Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the deer gun season, state wildlife officer Josh Elster, assigned to Pickaway County, was contacted regarding a possible deer hunting violation. Two subjects were observed walking across a field carrying guns, and only one subject was wearing the required hunter orange. Officer Elster arrived and observed the subjects walking out…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 While on boat patrol at Indian Lake, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, observed an angler fishing from a golf cart that was backed up to the water’s edge. It was discovered that this 17-year-old angler was fishing without a license and did not have a valid driver’s…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In February, state wildlife officer Chad Grote followed up on a complaint of geese dumped on private property in Marion County. The geese were dumped in a field just off the side of a road. Officer Grote spoke to a waterfowl hunter who lived across the road from the dumped geese….
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Brad Kiger was on patrol in Franklin County when he observed a subject walking through a field during white-tailed deer muzzleloader hunting season wearing a hunter orange hat but not the required hunter orange vest. The hunter walked into the woods and sat down by a tree. Officer…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the fall of 2019, state wildlife officer John Coffman, assigned to Fayette County, contacted a group of three men all wearing hunter orange vests and walking along a fence line. Two men were carrying shotguns. The group was hunting rabbits and had harvested a couple. The third man said he…
Division of Wildlife Northwest Ohio – Wildlife District 2 During teal hunting season, state wildlife officer Reid Van Cleve, assigned to Ottawa County, was working at Metzger Marsh in Lucas County. Officer Van Cleve observed two hunters shoot at Canada geese during the closed season. When the two men were walking out of the marsh, officer Van Cleve contacted them…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Matt Teders, assigned to Madison County, recently participated in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, the 120th consecutive year for the survey. The area where officer Teders participated in the count focused on the Little and Big Darby creek corridors. Officer Teders used his local knowledge to help the…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, was on patrol and observed a subject taking several game fish with a cast net below the spillway at Indian Lake. Officer Smith contacted the individual and issued him a summons for the violation. The fish were all returned to the river…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 On the opening day of 2019 white-tailed deer gun season, state wildlife officer Chad Grote received a complaint from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office about individuals using vehicles to hunt deer. The sheriff’s office sent deputy D.J. Barron to the call. Officer Grote and state wildlife officer Nathan West also responded….
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, received a call through the 1-800-POACHER (1-800-762-2437) line stating that a subject in Columbus had a dead deer in his yard. The caller went on to say that deer parts were scattered in the yard and along the curb. Officer Kiger stopped…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Jeff Tipton received multiple complaints about someone using a spotlight at night in Champaign County. Many of the nearby residences were concerned about poaching activity. In Ohio, it is unlawful to cast the rays of an artificial light into a field or woods for the purpose of locating…
Division of Wildlife Northwest Ohio – Wildlife District 2 In September, state wildlife officer Michele Butler, assigned to Erie County, received a call from a squirrel hunter at Resthaven Wildlife Area. The caller believed that someone was attempting to bait deer for the upcoming archery season. Officer Butler went to the location of the reported bait pile and found an…
Division of Wildlife Northwest Ohio – Wildlife District 2 On the opening day of teal hunting season, state wildlife officer Reid VanCleve, assigned to Ottawa County, was working at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area. Officer VanCleve observed two hunters in the marsh. As a wood duck flew over, one of the hunters shot and killed the duck. Wood ducks are not…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Josh Elster, assigned to Pickaway County, was contacted by Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to assist with a traffic stop. Troopers informed officer Elster they had stopped a vehicle and discovered a deer head underneath marijuana plants in the trunk. The driver of the vehicle stated they were…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2019 spring wild turkey hunting season, state wildlife officer Austin Levering received a complaint of a suspect shooting from a roadway in Knox County. The caller stated that while attempting to call in a turkey, he observed someone stop on the road and fire three shots at the same…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 While on patrol in Franklin County, state wildlife officer Matt Teders, assigned to Madison County, and state wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, were stopped by a hunter who stated that someone was camping and had a large fire along Big Darby Creek. The officers responded and found four…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the spring, state wildlife officer John Coffman contacted a man fishing for baitfish in Fayette County. The man did not have a fishing license and was issued a summons. The man was assigned an arraignment date. During the summer, officer Coffman found the same man fishing in the same place…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2018 deer gun season, state wildlife officer Josh Shields, assigned to Union County, received a complaint of gunshots from a property where limited hunting is allowed. Trespassing was suspected. Officer Shields patrolled the area and contacted a hunter who was on the property without permission. During the investigation, officer…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 In May 2018, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, received information about subjects illegally taking numerous saugeyes with a cast net below the spillway at Indian Lake at night. In March 2019, officer Smith observed the same male subject from the previous year throwing a cast net in…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Chad Grote, assigned to Marion County, and state wildlife officer Tyler Eldred, assigned to Morrow County, followed up on a potential deer violation in Knox County. While speaking with the suspect, the man admitted to killing a second antlered deer during the 2018 hunting season, and then having…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 While on patrol in Franklin County, state wildlife officer Matt Teders, assigned to Madison County, and state wildlife officer Brad Kiger, assigned to Franklin County, were checking anglers along the Scioto River. The officers observed two subjects fishing up and down the stream bank and contacted them. Both subjects had valid…
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2018 hunting season, state wildlife officer Jeff Tipton, assigned to Champaign County, received a phone call from a landowner who was having trouble with a man hunting rabbits on his property without permission. The landowner had confronted the man in the past, but the illegal hunter continued to return….
Division of Wildlife Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2017 deer gun season, state wildlife officer Tyler Eldred received information that a trophy white-tailed deer had been harvested in Morrow County by a nonresident hunter prior to purchasing a hunting license and deer permit. Further investigation revealed where the deer had been harvested, and that the same individual…
Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 State wildlife officer Greg Wasilewski, assigned to Richland County, received a request for assistance from a Richland County sheriff’s deputy about a deer carcass that had been dropped off as litter along a public roadway. The deputy provided photographs and other evidence and a suspect was identified. Officer Wasilewski ran a check of the…
Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 While on patrol at Deer Creek Wildlife Area, state wildlife officer Josh Elster, assigned to Pickaway County, observed a vehicle driving off the roadway and rutting up the grass in one of the parking areas. Officer Elster stopped the vehicle and asked the subject why they decided to tear up the wildlife area habitat….
Central Ohio – Wildlife District 1 During the 2018 two-day deer gun season, state wildlife officer Adam Smith, assigned to Logan County, received a phone call from a landowner. The landowner was calling about hunters who were on an adjacent property. Officer Smith later met with the hunters on the adjacent property after they finished their evening hunt. The hunters…
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