§ 29-7-503. Prohibition on buying, bartering, trading, selling, or offering or exposing for sale protected fish or wildlife - Exceptions - Penalties.

A.  Except as otherwise provided for by law, no person may buy, barter, trade, sell or offer, or expose for sale all or any part of any fish or wildlife or the nest or eggs of any bird, protected by law.  The carcasses or any parts thereof of legally acquired furbearing animals or coyotes may be purchased, bartered, traded, sold or offered for sale.  The fur or pelt of legally acquired squirrels may be purchased, bartered, traded, sold or offered for sale.

B.  Persons licensed to propagate or sell fish or wildlife pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Code and persons who have documentation of legally purchased fish or wildlife or parts thereof for resale are exempt from the provisions of this section.

C.  All wildlife or parts thereof seized pursuant to the provisions of this section and determined to be unfit for release in a suitable locale shall be sold.  The proceeds from said sale shall be deposited in the Wildlife Conservation Fund.

D.  No person shall buy, barter, trade, or sell, within this state, any furbearing animal, game animal, or game fish, or any part thereof, acquired from a source within or outside of this state unless at the time and place of each such sale, the seller shall possess an invoice signed by the person from whom said seller purchased said animals or fish, which shall contain a statement of the source from which said animals or fish were acquired, and the species and quantity of each species, or parts thereof, delivered to said seller.

E.  Persons who have obtained legal possession of wildlife or parts of wildlife after being given to the person for taxidermic preparation or processing of the meat for consumption shall be permitted to dispose of such, unless otherwise prohibited by law, under rules established by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission.

F.  The animal, bird, fish, or part thereof shall be confiscated by the arresting authority and forwarded to the Commission to be held until the matter is resolved.  If a person violating the provisions of this section is convicted, the Commission shall retain and properly dispose of the confiscated animal, bird, fish, or part thereof.  If a person accused of violating the provisions of this section is acquitted, the confiscated animal, bird, fish, or part thereof shall be returned to the possession of the person from whom it was confiscated.

G.  The first violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not less than ten (10) days nor more than sixty (60) days, or by both said fine and imprisonment.

Subsequent violations of the provisions of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not less than ten (10) days nor more than sixty (60) days, or by both said fine and imprisonment.

Added by Laws 1974, c. 17, § 7-503, emerg. eff. April 8, 1974.  Amended by Laws 1979, c. 194, § 1; Laws 1983, c. 93, § 1, operative July 1, 1983; Laws 1991, c. 182, § 54, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1994, c. 318, § 17, emerg. eff. June 8, 1994; Laws 1996, c. 135, § 4, eff. July 1, 1996; Laws 2000, c. 122, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2000; Laws 2003, c. 96, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2003.