Fair?
 

Okay here is my story and before i begin let me clarify by saying that i am not claiming innocence. I live in Ohio and the county i hunt is located in zone "B" according to the Ohio DNR. In zone B the rule book says that you are allowed to shoot 3 doe's and one buck this year. In Ohio two types of deer tags are available and they are as follows: Either sex tag for $25 and a antlerless tag for $15. So far this season i have used two either sex tags and tagged two doe's. This past weekend i purchased a third either sex tag and headed off into the woods in search of my big 2012 buck. After striking out on my hunt Sunday night i climbed out of my tree and headed back to the truck. As soon as i could see my vehicle my heart started racing over the sight of what i thought were flashing police lights sitting in front of my vehicle. After a nervous 15 minute hike back to my vehicle i hear a voice say "Sir...how many deer have you shot this year?" i said "what?" He then proceeds to tell me that i have shot two doe's and used an either sex tag on both. He then asks me for my hunting license and deer tag, which i politely agreed to, and that's when he say's that he is going to write me a $220 fine for hunting without a deer tag which is a class 3 misdemeanor. Btw this guy was a Ohio Wildlife Officer. He goes on to explain to me that in zone B you are indeed allowed three doe's and one buck, but you can only use two of the either sex tags. I admit that i should have read the regulations manual a little better but in my defense it is very confusing and it even took him a few minutes to locate that rule. I just feel like a little mercy could have been given along with a written warning. It's not as if i was out there knowingly poaching, and i have no criminal history. What are you thoughts on the incident? Should i just pay the fine online or show up to court and explain to the judge that it was just an honest mistake and ask for a little mercy?

well i am a stickler for the law and i did not remember reading a 2 limit for either sex tags (i to am in zone c)

now here are your options. you have non you have to fight it if you plan to kill a buck because if you do not and you kill a buck and tag it with that tag then you are facing more charges for unlawful tagging and possably the forfieture of your deer and hunting impliments all the way down to your vehicle

i just looked it up and he is wrong you can tag 3 deer in zone 3 with the 24 dollar permits (just as i thought) so take it to court

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/dow/...eer.aspx#zones


scroll down to the zones map and then read what it say in the red zone c

Only 3 deer may be tagged with Deer Permits(s) ($24) in Zone C.

I'm sorry my mistake i meant to say Zone B.

Ouch! Court has heard alot of reasons i,m sure. Time and money to go enter a plea, were i to be in your position i have the time. My plea would be guilty with a reason. Regulations do need to change but need to be clear as well. Not knocking Michigan regulations(to hard). But have had to explain disabled regulations to a few raised eyebrows.

Here our tags are electronic and my opinion is if its not allowed to be purchased don,t allow it.
Will they reimburse the tag you shouldn't,t have acquired? Which in your case of tagging does with either sex their in essence making more money than buying one of each(if allowed).
Not going to help but i can understand the confusion with some regulations.

even if you were hunting in zone b where you can only use 2 24 dollar permits you are still allowed to purchase a third legally for use in zone c. but if you were infact hunting in zone b then he did ticket you correctly as you would have had to have an antlerless tag to be legal there. if you killed your 2 deer in zone b and used your 2 @$ dollar tags allowed in that zone you will have to kill your buck in zone c

he is allowed to have the third either sex tag they got him because the third either sex tag is not valid in zone b (which he mistakenly said zone c) so in order to be legal in zone b he would have had to buy an antlerless permit. his third either sex tag is valid but he has to be hunting zone c

Yes i understand and agree with that, but i guess my question is do you think it was fair and do you think going to court and explaining the situation could result in a warning vs. this huge fine.

Thanks for explaining, the tag vs zone.

I would go to court and talk to the judge. It was an honest mistake. Just reading this makes me confused on how your DNR does this.

I guess for future you can buy one either sex tag and one doe tag to start the season and you should be set.

If the wildlife officer hadn't been such an arrogant prick i would have probably just been okay with paying the fine, but i really feel like this guy crossed the line that other officers wouldn't have crossed. Also hunting that night was another gentleman that i met earlier this year. He is in his 50's, been hunting this property for over 20 years, is a preacher, and just a flat out genuine guy. That wildlife officer asked him if he had ever taken a hunters education course and this guy's reply was "no, and i have been hunting for 40 years". That guy was fortunate and got off with a warning. Luckily i did take one back when i was a little kid. After seeing this guy question this other hunter and being a jerk to me i started to get a little smart with the officer, and he told me that if i continue to get smart with him he will suspend my drivers license, take all my hunting gear, and ban me from ever hunting again in the United States. It seemed like this guy was bound and determined to rack up fines any way he could.

I work in law enforcment (dispatch now however used to be on the road) and there are plenty of those guys out there. It sucks that it happened but you will probably have to pay the fine. I would still attempt to talk to a judge and try and have it plead down.

he couldnt have suspended your DL or made it so you could never hunt again he is on a power trip. he could have taken your gear and vehicle.

it is up to you but i doubt you get a better deal from the judge and you will have court costs if you go to court.

just remember you have to buy an antlerless permit to continue to hunt there and i you want to kill a buck you have to kill him in zone c

Yeah its pretty crappy how they differ the doe tags versus either sex. I normally buy a doe tag and an either sex tag, planning on taking a doe but not wanting to miss out on a giant buck.

