Chap. 213.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 49 of the Game, Inland
Fish and Dog Code of Virginia, as amended by Chapter 290 of the Acts
of 1936, in relation to hunting, trapping or fishing on the lands or waters
of another. [IS B 213]

Approved March 19, 1938

‘1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion forty-nine of the Game, Inland Fish and Dog Code of Virginia,
as amended by chapter two hundred and ninety of the acts of nine-
teen hundred and thirty-six, in relation to hunting, trapping or fish-
ing on the lands or waters of another, be amended and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

Section 49. Any person who goes on the lands, waters, ponds,
boats or blinds of another to hunt, fish or trap without the consent
of the landowner or his agent, and after having been warned by such
landowner or his agent not to do so, shall be deemed guilty of a mis-
demeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dol-
lars or by confinement in jail for not more than thirty days, or by
both, in the discretion of the court or jury trying the case.

Adequate warning, for purposes of this section, may be given by
appropriate sign or poster, and any person who goes on the lands or
waters of another to hunt, fish or trap and passes in plain view of such
sign or poster shall be deemed to have been so warned; any such
person who fails to produce a written permit signed by the landowner
or his agent, may be deemed prima facie guilty of the offense herein
defined. It shall be a defense to any prosecution hereunder to produce
a written statement, signed by the landowner or his agent, requesting
that such prosecution be dismissed.

Any person who shall mutilate, destroy or take down any “posted”,
“no hunting” or similar sign or poster on the lands or waters of an-
other, or who shall post such sign or poster on the lands or waters of
another, without the consent of the landowner or his agent, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of
not more than fifteen dollars.

Fox hunters, when the chase begins on other lands, may follow
their dogs on prohibited lands and deer hunters, when the chase begins
on other lands, may go upon prohibited lands to retrieve their dogs,
but not to hunt any game while thereon, nor shall this section apply
to uninclosed mountain lands not used for cultivation, except in the
counties of Giles, Craig, Bland, Bath, Alleghany and Highland and
in the mountains in the western part of Rockingham county, and in
any county having a population of more than fourteen thousand and
less than twenty thousand inhabitants, which adjoins a county within
the geographical bounds of which is located a city having a population
of not less than sixty thousand nor more than one hundred thousand
inhabitants, all according to the last United States census.

Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect in any
way the civil rights of a landowner as against trespassers against his
property.