# Using a rifle in Ohio



## reel (Dec 15, 2004)

I'm too lazy to research this, but is it legal to shoot a deer on your own property, using a rifle, if you have a crop damage permit ?
I'm pretty sure I can tell a .270's high pitched whine that I think I hear occasionally in the distance.
...


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

Don't think so. I believe every thing taken has to be done so by legal means unless ODNR is doing it.


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## F1504X4 (Mar 23, 2008)

Actually I do believe you can use a rifle for crop damage permits as long as its not during the regular gun or ML season. To get the correct answer to avoid any confusion you should call the WL Officer for your county. You'll probably get several answers on hear but being thats a BIG question I would ask the directly.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Yes you can, with the proper permit. Some crop damage permits are for in season, legal weapon early. Mine are summer time permits, any weapon, but they expire before archery season comes in. Not all crop damage permits are the same.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

F1504X4 said:


> Actually I do believe you can use a rifle for crop damage permits as long as its not during the regular gun or ML season. To get the correct answer to avoid any confusion you should call the WL Officer for your county. You'll probably get several answers on hear but being thats a BIG question I would ask the directly.


This is true but you can ask a wildlife officer to be sure before doing it yourself. I have talked to a few guys in the past who have used crop damage tags in the summer to remove deer using rifles.


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

I ran into a land owner years ago carrying Winchester lever action during muzzleloader season. He caught me eyeing it and explained "landowners muzzleloader" and I wasn't about to argue with him.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

I was told by a landowner who was on maybe his third "five deer crop damage" permit that he can use whatever he wants, day or night/spotlight, over bait, off a machine, etc, darn near anything goes. He also told me he could give the "permits" to people to hunt on his property in any season. Not sure if all of this, or how much, is true, just what he told me.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

c. j. stone said:


> He also told me he could give the "permits" to people to hunt on his property in any season. Not sure if all of this, or how much, is true, just what he told me.


 That may have been true at one time, but no longer. A "shooter" must be on an approved list these days, in most cases.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

M.Magis said:


> That may have been true at one time, but no longer. A "shooter" must be on an approved list these days, in most cases.


Yep, that's a fact. If you aren't on the list, you can't do it but you can use a rifle.


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## Bonemann (Jan 28, 2008)

I had been told before that a kill permit is just that
a kill permit and not a harvest permit.

It was a while back when a farmer told me that he
had the ODNR come out and check for crop damage
and that he would be able to kill 10 deer but that he was
not able to keep and butcher them that he had to leave
them. They told him also that he could move them from 
the field but that was it.

I'm not sure if it was true then or now but he said he
would not kill any just to be wasted.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Bonemann said:


> I had been told before that a kill permit is just that
> a kill permit and not a harvest permit.
> 
> It was a while back when a farmer told me that he
> ...


Not true. It's very much encouraged that the meat be used. There are specific areas on the tag to record what was done with the deer, and if given away, who it was given to.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

M.Magis said:


> Not true. It's very much encouraged that the meat be used. There are specific areas on the tag to record what was done with the deer, and if given away, who it was given to.


I am just curious but will the meat lockers that participate in the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) take these crop damage kills out of season as well? It would seem that many of the deer shot in the off-season would go to waste if guys do not have access to a locker to get them cooled down and processed right away. I have heard the stories in my county of the hundreds of deer that get killed through crop damage tags and just left to rot which is the worst part of it in my opinion. I would like to be able to suggest to them a place to donate them.


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## MuskieManOhio (Jun 29, 2008)

bkr43050 said:


> I am just curious but will the meat lockers that participate in the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) take these crop damage kills out of season as well? It would seem that many of the deer shot in the off-season would go to waste if guys do not have access to a locker to get them cooled down and processed right away. I have heard the stories in my county of the hundreds of deer that get killed through crop damage tags and just left to rot which is the worst part of it in my opinion. I would like to be able to suggest to them a place to donate them.


Probley aint no telling them what to do with their harvest, they mostly shoot the bucks and just cut the horns off and leave the carcass where it dropped at..


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

MuskieManOhio said:


> Probley aint no telling them what to do with their harvest, they mostly shoot the bucks and just cut the horns off and leave the carcass where it dropped at..


You know, you should at least have a little bit of a clue regarding what you're talking about before making yourself sound like an idiot.  Any antlers over 3" must be turned in to the local game warden. Really, since you don't have any knowledge on the subject and only know how to make stupid comments, I think we'd all appreciate if you just kept them to yourself. 
Brian, yes the deer can be donated for FHFH. Each deer is assigned a tag number, just like a normal in season deer.


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## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

There is an outfitters area around Cadiz (high fence, big bucks$$$) where if one pays their price it is legal to hunt with whatever rifle you want within their fence, because they are their own raised deer, not the states deer, during Ohio gun season.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

The folks that I am talking about shooting a lot of deer for damage tags claim that they are targeting does/antlerless deer and I have no reason to suspect otherwise. Also they shoot a lot of these deer in the early summer and partially developed bloody antlers serve them no purpose.

I will be sure to remember the info about the FHFH to pass on to them when/if the conversation comes up in the future. I just know that there is an awful lot of meat that lays for the buzzards.


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## F1504X4 (Mar 23, 2008)

I have a couple buddies who fill damage permits during the summer and early fall and they turned all the meat over to FHFH. They just called the participating meat lockers ahead of time and asked if they would be taking any deer on a certain day before they went and hunted. A couple butchers even came in LATE at night after my buddies were done hunting to get the meat so it wouldn't spoil. Definitely call the processor a head of time and make sure they are taking deer.


