowered to
tag, seal, or stamp such pelts. Such tag, seal, or stamp shall be identifiable
as to the issuing jurisdiction. No person shall alter, tamper with, or reapply
any such tag, seal, or stamp, nor possess any altered, tampered, or reapplied
tag, seal, or stamp (except if such tag, seal, or stamp is destroyed to such a
degree that it cannot be reapplied), or any pelt bearing the same.
14. Except as otherwise provided for in
M.G.L. c. 131, and 321 CMR 3.02(3), those mammals named in the last paragraph
of G.L. c. 131, § 5, may be hunted throughout Massachusetts from January 1 to
the following December 31, except during the shotgun deer season as provided
for in 321 CMR 3.02(4)(b)3.
(c)Authorized Means of Trapping-- Live
Restraining Traps and Sets.
1. a box or cage
type trap when tended, used, or set to insure that the device captures only one
mammal at a time. Bailey and Hancock beaver traps and other suitcase type traps
of similar design may be used only for the taking of beaver, and in accordance
with 321 CMR 3.02(5)(c)2. and 3.;
2.
Bailey and Hancock beaver traps and other suitcase type cage traps
of similar design shall not be used unless the person using, placing, setting,
tending, or maintaining such trap has completed a training session in the
proper use of such trap and has been issued a certificate of completion of such
training. Such traps may be used only for the taking of beaver. The Director is
hereby authorized to coordinate with the Director of Law Enforcement in
establishing such training course and to provide for the issuance of
certificates to such persons as shall have satisfactorily completed the
training. Such certificate shall be carried on the person when using such
traps, and the certificate shall be shown upon demand to any officer empowered
to enforce the provisions of G.L. c. 131; and
(d)Authorized Means of Trapping-- Kill Traps
and Sets.
1. Common type rat traps for the
taking of weasel;
2. Conibear-type
traps may be used only in accordance with 321 CMR 2.08 and 321 CMR 2.14(24).
(e)Prohibitions. Except
as otherwise provided for in M.G.L. c. 131 and 321 CMR, it shall be unlawful
for any person:
1. to have in his possession
the green pelt of any fur-bearing mammal or any part of such pelt except during
the open season for such mammal and for ten days thereafter;
2. to possess or have under his control a
trap on land of another in any place where fur-bearing mammals might be found
between April 16 of any year and 6:00 A.M. on the following November 1;
3. to possess or have under his
control an unregistered trap on land of another in any place where fur-bearing
mammals may be found;
4. to possess
or have under his control unless duly authorized as provided for in M.G.L. c.
131, § 80, and 321 CMR 3.02(5)(e)14. the registered trap of another;
5. tto trap on land of another posted as
provided for in M.G.L. c. 131, § 36 without the written permission of the owner
or tenant of such land;
6. to trap
in a public way, cart road, path or other way commonly used as a passageway for
human beings or domestic animals;
7.
to tear open, disturb, or destroy a muskrat lodge, beaver lodge or
beaver dam, except as provided in 321 CMR 2.08;
8. to trap with a trap designed to take more
than one mammal at a time.
9. to
trap on land with a Bailey or Hancock beaver trap or other suitcase type cage
trap of similar design, except when set upon a beaver dam or beaver lodge,
snag, stump, rock, or other above-water protrusion entirely or substantially
surrounded by water, or, when the pan of such trap is not completely submerged;
10. to trap with a Bailey or
Hancock beaver trap or other suitcase type cage trap of similar design without
having completed a training session and having been issued a certificate of
completion as provided for in 321 CMR 3.02(5)(c)2., or to fail to carry such
certificate on one's person when using such traps;
11. to fail to visit and remove all animals
trapped in, at least once in each calendar day between the hours of 4:00 A.M.
and 10:00 P.M., all traps by him staked out, set, used, tended, placed, or
maintained;
12. to destroy,
mutilate, spring, or remove the trap of another;
13. to take any fur-bearing mammal from the
trap of another unless he has on his person a specific written authorization to
do so, signed by the owner of such trap. The owner of traps may give such
authorization to any person licensed to trap under M.G.L. c. 131 for a period
not to exceed one week from the day the traps were last tended, provided that
notice of the giving of such authorization including the name and trapping
license number of the person so authorized shall be given to the regional
Environmental Police Officer and to the Director within 24 hours of the giving
of such authorization; and
14. to
set, use, place, locate, tend, or maintain a trap not bearing on a metal tag
the name, town of residence and trap registration number of the person or
persons using the same in a manner as to be legible at all times. Said
registration number shall be permanently embedded in or marked on the traps
with letters and figures not less than 1/8 inches high in such a manner as to
be legible at all times.
(f)Trapper Training Course. No person shall,
after September 1, 1989, be issued a trap registration certificate or a
certificate of partnership pursuant to M.G.L. c. 131, § 80, or trap on land of
another unless such person has completed a trapper training course and been
issued a certificate of completion of such training, or unless such person has
been issued a resident or non-resident Massachusetts trapping license or trap
registration certificate or certificate of partnership in a previous year and
shall prove the same to the satisfaction of the Director. The Director is
hereby authorized to coordinate with the Director of Law Enforcement in
establishing such training course and the curriculum thereof and to provide for
the issuance of certificates to such persons as shall have satisfactorily
completed the training. Nothing in 321 CMR 3.02(5)(f) shall be construed to
limit the issuance of free resident sporting licenses to persons aged 70 and
over.
(g)Presumption. Registered
traps set, used, maintained or tended in violation of 321 CMR 3.02(5)(b), (c)
and (d) shall be prima facie evidence that such traps were set, used,
maintained, or tended by the registered owner thereof, unless such owner has
notified the Office of Law Enforcement in writing within 48 hours of the loss
or theft of such registered traps, the number and type of traps, and the date,
time, place, and circumstances of such loss or theft. Such notification shall
be signed under the pains and penalties of perjury.
(h)Forfeitures. Any trap or trapping device
set, used, maintained, or tended in violation of law and any fur-bearing
mammals or other nondomesticated animals caught therein shall be seized by any
officer empowered to enforce M.G.L. c. 131 and shall, in accordance with M.G.L.
c. 131 and c. 257, be forfeited to the Commonwealth and disposed of by the
Director of Law Enforcement to the best interests of the
Commonwealth.
(i)Licensed Furdealer
Reports. Licensed fur dealer report books provided for by M.G.L. c. 131, § 28
shall be initialed by an Environmental Police Officer prior to submission to
the Division and it shall be the responsibility of the licensee to contact the
EPO for that purpose.
(j)Limitations. Nothing in 321 CMR 3.02(5)
shall be deemed to limit any other provision of M.G.L. c. 131 or any rule or
regulation issued under authority thereof.
(k)Savings Clause. If any part, section,
subsection, division, or subdivision of 321 CMR 3.02(5) or the application
thereof is held invalid, unconstitutional, or inoperative as to any particular
person, persons, or conditions, the remainder thereof or the application of any
such part, section, subsection, division, or subdivision to other persons and
conditions shall not be affected thereby.
Regulatory Authority: M.G.L. c. 131, § 5. Last
Revised: 9/14/12.
