---
type: "Bill"
title: "Hunting; provide exeception for recovering mortally wounded animals at night with use of light."
description: "Hunting; provide exeception for recovering mortally wounded animals at night with use of light."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ms"
legislature: "Mississippi Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 979"
citation: "Mississippi HB 979 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Wildlife", "Fisheries and Parks"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kinkade"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 14
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-01-16T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-21T05:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5aadc34a-1018-4031-a1df-3936236c2cec"
source_url: "http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2023/pdf/House_authors/Kinkade.xml"
source_hash: "134087b0ed8cddd68c81a64610f2e172b949ffcaab0af491e67b5974c45c11b6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ms"]
---

# Mississippi HB 979 (2023) — Hunting; provide exeception for recovering mortally wounded animals at night with use of light.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/HB/0900-0999/HB0979IN.htm)
2. **Amendment Report for House Bill No. 979** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/pdf/sam/Amendment_Report_for_HB0979.pdf)
3. **As Passed the lower** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/HB/0900-0999/HB0979PS.htm)
4. **Committee Amendment No 1 (Adopted) (Voice Vote)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/pdf/sam/HB0979_S_Cmte_Amend_01.pdf)
5. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/HB/0900-0999/HB0979CS.htm)
6. **Current version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2023/html/HB/0900-0999/HB0979SG.htm)

## Votes

- Passage — **117–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage as Amended — **52–0** (pass) · upper
- Concurrence in Amendment From Senate — **118–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kinkade — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-16T06:00:00+00:00** Referred To Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-31T06:00:00+00:00** Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-09T06:00:00+00:00** Committee Substitute Adopted `substitution`
- **2023-02-09T06:00:00+00:00** Passed `passage`
- **2023-02-10T06:00:00+00:00** Transmitted To Senate `introduction`
- **2023-02-14T06:00:00+00:00** Referred To Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28T06:00:00+00:00** Title Suff Do Pass As Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-02T06:00:00+00:00** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2023-03-02T06:00:00+00:00** Passed As Amended `passage`
- **2023-03-06T06:00:00+00:00** Returned For Concurrence
- **2023-03-08T06:00:00+00:00** Concurred in Amend From Senate
- **2023-03-14T05:00:00+00:00** Enrolled Bill Signed
- **2023-03-14T05:00:00+00:00** Enrolled Bill Signed
- **2023-03-21T05:00:00+00:00** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5aadc34a-1018-4031-a1df-3936236c2cec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Mississippi legislature records).