The bill modifies existing trapping provisions in Minnesota's game and fish laws, specifically amending sections 97B.931 and 97B.945 of the Minnesota Statutes and proposing new legal language in chapter 97B. A significant change includes the introduction of a new section that establishes the opening hour for trapping seasons, which will now begin at sunrise on the designated opening day. Additionally, the bill allows for the use of portable artificial lights to tend traps during the day, while also specifying that body-gripping traps need not be tended more frequently than once every third calendar day. New provisions are also added regarding snares, stating that they need not be tended more frequently than once every third calendar day, and any captured animal must be removed.

Furthermore, the bill introduces restrictions on setting traps near water, allowing for the use of foot-encapsulating traps within 50 feet of water without a special permit, while maintaining a general prohibition on setting other types of traps within 30 days before the open season for mink and muskrat. The bill also repeals a specific Minnesota Rule that mandated snares not capable of drowning captured animals to be tended daily, thus aligning the regulations with the new provisions outlined in the bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduction: 97B.931, 97B.945