§ 4826. Taking deer damaging crops
(a) A person, including an authorized member of the person’s family, an authorized regular
on-premises employee, or an agent who holds a Vermont hunting license and who is designated
by the person, may take, on land owned or occupied by the person, up to four deer
per year that the person can prove were doing damage to the following:
(1) a tree that is being grown in a plantation or being cultivated for the purpose of
harvesting an annual or perennial crop or producing any marketable item; or
(2) a crop-bearing plant; or
(3) a crop, except grass.
(b) A person by whom, or under whose direction, a deer is wounded or killed, shall report
in writing signed by him or her within 12 hours all the facts relative to the act
to a game warden. The report shall state the time and place of the wounding or killing.
(c) A person who kills a deer shall immediately properly dress the carcass and care for
the meat.
(d) The game warden shall immediately investigate the case and if satisfied that the deer
was taken as provided in this section, shall give the person a certificate of the
finding in the matter. The certificate shall entitle the person to the ownership of
the carcass, but the person shall not sell or give away the same. However, the head
and the antlers, if any, shall be turned over to a warden. In addition, any carcass
not needed for home consumption in the household of the certificate-holder shall be
turned over to a game warden.
(e) When a game warden finds that a deer has been wounded or killed contrary to the provisions
of this section, he or she shall dispose of the deer under the direction of the Commissioner,
and any monies received therefor shall be paid to the Commissioner.
(f)(1) “Person” includes all people who jointly own or lease the land.
(2) “Post” means any signage that would lead a reasonable person to believe that hunting
is prohibited on the land, except for signs erected pursuant to section 4710 of this title.
(g) The Commissioner may issue a permit to a person to take more than four deer under
this section if:
(1) the land owned by the person is not posted against hunting;
(2) the person can prove that the property is sustaining additional and ongoing damage;
and
(3) the person has taken reasonable measures to prevent the deer from continuing to damage
the crop.
(h) The Commissioner is authorized to issue an order requiring any person to remove food
or bait which has the effect of luring deer into the vicinity of the property sustaining
damage. In this subsection, food does not include a crop or crop-bearing plant. (Added 1961, No. 119, § 1, eff. May 9, 1961; amended 1967, No. 57, § 2, eff. March 30, 1967; 1973, No. 242 (Adj. Sess.), eff. April 8, 1974; 2005, No. 24, § 1; 2011, No. 54, § 11, eff. May 31, 2011.)