A. Except as otherwise provided in the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Code, no person may hunt or take any waterfowl during the open season on waterfowl unless the person has first obtained an Oklahoma waterfowl hunting stamp or license from the Director or authorized agents of the Director. Each person shall have the stamp or license in their possession when hunting or taking any waterfowl. When a stamp is purchased, the stamp shall be validated by the signature of the licensee written across the face of the stamp.

B. Persons excepted from the Oklahoma waterfowl hunting stamp or license requirement of this section are:

1. Legal residents of Oklahoma under sixteen (16) years of age; and

2. Legal residents of Oklahoma sixty-five (65) years of age or older.

C. 1. The Oklahoma waterfowl hunting stamp fee and waterfowl license shall each be Nine Dollars ($9.00). The remainder of the fee shall be deposited in the Wildlife Conservation Fund, to be used exclusively in the State of Oklahoma, for the purpose of developing, managing, preserving, restoring and maintaining wetland habitats and for the conservation and management of waterfowl and ecologically related species.

2. The collection and remittance procedures applicable to hunting license fees under this title shall apply to waterfowl stamp or license fees.

3. The waterfowl stamp or license issued pursuant to this section shall expire on June 30 of each year.

D. The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission may prescribe, by regulation, the form, design and manner of issuance, if any, of the waterfowl stamp, which could include the selection of art for such stamp from an art contest regulated by the Commission.

E. 1. Any person arrested for hunting or taking any waterfowl during the open season on waterfowl without a valid Oklahoma waterfowl hunting stamp or license as required by the provisions of subsection A of this section may purchase a substitute temporary thirty-day stamp or license from the arresting game warden in lieu of posting bond. Proof of hunter safety certification shall not be required for the temporary substitute stamp or license. The fee for a substitute stamp or license purchased pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be:

a.for legal residents – Fifty Dollars ($50.00), and

b.for nonresidents – One Hundred Forty-five Dollars ($145.00).

2. The fees from the temporary stamp and license purchased pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be deposited in the Wildlife Conservation Fund, to be used exclusively in the State of Oklahoma, for the purpose of developing, managing, preserving, restoring and maintaining wetland habitats and for the conservation and management of waterfowl and ecologically related species.

F. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

G. Nothing in this title shall prohibit a person from hunting waterfowl exclusively on their own property without an Oklahoma waterfowl hunting stamp or license.

Added by Laws 1980, c. 5, § 1, operative Sept. 1, 1980. Amended by Laws 1981, c. 195, § 8, eff. Jan. 1, 1982; Laws 1982, c. 154, § 9, eff. Jan. 1, 1983; Laws 1989, c. 38, § 1, operative July 1, 1989; Laws 1992, c. 402, § 8, eff. Dec. 1, 1992; Laws 1998, c. 216, § 3, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2003, c. 160, § 9, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 284, § 3, emerg. eff. May 10, 2004; Laws 2010, c. 317, § 9, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Laws 2018, c. 235, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2018.