# Dead Deer Question



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

I was on my way to Mentor this past weekend and just happen to look off the side of the road and noticed a large dead deer down at the bottom of gully. It appeared to have been dead for a while. I can see it has a very large rack that is visible 50 yards away. There are not really any houses on that side of the street. Is there any legal way to get the rack off the deer? Do I call the Ohio Division Of Wildlife? Or do you try to find the owner of the land and ask permission? I imagine it is on private land. Do I go and ask the closes house who the land owner would be? I am sure there are still some legality issues possessing a rack without a tag. 

The deer was probably hit by a car.

Just curious

Thanks


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

You must get a tag issued to you for you to possess the antlers. You may have two problems. You would have to get permission from the landowner to get the antlers also.

Call the county Game warden


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

True. By the letter of the law you cannot possess antlers, other than sheds, without checking in the deer. But sometimes I wonder. It seems the stretch of I77 between Salt Fork and Marietta functions in a different reality. We saw plenty of dead deer along the highway driving down for the last half of deer gun. The headless ones we took to be bucks! I don't know if these guys all got permits, or what time of night they could drive out there to saw the heads off of dead bucks (some REALLY big deer!) and not be seen! 

That said, I have the skull and antlers of a small 6 point that I found in the woods on my shelf. Don't know how I could have "checked in" a deer, since there was no deer to check in! The bones had all been scattered, and, other than the skull, all I was able to find were a few loose vertebrae and a couple of ribs. Oh well, I guess I've run afoul of the law!


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## Buckeyeguyty93 (Jun 10, 2013)

By chance was this deer anywhere near veterans park... i lost a big 10 pt a few weeks back during bow season... if it is i would owe you a ton... pleaseeeee let me know! 4403286364

Tried pming you thanks let me know!


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## Bigjoe (Aug 13, 2011)

The deer you see that were beheaded were left from the Ohio Division of Wildlife. They have been cutting the heads off the roadkill to test for Chronic Wasting Disease. Guess it's running hard in Ohio's deer population.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

Bigjoe said:


> The deer you see that were beheaded were left from the Ohio Division of Wildlife. They have been cutting the heads off the roadkill to test for Chronic Wasting Disease. Guess it's running hard in Ohio's deer population.


CWD isn't running hard. There was one case of it found in one penned deer recently in holmes county. I think the DNR has been sampling deer in this area recently from what I've heard. Regardless of that seeing headless deer along the rd is common anytime. I swear, if it has a rack of any kind some ******* will pull over and widdle it head off with a pocket knife.

On the other hand,EHD is an almost annual occurance in late summer that seems to hit especially hard in hot, dry yrs. It occurs acrossed the whitetails habitat and is transmitted by biting midges. People sometimes confuse the two but they are completely different.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Bigjoe said:


> The deer you see that were beheaded were left from the Ohio Division of Wildlife. They have been cutting the heads off the roadkill to test for Chronic Wasting Disease. Guess it's running hard in Ohio's deer population.


Normal people like you and me are cutting the heads off...not the game warden...you dont have to be a *******...I can guarantee you that one!..If it was me I would just cut the head off, throw it in the truck and move on...would just take a matter of minutes...but thats just me.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

As *Lundy* pointed out, you have to get a permit for possession of any part of the deer. 
Most likely your permit will not cost you anything.

*Quoted from ODNR Lawriter-OAC-1501:31-15-11:*

(25) With the exception of naturally shed antlers, it shall be unlawful to possess a dead deer, or any part thereof, unless such deer, or parts thereof, are accompanied by an attached valid tag, seal, certificate of legal ownership, statement or receipt. For the purposes of this section a valid tag, seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt for any deer, or part thereof is any one or more of the following:

(a) A valid Ohio division of wildlife game tag, permanent deer tag or permanent deer tag number or game check confirmation number.

(b) An Ohio division of wildlife deer damage control permit temporary tag or a receipt for deer carcass-deer damage control tag or the tag number.

(c) An Ohio division of wildlife approved tag or seal under the authority of section 1533.74 of the Revised Code if the deer or parts thereof were sold for food.

(d) A signed statement or receipt, legible in the English language, which states the previous owners name, address and phone number and the valid commercial propagation permit number if the deer or parts thereof were sold or given away under the authority of section 1533.71 of the Revised Code.

(e) A certificate for legal ownership issued under the authority of section 1533.121 of the Revised Code.

(f) A tag as described in division (G) of section 1533.731 of the Revised Code.

