1533.731 Wild animal hunting preserves - regulations.
1533.731 Wild animal hunting preserves - regulations.
(A) No wild animal hunting preserve shall be less than eighty acres in area. Each such preserve shall be in one continuous block of land, except that the block of land may be intersected by highways or roads. No wild animal hunting preserve shall be located within three thousand feet of another such preserve or of a commercial bird shooting preserve licensed under section 1533.72 of the Revised Code.
The boundaries of each wild animal hunting preserve shall be clearly defined by posting, at intervals of not more than two hundred feet, with signs prescribed by the division of wildlife. Each wild animal hunting preserve shall be surrounded by a fence at least six feet in height that is constructed of a woven wire mesh, or such other enclosure approved by the chief of the division of wildlife.
(B)(1) Except as provided in divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section, game and nonnative wildlife that have been approved by the chief for such use, that have been legally acquired or propagated under the authority of a propagating license issued under section 1533.71 of the Revised Code, and that are marked and tagged as provided in division (C) of this section may be released and hunted within the confines of the licensed wild animal hunting preserve between sunrise and sunset, without regard to sex, bag limit, or open season, by licensed hunters authorized by the holder of the wild animal hunting preserve license to hunt on those lands. The chief shall establish, by rule, the allowable methods of taking game and nonnative wildlife in a wild animal hunting preserve.
(2) No game or nonnative wildlife on the federal endangered species list established in accordance with the “Endangered Species Act of 1973,” 87 Stat. 884, 16 U.S.C.A. 1531, as amended, or the state endangered species list established in rules adopted under section 1531.25 of the Revised Code, no bears native to North America, and no large carnivores of the family Felidae shall be released for hunting or hunted in any wild animal hunting preserve in this state.
(3) No person shall release for hunting or hunt within a wild animal hunting preserve any game or nonnative wildlife not listed in the application for a license for that preserve.
(C) All game and nonnative wildlife released on a wild animal hunting preserve shall be identified with a tag that shall bear upon it a symbol identifying the preserve.
(D) For the purposes of division (B) of section 1533.02 of the Revised Code, the owner or operator of a wild animal hunting preserve shall furnish each person who takes any game or nonnative wildlife from the preserve a certificate bearing a description of the animal, the date the animal was taken, and the name of the preserve.
(E) The chief shall adopt rules under section 1531.10 of the Revised Code that provide for the safety of the public and for the protection of the game and nonnative wildlife to be hunted in a wild animal hunting preserve prior to their release in the preserve.
(F) No holder of a wild animal hunting preserve license shall violate Chapter 1531. or this chapter of the Revised Code or any division rule.
(G) This section does not authorize the hunting of game birds in a licensed wild animal hunting preserve.
Effective Date: 08-14-2002