2012 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes
Title 34 - GAME
Chapter 23 - Hunting and Furtaking
Section 2312 - Buying and selling game

     § 2312.  Buying and selling game.
        (a)  General rule.--Unless otherwise provided, it is unlawful
     for any person to buy, sell or barter, or aid, abet, assist or
     conspire to buy, sell or barter, or offer for sale or barter, or
     have in possession or transport for sale or barter, any game or
     the edible parts of game or any protected bird or animal or
     parts of any protected bird or animal.
        (b)  Imported game.--It is unlawful for any person to sell or
     barter, or offer for sale or barter, any game or wildlife
     protected by this title imported, either dead or alive, from
     another state or nation unless there is attached to the carton
     containing the game or wildlife or to the individual carcasses a
     tag identifying the game or wildlife in English and giving the
     state or nation from which originally shipped.
        (c)  Exception.--
            (1)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to
        prevent:
                (i)  The purchase or sale of game raised under the
            authority of a propagating permit in this Commonwealth.
                (ii)  The capture and sale of game or wildlife after
            securing a permit from the director and payment of any
            fees established by the commission.
                (iii)  The sale of the tanned, cured or mounted heads
            or skins, or parts thereof, of any game or wildlife not
            killed in a wild state in this Commonwealth.
                (iv)  The sale or purchase of any inedible part
            thereof, from game or wildlife lawfully killed, if such
            parts are disposed of by the original owner within 90
            days after the close of the season in which the game or
            wildlife was taken.
                (v)  The sale of mounted specimens by any auctioneer
            licensed by the Commonwealth. The commission shall
            require no permit for such action. Any licensed
            auctioneer who sells ten or more mounted specimens during
            any one sale at a registered auction house must report
            those sales to the commission within 15 days of the
            completion of the sale.
            (2)  The commission may by regulation authorize the
        buying and selling of inedible parts of game and wildlife as
        it deems appropriate.
            (3)  This subsection shall not be construed to permit any
        individual or agency other than the commission to sell the
        skins or parts of game or wildlife killed as a protection to
        crops, or accidentally killed upon the highways, or seized as
        contraband.
        (d)  Penalty.--A violation of this section relating to:
            (1)  Threatened or endangered species shall be graded as
        follows:
                (i)  A first offense is a misdemeanor of the second
            degree and may result in forfeiture of the privilege to
            hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this
            Commonwealth for a period of seven years.
                (ii)  A second offense within a seven-year period or
            during the same criminal episode is a misdemeanor of the
            first degree and may result in forfeiture of the
            privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere
            within this Commonwealth for a period of ten years.
                (iii)  A third or subsequent violation of this
            section within a seven-year period or during the same
            criminal episode is a felony of the third degree and may
            result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take
            wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period
            of 15 years.
            (2)  Big game animals shall be graded as follows:
                (i)  A first offense or a second offense during the
            same criminal episode is a misdemeanor and may result in
            forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or
            wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period
            of five years.
                (ii)  A second offense within a seven-year period or
            a third or fourth offense during the same criminal
            episode is a misdemeanor of the first degree and may
            result in the forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take
            game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a
            period of ten years.
                (iii)  A fifth or subsequent offense during the same
            criminal episode or third offense within a seven-year
            period is a felony of the third degree and may result in
            forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or
            wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period
            of 15 years.
            (3)  The selling and buying of venison up to 20 pounds
        and the buying and selling of other game or wildlife is a
        summary offense of the first degree and may result in the
        forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife
        anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of three
        years.
     (Dec. 21, 1998, P.L.1274, No.166, eff. 60 days; July 9, 2008,
     P.L.920, No.65, eff. imd.; July 9, 2010, P.L.387, No.54, eff. 60
     days)

        2010 Amendment.  Act 54 amended subsecs. (a) and (d). See
     section 6 of Act 54 in the appendix to this title for special
     provisions relating to public notice.
        2008 Amendment.  Act 65 amended subsec. (c)(1).