(g) A signed statement or receipt, legible in the English language, which lists the owner or previous owners name, address and phone number, the state and county of kill, the date of kill and the assigned permanent deer tag number or game check confirmation number, if applicable.

(h) An official tag or seal, and an accompanying valid hunting license issued by another state or province if the deer was killed outside of Ohio.

(i) A valid Ohio division of wildlife food pantry stamp or seal on each package of meat distributed by a bona fide food pantry or charitable organization.

(j) A certificate for legal ownership issued by a law enforcement officer within their jurisdiction.

(k) A valid tag, seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt or game check confirmation number for the purposes of this rule is considered attached if it is physically affixed to the deer, or parts thereof, in the following manner:

(i) In the case of antlers:

(a) The valid tag, permanent tag number, seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt or game check confirmation number must remain attached to the antlers until the deer has been processed into a taxidermy product. At this time the valid tag, seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt or game check confirmation number may be removed from the antlers and placed in another location on the taxidermy product which allows for visual inspection.

(b) If antlers are removed from the deer, but not processed into a taxidermy product, the permanent tag or game check confirmation number may be removed from the antlers provided the permanent deer tag number or game check confirmation number is legibly written in permanent ink or inscribed on the antlers in a location which allows for visual inspection. However, the valid tag, seal, certificate of legal ownership, statement or receipt shall be maintained by the owner and available for inspection.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

Shad Rap said:


> Normal people like you and me are cutting the heads off...not the game warden...you dont have to be a *******...I can guarantee you that one!..If it was me I would just cut the head off, throw it in the truck and move on...would just take a matter of minutes...but thats just me.


BTW, I surely didn't mean that in a derogatory way. I'd say that on a daily basis I do something that would label me a *******.
It just cracks me up when ya see someone out there working their butt off to saw the head of some dink 6 pt ...heck even a spike or forky is fair game.


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the reponses. I was just curious. I'll stick to fish. LOL

Bowman, not in that location. In the area of rt 6 going into Chardon.

I drive 422 each day to work and noticed a huge bodied deer that was beheaded last week between 91 and 306. The body is as big as a horse.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> Orig. posted by Shad Rap:
> 
> If it was me I would just cut the head off, throw it in the truck and move on...would just take a matter of minutes...but thats just me.


...and you would surely be breaking at least one law and if the land was private...two.

Don't know what the fines for that would be but most of the time they are way more then what it's worth.

Here's a story to think about that doesn't have to do with deer parts/tagging but how we sometimes don't think what something that may seem small to us can cost us big time.... 

My son moves into an apartment in the fall a couple years ago. He finds a 'deer crossing'(the bid yellow ones the state puts up) sign in one of the bedroom closets left by the former tenant. While I'm at work, he brings it out to the house and puts it on the front porch thinking since we live in the middle of the woods, I could put it along the long driveway coming back to the house. Kind of a joke/novelty thing.
I really didn't want to do that but didn't want to hurt his feelings either so the sign stayed on the front porch leaned against the house sorta behind a wooden bench but clearly visible if you walked up on the porch. 
I never really looked closely at the sign or gave it much thought much other then when the newness wore off I would put it up in the barn out of sight,out of mind. 

I shot a buck on a Friday the last part of Sept. and had it hanging in the tree. On Sat about 0900 there was a knock on the door. Answering the door, I was shocked to see our game warden standing there. 
He saw the deer hanging in the tree and had a few questions for me. The usual, checking permit,tagging etc. All that went great.
As we were standing there he looks over and sees the sign. He asked where I got it and I informed him of the story behind it. He walks over, picks the sign up, turns it over and hands it to me asking me if I had read the little sticker on the back. Red faced, I answered him "No" I hadn't.

For possessing that sign was a fine of $1000 and/or 6 mos. in jail. 

He asked me if I minded that he took the sign of which my reply was a stuttering, "N-N-N-O, I don't mind".

I was very grateful that day for his understanding in my ignorance in the law and not citing me.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> Orig. posted by *TIGGER*:
> 
> Thanks everyone for the reponses. I was just curious. I'll stick to fish. LOL


It may sound like a lot to go through but it really isn't. A simple call to your GW is usually all it takes and they will meet you out there with the form. You then just keep the form as long as you possess the antlers.

