(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the privilege license fee for operating a hunting preserve shall be twenty-five dollars ($25) per year for the first 100 acres of hunting preserve area plus five dollars ($5) per year for each additional 100 acres or part thereof. Upon application to the judge of probate of the county in which the preserve is located and payment of the license fee required in this subsection and an issuance fee of two dollars ($2), the judge of probate shall issue a privilege license to operate a hunting preserve to the applicant. Privilege licenses to operate hunting preserves shall be issued on forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources furnished to the judge of probate. All fees collected by the judge of probate for issuing hunting preserve licenses shall be remitted at the same time and in the same manner that hunting and fishing license fees are remitted and shall be paid into the Game and Fish Fund of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

(b) In lieu of the license fee provided for in subsection (a), the operator of a commercial bird hunting preserve may purchase a license which entitles the licensee to operate a commercial bird hunting preserve and exempts the patrons of the preserve from the license requirement of Section 9-11-417. The fee for the license shall be five hundred dollars ($500), plus a two dollar ($2) issuance fee. The license shall be issued in the same manner as the license provided for in subsection (a). The license or a copy thereof shall be in the possession of at least one person in each hunting party.