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## WeekendWarrior (Jan 20, 2008)

I am a shooter on a farmer's damage permits. This is not about just going out and being crazy, this is about helping a farmer who has severe crop damage and losing money. I only shoot mature does. Never would I shoot a buck or fawn. That is about the stupidest thing one can do. Not only does this selective harvest help the farmers but it also helps balance the deer herd. When possible the deer meat is donated, however if the chance of an unlucky shot occurs and you do not recover the deer until the next day the meat is ruined.

Btw - If a buck is harvested, the antlers must be cut off and given to the ODNR Officer as quickly as possible. These antlers are then destroyed.

Any weapon can be used, however the use of spotlights is no longer permitted. You are only allowed to hunt a half hour after sundown.


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## Bass n' Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

There are 2 primary types of deer nuisance permits Season Control Permits and Deer Damage Control Permits.

Season Control Permits are pretty straight forward. They are extra anterless only permits to be used during the current deer season using the current weapon options.

Deer Control Permits are a lot more tricky. There is no standard permit and each one could be diferent. They allow landowners the right to kill deer on their property per the conditions on the permit. Refer to ohio law 1501:31-15-08 for more details. Basicly though the DNR officer issuing the permit has complete say over what can or cant be done. So the DNR officers gets to set dates, times, weapon type, numbers, does and or bucks, and what is done with the meat and antlers and it is done case by case. 

One other thing that is commonly not known about these permits and I hear of people abusing this all the time. If your name isn't on the permit, you are not allowed to aid or assist in any deer kill. So farmer Joe that gets a permit and calls his buddies over to help clear the deer is breaking the law and should have the permit revoked.


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## Bass n' Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Header said:


> There is an outfitters area around Cadiz (high fence, big bucks$$$) where if one pays their price it is legal to hunt with whatever rifle you want within their fence, because they are thier deer, during Ohio gun season.


The reason they can do this is because there are 2 types of deer in Ohio. There are the wild state owned deer and there are farm rasied deer. Set up some high fences, make sure there are no wild deer in there, get inspected by the state and get your permit for having farm deer, buy some farm raised deer and put them in the fence, and you can do whatever you want with them because they are considered livestock.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I believe the folks around me do still spotlight to kill the deer. I have no idea what the limitations are on the times and such but what Bass n' Fool said makes sense. I have always figured that the game warden granted permission to do so.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Spotlighting is still allowed in some instances. My tags state that I can shoot after dark IF I contact the local sheriff&#8217;s office or county game warden in advance to let them know. It&#8217;s really just to prevent them from wasting their time investigating if someone calls to report shots. That and taking any antlers is actually the only involvement the game warden has.


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## leupy (Feb 12, 2007)

The laws change every year, It used to be okay up until gun season now it is over at the start of bow season, you in times passed have been able to spotlight and use a rifle. I have done this and I hated it so I quit now I don't keep up with the regs because I am not going to do it anyway. Next year they will change again. You aways need a damage permit but ODNR is very liberal handing them out.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

leupy said:


> The laws change every year, It used to be okay up until gun season now it is over at the start of bow season, you in times passed have been able to spotlight and use a rifle. I have done this and I hated it so I quit now I don't keep up with the regs because I am not going to do it anyway. Next year they will change again. You aways need a damage permit but ODNR is very liberal handing them out.


One more time, the rules are on a case by case basis. There are not standard regulations across the board.


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## One Legged Josh (Jan 27, 2008)

bkr43050 said:


> I am just curious but will the meat lockers that participate in the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) take these crop damage kills out of season as well? It would seem that many of the deer shot in the off-season would go to waste if guys do not have access to a locker to get them cooled down and processed right away. I have heard the stories in my county of the hundreds of deer that get killed through crop damage tags and just left to rot which is the worst part of it in my opinion. I would like to be able to suggest to them a place to donate them.


The farm I hunted for gun season is granted tags every year. Mr. Hill (the farmer) has looked for the last few years for a meat locker that would donate or discount the butchering price, so he could donate the meat.

No one in his area was willing to do so. 28 does were killed with rifles this year and he had to bury them with a dozer. He said 1 of the guys doing the shooting took a young doe home and the rest of it rotted.He couldnt afford the butchering at full price just to donate it.

This is 1280 acres in Senacaville Ohio.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

One Legged Josh said:


> The farm I hunted for gun season is granted tags every year. Mr. Hill (the farmer) has looked for the last few years for a meat locker that would donate or discount the butchering price, so he could donate the meat.
> 
> No one in his area was willing to do so. 28 does were killed with rifles this year and he had to bury them with a dozer. He said 1 of the guys doing the shooting took a young doe home and the rest of it rotted.He couldnt afford the butchering at full price just to donate it.
> 
> This is 1280 acres in Senacaville Ohio.


If I looked that up right Senecaville is in Guernsey county and the FHFH site does not indicate any meat lockers in the county that participate. The only one that comes up when clicking in on Guernsey county is Shirer Brothers in Adamsville (Muskingum county). If you go to the www.FHFH.org site you can check the list yourself for adjoining counties. You may be able to find a place that will take them. Here is the link for all of Ohio.

http://www.fhfh.org/ChaptersState.asp?StateLookup=OH


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## One Legged Josh (Jan 27, 2008)

Yes it is near the Guernsey/Noble county line. Its a shame it all wastes. Thanks for the link though.


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