Hunter fined for failing to check Game

Central Ohio – Wildlife District One

State Wildlife Officer Matt Teders, assigned to Madison County, received a call about several barn owlets that fell from a nest. With help from the Ohio Wildlife Center, the owlets were rehabilitated and relocated to a foster nest. The following week, Officer Teders received a call about another barn owlet falling from the same nest, which was located on the side of a commercial building. The staff at the Ohio Wildlife Center determined this owlet could be returned to the original nest. The London Fire Department and the building’s maintenance staff helped Officer Teders install a ledge below the nest to prevent additional owlets from falling. Officer Teders attached a trail camera to the ledge to monitor the nest’s activity. Volunteers with the Ohio Wildlife Center returned the owlet to the nest.

State Wildlife Officer Austin Levering, assigned to Knox County, noticed two white-tailed deer carcasses hanging in a barn during the 2023-24 deer hunting season. He learned that neither deer was appropriately game checked, and the hunter who harvested those deer had not checked another deer. The individual was issued three summonses for failing to game check and attach a valid confirmation code to a harvested deer, and one summons for skinning or removing a deer’s head or cape before completing the game check process. The person paid $510 in fines and court costs in Licking County Municipal Court.