Unless of course the landowner wants to be difficult.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I was on my way deer hunting one morning and came across a fresh road kill. it was a nice buck but I didn't know at the time I could have got a permit by just calling the police or dnr. I also was told by one of the workers at pigeon river wildlife area where I went hunting that I could have used one of my doe tags and been legal to take the deer. I sure hated to see the deer go to waste but its nice to not know everything, LOL. this buck was laying in the road so there wouldn't have been any trespassing. the deer was still warm and limber and bleeding. so it had just been hit.
sherman


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Im not proud and have been on the road kill list for years now. Have yet to get one that is dead. Those deer the police keep for themselves or call thier police buddies to pick up. The ones I get called on are still kicking. The police would rather call me to take it out with a knife then have to shoot the deer and have to fill out a firearms report over a deer. Then the police fill out a road kill form with your information on it and the deer is yours. Park rangers, police officers, and DNR officers all can do the form for you. The person who hits the deer with thier vehicle get first rights to the deer. If the police officers dont want it they go to the road kill list.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Years ago when I lived on the East side of Cols., I used to be on the Reys. PD call list. Was friends with one of the 2nd shift dispatchers and she made sure I got more than my share of calls. 
With Blacklick Woods Park there, I would get 3-4 deer a month. The deer were usually not torn up due to the fact that the speed limit was mostly 35mph around the park. 

More often then not, the deer would still be alive or had made it to the front yard of a house or apartment. If this was the case, since I knew most of the 2nd and 3rd shift LEO's, they would let me kill the deer with a .22 pistol. That way they did not have to fill a book of reports out for discharging their firearm.

Needless to say, not only did my freezer stay full but every relative and friends freezer did as well. 

Also had a few less fortunate families in the neighborhood that really appreciated the meat when it was brought to them. So much so that there was a teenage boy of one of these families that would often come to the house and help with the butchering. He knew when he showed up he was taking the tenderloins home even if their freezer was already full of venison.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Found a nice size dead buck steelheading a few years back.
Fellow had somehow jumped into a nasty logjam along the river.
Went back in the spring, looked around and finally found the skull with antlers still intact.
Took it home.
Guess there was a little meat in the skull left, I hung it on a fence post.
That weekend the wife looks outside, and there's two vultures about 20 feet from the house eyeing up that skull!
She never saw buzzards up close, was pretty funny.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

The current form states that the deer must be consumed by the person recieving the deer and parts may not be given away.


fastwater said:


> Years ago when I lived on the East side of Cols., I used to be on the Reys. PD call list. Was friends with one of the 2nd shift dispatchers and she made sure I got more than my share of calls.
> With Blacklick Woods Park there, I would get 3-4 deer a month. The deer were usually not torn up due to the fact that the speed limit was mostly 35mph around the park.
> 
> More often then not, the deer would still be alive or had made it to the front yard of a house or apartment. If this was the case, since I knew most of the 2nd and 3rd shift LEO's, they would let me kill the deer with a .22 pistol. That way they did not have to fill a book of reports out for discharging their firearm.
> ...


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Carpn said:


> CWD isn't running hard. There was one case of it found in one penned deer recently in holmes county. I think the DNR has been sampling deer in this area recently from what I've heard. Regardless of that seeing headless deer along the rd is common anytime. I swear, if it has a rack of any kind some ******* will pull over and widdle it head off with a pocket knife.
> 
> On the other hand,EHD is an almost annual occurance in late summer that seems to hit especially hard in hot, dry yrs. It occurs acrossed the whitetails habitat and is transmitted by biting midges. People sometimes confuse the two but they are completely different.


My BIL has been hunting the same property in Washington Cty, for nearly 40 years. Cutting the heads off dead bucks has been going on since I77 was built, so I doubt it's the ODNR doing it! CWD has never been found there, but EHD is a different story! The herd got whacked really hard there a few years back and still hasn't completely recovered.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

> Orig. posted by* Flathead76*:
> 
> The current form states that the deer must be consumed by the person recieving the deer and parts may not be given away.


I don't remember even getting any kind of form when I was on the list for Reys. P.D.. But that was some 25-30yrs ago.

Things have surely changed as about 5-6 yrs ago, I used to get deer road kill now and then from the fella that picked deer up inside 270 in Cols. Had to call ODNR and the GW would come out and give me a form to keep with the deer. I suppose it stated what you're saying, never really read the fine print. I suppose, like the 'deer crossing sign' I should have.


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Good luck if you do this by the law. I've never been able to get the game warden to call me back for this. I even tried the local police non emergency dispatch to get a road kill tag and they just told me to call the game warden. So I would call the game warden and I would get the voice mail and leave a message to never get a returned call. Good Luck.


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