Act of Dec. 3, 1768, ch. 13, §§ 1–5, N.C. GEN. STAT. (Hodge & Wills 1791) (Law Passed 1768).
"An Act to amend an Act, entitled an additional Act, to an Act, entitled an Act to prevent killing Deer at unreasonable times, and for putting a stop to many Abuses committed by white Persons, under pretense[1] of Hunting.
Whereas by the before recited act, persons who have no settled Habitation, or not tending five thousand Corn Hills, are prohibited from hunting, under the Penalty of Five Pounds, and forfeiture of his Gun, which by experience, has been found not to answer the Purposes intended by the said Act; many disorderly and dissolute Persons, having no Habitation of their own, still continue to hunt on the king’s waste, and the lands of other persons, and kill Deer; and leave the Carcasses[2] in the Woods, by which means the Wolves, Bears, and other Vermin are fed and raised, to the great Damage of many of the inhabitants of this Province, and the Fines, being difficult of recovery, by means of Persons, having no property of their own, assembling in great numbers and camping in the Woods, and kill Deer, burn and destroy the Range, burn feces and commit many other Injustices to the Inhabitants of this Province, and associate for the mutual protection and Defense[3] of each other against any Person or Persons who shall attempt to execute any Precept on any of them; for Remedy whereof;
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the first Day of January next, no Person whatever, (Masters of Slaves excepted) not having a freehold of One hundred Acres of Land within this Province, or tending Ten thousand Corn Hills, at least five feet distance each, shall Hunt or Kill Deer, under the penalty of Ten Pounds proclamation Money for every Offense; and moreover shall forfeit his Gun or the value thereof, to be recovered by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information in any Court of record within this Province, by any Person who will prosecute for the same; wherein, upon Conviction, over and above the said Penalty and Forfeiture as aforesaid, the Defendant shall be committed to Gaol by Order of the Court, there to remain without Bail or Mainprize for One Month…
…Provided also, That nothing herein contained, shall extend to bar[4] or hinder an Overseer of a Slave, or Slaves, from hunting and killing Deer with a Gun, on his Employer’s Lands, or the Waste Lands of the King; or Lord Grenville, within five Miles of the residence of such Overseer."
James Iredell, ed., Laws of the State of North-Carolina, Published, According to Act of Assembly, by James Iredell, Now One of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (Edenton, NC: Hodge & Wills, 1791), 241–43. Chapter 13—An Act to Amend an Act, Entitled, an Additional Act to an Act, Entitled, an Act to Prevent Killing Deer at Unseasonable Times; and for Putting a Stop to Many Abuses Committed by White Persons under Pretence of Hunting, §§ 1–5. Ratified in Open Assembly December 1768.
At an Assembly, Begun and Held at Newbern, the Third Day of November, in the Seventh Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third by the Grace of God, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender, of the Faith, &c. and in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six; and from Thence Continued, by Prorogation, to the Seventh Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Eight: Being the Third Session of This Present Assembly (s.l.: s.n., n.d.), 167–69. An Act to Amend an Act, Entitled an Additional Act, to an Act, Entitled an Act to Prevent Killing Deer at Unreasonable Times, and for Putting a Stop to Many Abuses Committed by White Persons, under Pretense of Hunting. Passed December 3, 1768.
Reproduced with permission from Gale Primary Sources. For more information please visit https://www.gale.com/primary-sources.
Original source document from LLMC: https://llmc.com/docDisplay5.aspx?set=99917&volume=1768&part=110.*
*Two original source documents are cited here, because the first source has complete bibliographic information available, while the second source is a more contemporaneous/original copy of the session law that provides the date it was passed.