1756-1776 N.C. Sess. Laws 168
Abstract
An Act To Amend An Act Entitled, "An Additional Act To An Act, Entitled, An Act To Prevent Killing Deer At Unseasonable Times, And For Putting A Stop To Many Abuses Committed By White Persons Under Pretense Of Hunting, ch. 13: Whereas by the before recited act, persons who have no settled habitation, or not tending five thousand corn hills, are prohibited from hunting, under the penalty of five pounds, and forfeiture of his gun[.]
Summary
This preamble addresses the failure of prior laws prohibiting propertyless or small-scale farmers from hunting, noting that landless groups continue to camp in the woods, kill deer for carcasses (which attracts predators), burn fences, and use armed collective defense to resist law enforcement. It highlights that the existing five-pound fine and firearm forfeiture penalties have proven ineffective and difficult to enforce against these organized groups.
Law Text
Whereas by the before recited act, persons who have no settled habitation, or not tending five thousand corn hills, are prohibited from hunting, under the penalty of five pounds, and forfeiture of his gun: which, by experience, has been found not to answer the purposes intended by the said act; many disorderly and dissolute persons, having no habitation of their own, shall continue to hunt on the king's waste, and the lands of other persons, and kill deer, and leave the carcasses in the woods; by which means the wolves, bears, and other vermin, are fed and raised; to the great damage of many of the inhabitants of this province; and the fines being difficult of recovery, by means of persons, having no property of their own, assembling in great numbers, and camping in the woods, and kill deer, burn and destroy the range, burn fences, and commit many other injuries to the inhabitants of this province; and associate, for the mutual protection and defence of each other, against any person or persons who shall attempt to execute any precept on any of them, for the remedy whereof[.]
Description
Categories
HUNTING REGULATION