Prior to the Ohio youth deer gun season I asked ODNR in a email if concealed carry were legal in my stated situation. Today, I received an answer. Two months later. It seems Ohio's hunters are nothing but potential poachers. What is your take on the letter/response?

Mr. Fox,
Sorry for the delay in responding. We had internal problems with
our email system. The issue you have presented has been greatly
discussed and debated, but at this time a person may not carry a
concealed weapon while deer hunting. The legal reason is that hunting is
a privilege and not a right. Persons wanting to participate in hunting
must adhere to the established regulations. This situation is similar to
Amish not wanting to wear hunter orange. If they want to hunt during the
gun season, they must comply with the law, the Supreme Court has ruled
on that in recent years.

Another point you made is that a .380 is not a device commonly used to
take wildlife. We would strongly disagree. Rocks and sticks are commonly
used to take wildlife, along with various calibers and gauges of
firearms.

The Division of Wildlife has taken great steps to promote youth
opportunities such as the youth gun season. The purpose and intent of
the law is to allow youth hunters the opportunity to hunt, yet not
provide a mechanism for that small percentage of parents to violate or
circumvent the law. We do not want to imply that any grand percentage of
parents is out there to violate the law, but it happens. We need the law
in place to for enforcement when it happens. Sorry for the delay, I hope
this clears up your question. If you still disagree, we invite you to
attend our open houses on regulation on the first Sunday of March at
each district office.

Wildinfo-law



-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 8:05 PM
To: Wildinfo
Subject: Comments from users

James E. Fox II
Is it legal to carry a concealed weapon while accompanying a youth
hunter? The reason I ask is the regulations state that it is:

" unlawful for the adult to hunt or possess a device commonly used to
take wild animals".

A .380 ACP is not a device commonly used to take wild animals. It is
also not legal for deer hunting.

"handgun with 5-in. minimum length barrel, using straight-walled
cartridges .357 caliber or larger."

The youth regulations also state you are a non-hunting adult, so you
are not carrying a concealed weapon while hunting, which is
illegal.Again, this is contradicted in other regulations.

"HUNTING means pursuing, shooting, killing, following after or on the
trail of, lying in wait for, shooting at, or wounding wild birds or wild
quadrupeds while employing any device commonly used to kill or wound
wild birds or wild quadrupeds whether such acts result in such killing
or wounding or not. It includes every attempt to kill or wound and every
act of assistance to any other person in killing or wounding or
attempting to kill or wound wild birds or wild quadrupeds."

Could you please clear this up for me? Thank You, James Fox