Central Ohio – Wildlife District One
While on patrol during the 2024-25 waterfowl hunting season, State Wildlife Officer Maurice Irish, assigned to Delaware County, received information that a trumpeter swan had been shot at Big Island Wildlife Area. Officer Irish responded and contacted a group of waterfowl hunters who had a trumpeter swan in their possession. The shooter had mistaken the swan for a snow goose. Officer Irish provided identification information and issued the suspect a summons to Marion Municipal Court. The individual was found guilty and ordered to pay $238 in fines and court costs. The swan was seized as evidence.
State Wildlife Officer Nick Oliver, assigned to Champaign County, assisted Champaign County 4-H with judging beginner and intermediate fishing projects. There was strong participation in both categories this year. The 4-H members were evaluated on their projects and knowledge of fishing. All participants did a great job presenting and demonstrated passion for fishing and the outdoors.
Northwest Ohio – Wildlife District Two
During the 2024-25 white-tailed deer hunting season, State Wildlife Officer Matt D. Smith, assigned to Huron County, received a Turn In a Poacher (TIP) report regarding an unlawfully harvested buck. Officer Smith determined that the buck was unlawfully game checked by someone other than the hunter.Two suspects were issued summonses for taking more than one antlered deer in a license year, failing to game check a deer, using a deer permit for a deer taken by another, providing false game check information, and possessing a deer unlawfully. A rifle, antlered deer skull cap, antlered deer shoulder mount, and venison were seized as evidence and forfeited to the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The main suspect was ordered to pay $11,180.64 in fines and restitution, serve 60 days in jail with 57 days suspended, complete two years of probation, and forfeit hunting privileges for two years. The second individual was ordered to pay $300 in fines and court costs through Crawford Municipal Court. Anyone observing illegal wildlife activity can call the TIP hotline at 1-800-POACHER (762-2437) and make an anonymous report.
State Wildlife Officer Mike Ohlrich, assigned to Lucas County, responded to a call about a person unlawfully possessing a snapping turtle during the closed season. Ohio’s turtle season runs from July 1 to December 31 each year. Officer Ohlrich contacted the suspect and located the turtle, which was being kept in a plastic tote. The suspect found the turtle as it was crossing a road and kept it. A summons was issued for taking a snapping turtle during the closed season and the turtle was released back into the wild. It is unlawful to keep wild animals as pets without a permit.
Northeast Ohio – Wildlife District Three
In January, State Wildlife Officer Marino Pellegrini, assigned to Portage County, responded to a call from a duck hunter on Mogadore Reservoir. The duck hunter’s boat had broken down while retrieving a downed duck. Officer Pellegrini responded to the reservoir and assisted two individuals ashore. Officer Pellegrini learned that there were two other hunters stranded on the island the group was hunting on. Suffield Fire Department assisted the two hunters who were left on the island. Officer Pellegrini learned that there was only one life jacket among the four individuals on the boat. After the four hunters made it safely back to shore, the owner of the vessel was issued a summons for not having enough life jackets aboard. The individual pleaded guilty to the charge and paid $217 in fines and court costs.
State wildlife officers in northeast Ohio repurposed old lumber and metal roofing to construct six new ground blinds at Camp Belden Wildlife Area. Located in Lorain and Medina counties, Camp Belden Wildlife Area is the only youth-only wildlife area in Ohio.
The new blinds, along with clover food plots, were built to support increased youth hunting opportunities. The officers have received multiple reports and pictures of deer and turkey harvests from the blinds.
Southeast Ohio – Wildlife District Four
In August, State Wildlife Officer Jerrod Allison, assigned to Coshocton County, participated in First Farm Friday in the City of Coshocton. This event introduces youth and adults to agriculture and outdoor experiences. Officer Allison and retired State Wildlife Officer Garth Goodyear taught kids how to shoot bows and arrows with the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s archery trailer. More than 240 children participated during the event.
During the opening weekend of the 2025 spring wild turkey hunting season, State Wildlife Officer Scot Gardner, assigned to Washington County, received information through the Turn In a Poacher (TIP) hotline that an individual failed to check in a turkey harvest. Officer Gardner contacted the suspect and learned the individual hadn’t completed the game check process in hopes of harvesting a second bird. The turkey’s beard, breast, and spurs were seized as evidence, and the hunter was issued a summons for Monroe County Court. The defendant pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $210 in fines. Anyone observing illegal wildlife activity can call the TIP hotline at 1-800-POACHER (762-2437) and make an anonymous report.
Southwest Ohio – Wildlife District Five
State Wildlife Officer Jasmine Grossnickle, assigned to Miami County, assisted with mussel recovery efforts on the Great Miami River, where water levels above the Troy low-head dam are being lowered for the dam’s removal and in-stream restoration work. During the mussel recovery effort, freshwater mussels that were stranded above the water were moved to a suitable upstream site that was recently planted with eelgrass. Project partners from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, BioSurvey Group, City of Troy, Miami Conservancy District, Burgess and Niple, and University of Dayton River Stewards, along with several enthusiastic local kids, relocated roughly 6,000 mussels of 15 different species upstream. Several elktoe and purple wartyback mussels, both species of concern, were found.
State Wildlife Officer Andy Dowdell, assigned to Butler County, responded to a report of a white-tailed deer hunter without a permit in a section of Woodland Trails Wildlife Area open only to hunters with a controlled access permit. Officer Dowdell located the hunter in a tree stand, which was hung over bait. State Wildlife Officer Brad Turner, assigned to Preble County, and Wildlife District Five Manager Rick Rogers arrived to assist with the case. The suspect pleaded guilty in Eaton Municipal Court for baiting on a wildlife area, hunting in a controlled access zone without a proper permit, and using screw-in steps on a wildlife area. The hunter paid $375 in court costs and fines and forfeited a crossbow.