They need to be more specific and more clear about thier explanations. What sucks is: if you haven't gotten a deer by Nov 25, then you are only allowed 2 deer instead of 4, because doe tags expire before gun season.

He must have been having a bad day; I cant understand why he would ticket you without you actually taking a deer. A warning and a a better explanation of the law would have been more beneficial.

The only time Ive even seen a wildlife officer was fishing at Hueston woods and he just checked out licenses and didnt even care what we had caught.

I was only a few miles from Hueston Woods, i wonder if it was the same guy.

This was an older heavy set guy driving an Impala.


Where do you hunt at? Im just a few miles from of 177 on 725. Im really close to Hueston Woods and thankfully have never seen an officer close to our property, granted its private farm land.

This guy was probably in his mid twenties and was driving an offical ODNR truck. The place i hunt is 230 acres at the intersection of Paint Creek and Concord. It's about 5 minutes away from the park entrance.

Mid twenties... probably had a chip on his shoulder. (Granted Im 26, but I know most people my age can be douchebags.)

You're real close. I hunt 1280 acres, which is mostly corn and bean, around the intersection of Highway 725 and Camden-Darrtown Rd. Sounds like you are having better luck than me and my buddies, we've seen plenty of activity but nothing on the ground yet.

Yeah it's come easy this season as far as putting meat in the freezer. Had lot's of pics of nice bucks before the season started but haven't seen any shooters from my stand. Both doe's i shot were on freshly cut corn fields. One morning in early October i counted 38 deer from my corn field stand.

Actually I think the rules are quite clear and are broke down fairly easy according to zone. There is no reason to not go through the rules and regulations thoroughly and know them. Sorry if I sound harsh and sorry he was arrogant but if you would of looked over and got to know the regulations you would have never seen the guy probably and certainly wouldn't be paying a fine if you did.

"A hunter may harvest no more than four (4) deer in Zone B during the 2012-2013 season.

Only 2 deer may be tagged with Deer Permits(s) ($24) in Zone B.

Only 2 deer may be tagged with Antlerless Deer Permit(s) ($15) in Zone B.

The Antlerless Deer Permit ($15) is not valid in Zone B after November 25 2012."

This is why i don't like people. Yeah you made a mistake You did it in a manor that actually gave the state more money because you used the $24 tag instead of the $15 tag. You didnt tag a buck with a $15 tag or kill more deer than your allowed. If he has had problems with you before i can understand it but if this is the first time then he should have just explained the rules and told you what you can harvest for the rest of the year and gave you a slap on the wrist. Its people like that, that get a little power and have to piss poeple off. All you can do is what you think is best and learn from your mistake.

Sounds like a mid 20s Robo Cop (Warden) who doesn't have the maturity to make professional decisions yet. There should have been an explanation of the regs as they apply to that specific "zone", and a warning to follow these regs more carefully in the future. jmo

Wow Ohio DNR sucks

antlerless permits do NOT expire they just become restricted to urban zones.

Hunters may take up to 6 antlerless deer within the Urban Deer Units using either an antlerlessdeer permit or either-sex deer permit.

Antlerless deer taken within the Urban Deer Units are tallied independently and will not count towards your deer bag limits in Zones A, B, or C.

The antlerless deer permits are valid in the Urban Units through February 3, 2013. Antlerless deer permits will not be sold after November 25, 2012.





now here is your loophole for a defense. that is straight out of the urban deer hunting section. go look up the zone around cinncy and if you are in the urban zone. which i hope you are. it says you can tag urban deer with either antlerless or either sex permits. it also says they do not count toward you bag limmit. so therfore that means you can buy 6 eithersex permits to kill urban deer and still buy 2 for the regular zone permits.

still possible that you would get an ass of a judge and they say ignorance is no excuse but its the best i can find for ya

The reason he didn't take a deer is because the OP did not take a deer illegally. He was hunting with an invalid tag but did not take a deer. If he had taken a deer with that tag I am sure he would be in even more trouble.

I seriously doubt the OP was in an Urban zone either. The game warden clearly knew beforehand the OP was possibly hunting with an invalid tag, hence he was waiting for him and asked him right from the beginning how many deer he shot. These guys can pull your license plate number and fine out whatever they need to know.

I was not in the urban zone.

To top it all off my buddy sends me this photo this morning. He shot it on the same property from my spot, and i would have been in the woods this morning if it weren't for this mess. Haha man i have some bad luck.

Looks like your buddy was happy!

wow Go GO Gadget arms! still a nice buck!

I am from just south of the river in the promise land. I have had a lot of contact with ODNR and they are about as sterotypical as it gets. I haven't met one of them that I would consider a nice guy. We have our a**holes down here but for the most part they are pretty cool.

Go to court. Cant hurt! I went to court several years ago on a charge of forgetting to take my 209 primer out of my muzzleloeader once I was back to my 4 wheeler (not on the road but in the woods). The judge threw it out and I didnt have to pay anything!!

First i Wanna Say "good looking out snapper!!" its people like you that keep sites like this up and running! You go above and beyond to help out a fellow hunter! I have to agree that it sounds like a ROBO COP.. My lil brother is DNR and hes is Not like that!!!