ARTICLE 1. Methods of Taking [3000. - 3012.]

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC 1.

in effect

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3000. Section 3000.

It is unlawful to take any bird or mammal, except a nongame mammal, between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking, except as otherwise provided in this code or under such regulations as the commission may adopt. The commission may adopt regulations prohibiting the taking of any nongame mammal between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3001. Section 3001.

It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with firearms, BB devices as defined in Section 16250 of the Penal Code, crossbows, or with bow and arrow when intoxicated.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3002. Section 3002.

It is unlawful to shoot at any game bird or mammal, including a marine mammal as defined in Section 4500, from a powerboat, sailboat, motor vehicle, or airplane.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3003. Section 3003.

(a) It is unlawful for a person to shoot, shoot at, or kill a bird or mammal with a gun or other device accessed via an Internet connection in this state. (b) It is unlawful for a person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other business entity to do either of the following: (1) Own or operate a shooting range, site, or gallery located in the state for the purpose of online shooting or spearing of a bird or mammal. (2) Create, maintain, or utilize an Internet Web site, or other service or business in this state, for the purpose of online shooting or spearing of a bird or mammal. (c) It is unlawful to possess or confine a bird or mammal in furtherance of an activity prohibited by this section. (d) It is unlawful for a person in this state to import into, or export from, this state a bird or mammal that is killed by a device accessed via an Internet connection. (e) A bird or mammal that is possessed in violation of this section shall be subject to seizure by the department. (f) For the purposes of this section, “online shooting or spearing” means the use of a computer or other device, equipment, software, or technology to remotely control the aiming and discharge of a weapon, including, but not limited to, a firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, harpoon, or other projectile device.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3003.1. Section 3003.1.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 1001, 1002, 4002, 4004, 4007, 4008, 4009.5, 4152, 4180, or 4181: (1) It is unlawful for any person to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal with any body-gripping trap. A body-gripping trap is one that grips the mammal’s body or body part, including, but not limited to, steel-jawed leghold traps, padded-jaw leghold traps, conibear traps, and snares. Cage and box traps, nets, suitcase-type live beaver traps, and common rat and mouse traps shall not be considered body-gripping traps. (2) It is unlawful for any person to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, or to offer to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, the raw fur, as defined by Section 4005, of any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal that was trapped in this state, with a body-gripping trap as described in paragraph (1). (3) It is unlawful for any person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, padded or otherwise, to capture any game mammal, exotic game mammal, fur-bearing mammal, nongame mammal, or protected mammal, or any dog or cat. The prohibition in this subdivision does not apply to federal, state, county, or municipal government employees or their duly authorized agents in the extraordinary case where the otherwise prohibited padded-jaw leghold trap is the only method available to protect human health or safety. (4) For purposes of this section, fur-bearing mammals, game mammals, nongame mammals, and protected mammals are those mammals so defined by statute on January 1, 1997, except as regards exotic game mammals. (b) Nothing in this section authorizes any person to trap for purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal by any other means. (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3003.2. Section 3003.2.

Notwithstanding Sections 4003, 4152, 4180, or 4180.1 of this code or Section 14063 of the Food and Agricultural Code, no person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, may poison or attempt to poison any animal by using sodium fluoroacetate, also known as Compound 1080, or sodium cyanide.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3003.5. Section 3003.5.

It is unlawful to pursue, drive, or herd any bird or mammal with any motorized water, land, or air vehicle, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle, airplane, powerboat, or snowmobile, except in any of the following circumstances: (a) On private property by the landowner or tenant thereof to haze birds or mammals for the purpose of preventing damage by that wildlife to private property. (b) Pursuant to a permit from the department issued under regulations as the commission may prescribe. (c) In the pursuit of agriculture.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3004. Section 3004.

(a) It is unlawful for a person, other than the owner, person in possession of the premises, or a person having the express permission of the owner or person in possession of the premises, while within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building, or within 150 yards of a barn or other outbuilding used in connection with an occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building, to either hunt or discharge a firearm or other deadly weapon while hunting. The 150-yard area is a “safety zone.” (b) It is unlawful for a person to intentionally discharge a firearm or release an arrow or crossbow bolt over or across a public road or other established way open to the public in an unsafe and reckless manner.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3004.5. Section 3004.5.

