§ 50-11-546 — Electronic harvest reporting system.

(A) In order to document the harvest of big game species and to assist with the enforcement of seasons, methods of harvest, and bag limits, the department must implement an electronic harvest reporting system. (B) A person who harvests a big game species must report the harvest to the electronic harvest reporting system as prescribed by the department. A harvest report must be submitted by midnight of the day of harvest unless a person is incapable of accessing the reporting system, in which case a report must be submitted prior to the carcass leaving the person's possession. (C) Upon completion of the harvest reporting process, a harvest report confirmation number will be provided by the department and it must be recorded by the person submitting the harvest report. A person who takes a big game carcass to a processor must provide the tag number and harvest report confirmation number to the processor at the time the carcass transfers from the person to the processor. The processor must record and maintain the harvest report confirmation number until the processed meat is received by the hunter or their designee. (D) The department must promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section, including the methods of telephonic and electronic reporting, contents of the report, and recording and maintenance of the harvest report confirmation number. (E) The department is prohibited from requesting or acquiring the geolocation data of a person submitting a harvest report through electronic means and from requesting a person to self-report location information to the harvest reporting system more specific than the county and wildlife management area, if applicable, in which a big game species is harvested. (F) There is no cost to a person for reporting a harvest, and the department may exempt the harvest reporting requirement for persons who harvest big game species under specific conditions or department programs. (G) A person who violates this section or provisions established by the department for electronic harvest reporting is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than twenty-five dollars.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2019 Act No. 51 (S.575), SECTION 6, eff July 1, 2020; 2023 Act No. 65 (H.3538), SECTION 1, eff July 1, 2024. Effect of Amendment 2023 Act No. 65, SECTION 1, in (A), substituted "big game species" for "wild turkeys"; in (B), in the first sentence, substituted "big game species" for "wild turkey", and in the second sentence, substituted "day of harvest" for "day a wild turkey is taken"; in (C), added the second and third sentences, and made nonsubstantive changes; in (E), substituted "and wildlife management area, if applicable, in which a big game species" for "in which a turkey"; and in (F), substituted "big game species" for "wild turkeys".