Chap. 315.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 19-f, as heretofore amended,
of an act entitled ‘‘An act to revise, simplify, arrange and consolidate into one
act the general game, inland fish and dog statutes of Virginia, which act shall
constitute and be designated and cited as ‘The Game, Inland Fish and Dog
Code of Virginia’.”, approved March 24, 1930, which section relates to the
requirement of special stamps for the hunting of bear, deer and elk, so as to
provide for the killing of deer when damaging fruit trees in certain cases.

[S B 296]
Approved March 28, 1940

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly. of Virginia, That
section nineteen-f, as heretofore amended, of an act entitled “An act
to revise, simplify, arrange and consolidate into one act the general
game, inland fish and dog: statutes of Virginia, which act shall con-
stitute and: be designated and cited as ‘The Game, Inland Fish and
Dog Code of Virginia’.”, approved March twenty-fourth, nineteen
hundred and thirty, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as
follows: | ,

Section 19-f. (a) Stamp to Hunt Elk.—There shall be a special
stamp for hunting elk in this State, which shall be in addition to the
regular season license required to hunt other game. The fee for
such special stamp shall be one dollar for a resident and five dollars
for a non-resident. Such special stamps to hunt elk shall be obtained
from the clerks authorized to sell hunting licenses in either Bland,
Botetourt or Giles counties, but such stamps shall not be issued by
any other clerks or agents.

The money received from the sale of such stamps to hunt elk
shall be paid into the game protection fund, and shall be used by the
commission, so far as may be necessary, for the payment or damages
to crops by elk, whenever such damage amounts to five dollars or
more; Such payments, however, shall be limited to the amount accru-
ing to the commission from the sales of such special stamps to hunt
elk during the fiscal year in which such damage occurred. If the
amount accruing to the commission from the sales of such stamps
during such fiscal year shall be less than the aggregate of the claims
allowed, the claims shall be paid pro-rata after the close of the fiscal
year in which the damage occurred.

In order to receive payment for damages to crops by elk, any
person whose crops are so damaged shall promptly report the same
to the game warden of the county. The game warden shall thereupon
go to the premises and investigate said damage. The claim for
damages must be filed under oath by the claimant in duplicate on
forms provided by the commission. If the claimant and the game
warden agree, the game warden shall approve the claim. If such
agreement cannot be reached by the claimant and game warden, the
claim shall be submitted at once to arbitration in the usual manner
and the award of the arbitrators shall be final and binding. Such
claim shall be forwarded to the commission by the game warden upon
agreement for settlement by arbitrators or otherwise.

(b) Stamp to hunt bear and deer.—There shall be a special
stamp for hunting bear and deer in this State, which shall be in addi-
tion to regular season license required to hunt other game. The fee
for such special stamp shall be one dollar for a resident and two dollars
and fifty cents for a non-resident. Such special stamp shall not be
required of any person to hunt bear or deer in the county where they
are legal voters, or in which they are stationed or located, or of which
they are residents within the meaning of section twenty-two, chapter
two hundred and forty-seven, Acts nineteen hundred and thirty, as
amended by chapter twenty-four, Acts approved January fourteenth,
nineteen hundred and thirty-seven.

The special stamp to hunt bear and deer may be obtained from
the clerk or agent of any county or city whose duty it is to sell hunting
licenses.

(c) The clerk or agent shall write or stamp the date of issue on
the face of all special stamps issued pursuant to the provisions of this
section, and each such stamp shall be adhesively affixed to the back
of the regular season hunting licenses of the person to whom the
stamp is issued, and such person shall cancel the same with his initials
in ink. Failure to affix the special stamp to the license and to initial
it before hunting, as herein above provided, shall be a misdemeanor.
The fee to the clerk or agent for the sale of such special stamps shall
be ten cents for each stamp issued.

’(d) Deer may be killed by the owner or lessee of any orchard
when the same are damaging fruit trees upon his premises. The car-
cass of every deer so killed shall be delivered by such owner or lessee
to the game warden of the county. Such game warden shall deliver
the same to some charitable institution or hospital as the commission
may direct.