Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, received information that a suspect was hunting white-tailed deer without a license and permit. Officer Kiger contacted the individual, who admitted to purchasing a deer permit after harvesting a deer, but stated he had a hunting license. Officer Kiger and the individual…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 On the opening weekend of early waterfowl hunting season, state wildlife officers Adam Smith and Houston Wireman, assigned to Logan and Champaign counties respectively, were contacting waterfowl hunters on Indian Lake when they observed a small vessel heading into a nearby channel with two individuals on board. The individual on the…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 Last winter, state wildlife officers Tyler Eldred and Chad Grote, assigned to Morrow and Marion counties respectively, received several contacts from the public regarding a coyote hunt. One caller noticed illegal activity on social media. An investigation revealed that three individuals had pursued and killed a coyote with the aid of…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In October, State wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, attended a tree planting event at Sawmill Wetlands Education Area. The event was organized by the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, an Ohio Division of Wildlife partner. The trees were purchased by Accenture, and Del-Co Water helped transport the…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 Last spring, state wildlife officer Tony Zerkle, assigned to Fairfield County, received a Turn In a Poacher (TIP) report of a possible wild turkey hunting violation. The caller advised he heard a gunshot and then saw a man run into his neighbor’s field, grab a turkey, and run back into the…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the fall, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, received a call from a concerned landowner regarding large amounts of deer parts that were dumped from a bridge into a creek near the Logan and Auglaize county line. This was the second year that animal parts had been…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In August, state wildlife officer Austin Levering, assigned to Knox County, received information that one of several mallard ducklings at Apple Valley Lake had fishing line wrapped around its leg and it could not walk or move effectively. Officer Levering arrived and discovered a large group of mallard ducks behind a…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In March, state wildlife officer Maurice Irish, assigned to Delaware County, received a call about an injured bald eagle. After confirming the injury, he safely captured the bird and transported it to the Ohio Wildlife Center where it was treated for its injuries. The eagle was released in June at Olentangy…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In August, wildlife officer John Coffman, assigned to Fayette County, taught a hunter education course in Washington Court House. The local Masonic Lodge provided the location, snacks, and lunch for the students. Thirteen students made up the class of future conservationists. All students passed the course with excitement for the coming…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officers from central Ohio, including Chad Grote, Jade Heizer, and Brian Motsinger, along with outdoor skills specialist Jordan Phillips, recently attended ODNR Night at Huntington Park, home of the Columbus Clippers, a minor league baseball team. Ohio Division of Wildlife staff helped teach kids how to shoot archery at…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Tony Zerkle, assigned to Fairfield County, was off duty and pumping gas when he observed a truck pulling a trailer that was missing a wheel and dragging on the axle. Officer Zerkle followed the drag marks of the trailer to see how far the driver had gone. After…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In May, state wildlife officer Antoinette Jolliff, assigned to Licking County, received a call from the Heath Police Department stating that a woman was having issues with an unknown bird in her garage. Officer Jolliff contacted the woman and learned that a mourning dove had built a nest on top of…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officers Chad Grote and Antoinette Jolliff, assigned to Marion and Licking counties respectively, observed two men fishing at Delaware Wildlife Area while working a litter enforcement project. One of the men picked up a can and tossed it to the side. The officers then observed the man pack up…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In June, state wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, received a call about a possible injured peregrine falcon in downtown Columbus. Falcons have nested in the area for several years, and this year’s young birds recently fledged. This pair is popular and well-known by the Columbus downtown community. Three…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2020 white-tailed deer archery hunting season, state wildlife officer Maurice Irish, assigned to Delaware County, received a TIP call through the 1-800-POACHER (1-800-762-2437) line regarding a man who reportedly hunted deer without a valid hunting license or deer permit. It was provided that the man had killed a deer,…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In April, state wildlife officer Chad Grote, assigned to Marion County, received a call from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. A concerned citizen reported an injured bald eagle on the property that appeared to have trouble flying. Officer Grote and state wildlife officer Maurice Irish, assigned to Delaware County, responded and…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In May, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, received a call from a Champaign County resident about a fawn white-tailed deer in a road ditch standing in the rain. While the resident waited for officer Smith, he used an umbrella to keep the fawn from moving toward the…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Tony Zerkle, assigned to Fairfield County, has replied to many phone calls during the spring as a variety of wildlife species become more active. Most calls are handled by educating home and property owners of how they may handle nuisance wildlife, or by providing resource contacts for wildlife…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In March, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, received a call from a concerned citizen about a dead white-tailed deer in the bed of a truck. The caller was not sure if the deer was possessed legally. Officer Smith went to the location and learned that the deer…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In January, state wildlife officer Chad Grote, assigned to Marion County, was contacted by the Delaware Wildlife Area Shooting Range because someone had found a firearm that was left behind by a range user. Officer Grote tracked down the owner on the phone. The person had not shot the gun, but…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officers annually collect road-killed deer for testing. State wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, noticed that the antlers from the road-killed deer could go to a good use instead of being thrown away. The Ohio Division of Wildlife is always looking for ways to benefit wildlife, people,…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In late winter, state wildlife officer John Coffman, assigned to Fayette County, was called about a heavy skunk odor in a homeowner’s crawl space. Officer Coffman arrived at the location and discovered a skunk under the home. Unfortunately, the skunk was trapped and died under the home. Officer Coffman was able…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Matt Teders, assigned to Madison County, received a call from the London Correctional Facility about a hawk that was stuck in their building. Officer Teders responded and located a Cooper’s hawk in an atrium between the yard and the housing units. Officer Teders was able to safely capture…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In January, state wildlife officer Brian Motsinger, assigned to Union County, participated in the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s annual river otter survey. This is a valuable tool for tracking river otter populations, and the survey is conducted statewide during the winter with wildlife management staff, wildlife officers, and other conservation professionals….
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, conducted an investigation during the deer-gun week that revealed two individuals had harvested deer without completing the tagging process. They were each issued a summons for failing to permanently tag their deer by noon the day following the harvest. Both subjects paid…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 While on patrol during the white-tailed deer gun-hunting season, state wildlife officer Chad Grote noticed two loose horses running away from their owners in Union County near the Marion County line. State wildlife officer Brian Motsinger and state wildlife investigator Justus Nethero were close by and were called in to assist….
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