(a) Except for persons otherwise exempted, Class AH, AHJ, AAH, and AAHJ licenses are apprentice hunting and trapping licenses and entitle the licensee to hunt and trap for all legal species of wild animals and wild birds. The licenses shall be base licenses and entitle the licensee to a deferral of the proof of a certificate of training required under the provisions of section thirty-a of this article.

(b) The apprentice hunting and trapping licensee shall not hunt or trap unless he or she is in possession of a1l other required documentation and stamps and is accompanied and directly supervised by an adult eighteen years of age or older who either possesses a valid West Virginia hunting license or has the lawful privilege to hunt pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. For purposes of this section, "accompanied and directly supervised" means that a person maintains a close visual and verbal contact with, provides adequate direction to and can assume control of the firearm from the apprentice hunter.

(c) The cost of the Class AH license for residents who have reached their eighteenth birthday shall be $19 and shall have the same privileges associated with Class A base license. The cost of the Class AAH license for nonresidents who have reached their eighteenth birthday shall be $119 and shall have the same privileges associated with a Class E base license. The cost of the Class AHJ license shall be $16 for residents who have reached their fifteenth birthday and who have not reached their eighteenth birthday, and shall have the same privileges associated with Class XJ base license. The cost of the Class AAHJ license shall be $16 for nonresidents who have not reached their eighteenth birthday and shall have the same privileges associated with a Class XXJ base license.

(d) An apprentice hunting and trapping license is a yearly license and may only be purchased electronically in a manner designated by the director. No person who has ever had a valid base hunting license, other than a Class AH, Class AHJ, Class AAH, or Class AAHJ license, may be issued one of the apprentice hunting and trapping licenses. Further, no person may purchase more than three apprentice hunting and trapping licenses, and the purchases must occur within a period of five consecutive years.

(e) The director may promulgate rules in accordance with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regulating the issuance of apprentice hunting and trapping licenses.

(f) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to the punishment and penalties prescribed in section nine, article seven of this chapter.