Johnny B. Clay, 37, of Minford, killed the deer with an arrow in 2009 in Adams County, but since it was out of season in Ohio, he checked it in in Kentucky, where the archery season was going on.
He might have gotten away with it, except he couldn’t resist showing off the magnificent antlers. He took it to the Ohio Deer & Turkey Expo in March, where someone recognized the distinctive rack from trail camera photos taken in Adams County. Upon investigation by Ohio wildlife officers Chris Rice and Chris Gilkey, Clay admitted poaching the deer.
The typical trophy deer, scored according to Boone & Crockett, netted 1972/8 inches, making it the largest typical white-tailed deer harvested in North America during 2009. In Ohio, it would rank fourth all time in the Buckeye Big Buck Club records.
In addition to the large restitution, to satisfy the law that went into effect in 2008, Clay was ordered to pay $1,500 in fines, an additional $134 in court costs and to forfeit the deer as well as the bow he used to kill it. He also lost his hunting privileges for life since he had 10 prior convictions for deer violations. Ohio will enter him into the Wildlife Violator’s Compact and he most likely will lose hunting rights in 33 other states.
Free boat inspections
Area boaters can take advantage of free boat safety inspections at several locations in the weeks ahead. Just take your boat to one of the following ramps and a watercraft officer will inspect it and issue a written report with recommended improvements.
The dates and area locations are:
May 22, 9-11 a.m. at Caesar Creek Lake's Wellman ramp; 10 a.m.-noon at East Fork Lake's north shore ramp and East Fork's Tate ramp.
May 23, 9-11 a.m. at C.J. Brown main ramp; 10 a.m.-noon at East Fork Tate ramp.
May 28, 5-7 p.m. at Acton Lake, Hueston Woods ramp.
Information on required safety equipment, boating rules and other boating programs is available online at ohiodnr.com/watercraft.
Survey online
The Ohio Division of Wildlife is asking anglers to visit ohiodnr.com/creel to take a new online angler survey, asking them to provide feedback on a variety of topics.
The questions include: black bass regulations, usefulness of the division’s inland fishing forecast, limited access fishing at La Su An Wildlife Area, fishing at American Electric Power lands and fishing Ohio’s rivers and streams. Anglers will also be given the opportunity to provide general comments about Ohio fishing.
The survey will be available through Sept. 30. Responses are confidential. Information from the survey is helpful for managing Ohio’s fisheries.
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