N.J.S.A. 23:4-12 — Hunting certain game, except in manner provided by Code or with gun or bow and arrow, unlawful; penalty.

23:4-12. Hunting certain game, except in manner provided by Code or with gun or bow and arrow, unlawful; penalty. 23:4-12. A person, shall not kill, destroy or injure, pursue with intent to kill or injure or in any manner attempt to take or injure, any anatidae commonly known as swans, geese, brant and river and sea ducks; rallidae, commonly known as rails, gallinules, coots and mud hens; limicolae, commonly known as shore birds, surf snipe or bay snipe, among them being yellowlegs plovers, willets, sandpipers, dowitchers or robin snipe, brown backs, curlews, turnstones or calico backs, godwits or marlin, tittlers and woodcocks; gallinae, commonly known as wild turkey, grouse, prairie chickens, pheasants, partridge and quails; or any hare commonly known as rabbit; gray, black or fox squirrels; or any other game bird or game animal, except in the manner prescribed by the provisions of the State Fish and Game Code, or, in the absence of such provision in said code, except in the manner usually known as hunting with a gun, the gun being not larger than ten gauge and held at arm's length and fired from the shoulder without rest, or by the use of bow and arrow. It shall be unlawful for any person while hunting any wild bird or animal to have both a long gun and a bow and arrow in the person's possession or under the person's control in the woods or fields or on the water. A person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a penalty of $100 for each offense. For purposes of this section "long gun" means any rifle, shotgun, machine gun, automatic or semi-automatic rifle, or any gun, device or instrument in the nature of a weapon from which may be fired or ejected any solid projectable ball, slug, pellet, missile or bullet, or any gas, vapor or other noxious thing, by means of a cartridge or shell or by the action of an explosive or the igniting of flammable or explosive substances. It shall also include, without limitation, any firearm which is in the nature of an air gun, spring gun or pistol or other weapon of a similar nature in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas or vapor, air or compressed air, or is ignited by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than three-eighths of an inch in diameter, with sufficient force to injure a person. Amended by L.1938, c. 102, p. 222, s. 1; L.1944, c. 163, p. 601, s. 2; L.1948, c. 448, p. 1809, s. 48; L.1950, c. 86, p. 153, s. 2, eff. April 28, 1950; L.1971, c. 252, s. 1, eff. June 30, 1971; amended 2023, c.330, s.2.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 23:4-12, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.