(a) (1) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big game, as defined in the department’s mammal hunting regulations (Section 350 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations), with rifle or pistol, and when taking coyote, within the California condor range. (2) For purposes of this section, “California condor range” means: (A) The department’s deer hunting zone A South, but excluding Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin Counties, areas west of Highway 101 within Santa Clara County, and areas between Highway 5 and Highway 99 within Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties. (B) Areas within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13. (3) The requirements of this subdivision shall remain in effect in the California condor range unless and until the more restrictive nonlead prohibitions required pursuant to subdivision (b) are implemented. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (i), and as soon as is practicable as implemented by the commission pursuant to subdivision (h), but by no later than July 1, 2019, nonlead ammunition, as determined by the commission, shall be required when taking all wildlife, including game mammals, exotic game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm. (c) (1) The commission shall maintain, by regulation, a public process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and shall define, by regulation, nonlead ammunition as including only ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence of trace amounts of lead. The commission shall establish and annually update a list of certified ammunition. (2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition. (d) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission shall establish a process that will provide hunters with nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide that the offer for nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge may be redeemed through a coupon sent to a permitholder with the appropriate permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to provide nonlead ammunition at no charge, the commission shall set the value of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value possible through available funding, up to the average cost within this state for nonlead ammunition, as determined by the commission. (2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in paragraph (1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient funding, as determined by the Department of Finance, is obtained from local, federal, public, or other nonstate sources in order to implement the program. (e) The department shall notify those hunters who may be affected by this section. (f) A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500). A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000). (g) This section does not apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law. (h) The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015, that phase in the requirements of this section. The requirements of this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than July 1, 2019. If any of the requirements of this section can be implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1, 2019, the commission shall implement those requirements. The commission shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in the California condor range unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead ammunition as required by this section are implemented. (i) (1) The prohibition in subdivision (b) shall be temporarily suspended for a specific hunting season and caliber upon a finding by the director that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code. (2) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to paragraph (1), nonlead ammunition shall be used when taking big game mammals, exotic game mammals, nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range. (j) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3005. Section 3005.

(a) It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with any net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, or to possess birds or mammals so taken, whether taken within or without this state, except as provided in this code or, when relating to ongoing mining operations, in accordance with a mitigation plan approved by the department. (b) (1) Mitigation plans relating to mining operations approved by the department shall, among other criteria, require avoidance of take, where feasible, and include reasonable and practicable methods of mitigating the unavoidable take of birds and mammals. When approving mitigation plans, the department shall consider the use of the best available technology on a site-specific basis. (2) Mitigation plans relating to mining operations approved by the department shall include provisions that address circumstances where mining operations contribute to bird deaths, including ponding of process solutions on heap leach pads and exposure of process solution channels, solution ponds, and tailing ponds. (3) The mine operator shall prepare a mitigation plan that shall be submitted to the department for approval. For ongoing mining operations, the mitigation plan shall result in an overall reduction in take of avian or mammal species. The department shall provide an opportunity for public review and comment on each mitigation plan during the department’s approval process. The mitigation plan shall be prepared on a site-specific basis and may provide for offsite mitigation measures designed to reduce avian mortality. The mine operator shall submit monthly monitoring reports on avian mortality to the department to aid in evaluating the effectiveness of onsite mitigation measures. (4) The department shall monitor and evaluate implementation of the mitigation plan by the mine operator and require modification of the plan or other remedial actions to be taken if the overall reduction in take of avian or mammal species required pursuant to paragraph (3) is not being achieved. (5) The mining operator shall reimburse the department for its direct costs to provide appropriate notice of the mitigation plan to affected local government entities and other affected parties. The mine operator shall provide the department a limited number of copies, as determined by the department, of the mitigation plan for public review. (c) Proof of possession of any bird or mammal that does not show evidence of having been taken by means other than a net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, is prima facie evidence that the birds or mammals were taken in violation of this section. (d) This section does not apply to the lawful taking of fur-bearing mammals, nongame birds, nongame mammals, or mammals found to be injuring crops or property, to the taking of birds or mammals under depredation permits, to taking by employees of the department acting in an official capacity, or to taking in accordance with the conditions of a scientific or propagation permit by the holder of that permit.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3005.5. Section 3005.5.

(a) It is unlawful to capture any game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer, or to possess or confine any live game mammal, exotic game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer taken from the wild, except as provided by this code or regulations made pursuant to this code. Any bird or mammal possessed or confined in violation of this section shall be seized by the department. (b) The commission may promulgate regulations permitting the temporary confinement of game mammals, exotic game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, nongame mammals, or furbearers for the purpose of treating the animals, if injured or diseased. (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3006. Section 3006.

Except as authorized under a domesticated game breeder’s license, a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may be killed only with the approval of the department, and pursuant to any regulation that the commission may adopt. The carcass of a deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may not be sold, and shall be disposed of as directed by the department.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3007. Section 3007.

Except as provided in this code or regulations adopted pursuant to this code, it is unlawful to take a bird or mammal without a license or entitlement to do so.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3008. Section 3008.

The physical control of a dog by its owner while the dog is engaged in hunting in an area where the owner is otherwise authorized to hunt, shall be as required by this code or regulations made pursuant thereto. Dogs which are used for hunting which have been vaccinated for rabies in their county of residence in conformity with state law regulating vaccinations in rabies areas are not subject to rabies vaccination requirements of local ordinances outside their county of residence.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3009. Section 3009.

Every person who while taking any bird or mammal kills or injures another person by the use of any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, or other weapon or device used in such taking and who knowingly either abandons such person or fails to render to such injured person all necessary aid possible under the circumstances is guilty of a felony.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3010. Section 3010.

It is unlawful for any person to take any pheasant within 300 yards of any vehicle from which pheasants are being released into an area for hunting while such pheasants are being released.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3011. Section 3011.

No person, including employees of the state, federal or county government, shall take bear with iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps, and no provision of this code or any other law shall be construed to authorize, or to permit the authorizing of, the use of iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps to take bear.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 3012. Section 3012.

It is unlawful to use any recorded or electrically amplified bird or mammal calls or sounds, or recorded or electrically amplified imitations of bird or mammal calls or sounds, to assist in taking any bird or mammal, except nongame birds and nongame mammals as permitted by regulations of the commission.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026