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Animals and Fish - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

The following is a listing of acts that at one time affected, but no longer appear to have any effect on, hunting, fishing or animal control in Hamblen County.  They are included herein for reference purposes.

  1. Acts of 1895, Chapter 159, was an act for the protection of quail and partridge in Hamblen County which regulated hunting, capturing, or killing those birds would be unlawful from April 1st to October 1st of each year, and that netting or exporting the birds from the county for profit would be unlawful at any time of the year.  Violation of these regulations could result in a fine of not less than $25 and possible imprisonment.
  2. Acts of 1899, Chapter 309, was another act for the protection of game in Hamblen County.  It required a hunter to receive the landowner's permission before hunting on private land, and made it unlawful to ship quail or partridge from Hamblen County.  This was amended by Acts of 1901, Chapter 193, to close the season on quail and partridge from March 1st to November 1st.
  3. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 175, was the first fence law for Hamblen County.  It required the owners of geese, horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep, goats and swine to keep them enclosed and not allow them to roam at large.
  4. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 315, was a law to regulate fishing in Hamblen County.  All "bona fide" residents of the county could catch fish at any season by rod and line, trot line, basket or net, and by shooting or gigging from April 1st to June 30th of each year.  No fees or license was required for fish caught for home consumption.
  5. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 405, exempted Hamblen County from the general state law regulating the ownership and harboring of dogs.
  6. Private Acts of 1925, Chapter 572, amended the general law to give Hamblen County fishermen the same rights and privileges for fishing in the Nolachucky River which they had for other rivers in the county.
  7. Private Acts of 1973, Chapter 84, made it a misdemeanor to use or carry firearms when hunting raccoons in Hamblen County.  Any raccoon when treed, could be captured or killed by the hunter, if the hunter climbed the tree or knocked the raccoon from the tree or other place of hiding.  This act was repealed by Private Acts of 2004, Chapter 74.