Officers standing from left to right: Ryan Burke (Hancock Co.), Jason Porinchok (Putnam Co.), Troy Reimund (Wildlife Officer Supervisor), Austin Dickinson (Defiance Co.), Levi Farley (Paulding Co.); kneeling: Craig Barr (Allen Co.)

FROM FACEBOOK__From a caller stating “something just seemed strange in the whole situation” to forfeiting 235 antlers.

Our Northwest Ohio officers wrapped up a multi-year investigation involving Mr. Steven Niese of Harrod, Ohio. In January 2023, an informant told our wildlife officers, “something just seemed strange in the whole situation” regarding Mr. Niese’s son shooting a large buck. The caller thought Mr. Niese had shot the buck instead of his son, and they were right. After months of investigating and gathering information, a search warrant was issued. Mr. Niese was found guilty of three counts of possession of untagged deer parts and three counts of falsifying information when game checking a deer.

Total penalties are:

• $4,291 fines and court costs
• $10,447.04 restitution
• 10 years hunting license suspension in all 50 states (began 6/15/25)
• 9 days jail served over weekends of specific deer seasons (81 days suspended with 5 years of probation)
• 58 antlered deer skulls, 2 shoulder mounts, 11 antlers on broken skull caps, 164 sawed-off antlers forfeited