Ohio § 1531.01
Full text of Ohio Ohio Revised Code § 1531.01, with citation guidance and answers to common questions.
§ 1531.01.
As used in this chapter and Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code: (A) “ Person ” means a person as defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code or a company; an employee, agent, or officer of such a person or company; a combination
of individuals; the state; a political subdivision of the state; an interstate
body created by a compact; or the federal government or a department, agency, or
instrumentality of it. (B) “ Resident ” means either of the following: (1) An individual who has resided in this state for not less than six months preceding
the date of making application for a license or permit; (2) An individual who is a full-time student enrolled in an accredited Ohio public or
private college or university and who resides in this state at the time the individual
makes application for a license or permit and who attests to the individual's full-time
student status in a manner determined by the chief of the division of wildlife. (C) “ Nonresident ” means any individual who does not qualify as a resident. (D) “ Division rule ” or “ rule ” means any rule adopted by the chief of the division of wildlife under section 1531.10 of the Revised Code unless the context indicates otherwise. (E) “ Closed season ” means that period of time during which the taking of wild animals protected by this
chapter and Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code is prohibited. (F) “ Open season ” means that period of time during which the taking of wild animals protected by this
chapter and Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code is permitted. (G) “ Take or taking ” includes pursuing, shooting, hunting, killing, trapping, angling, fishing with a
trotline, or netting any clam, mussel, crayfish, aquatic insect, fish, frog, turtle,
wild bird, or wild quadruped, and any lesser act, such as wounding, or placing, setting,
drawing, or using any other device for killing or capturing any wild animal, whether
it results in killing or capturing the animal or not. “ Take or taking ” includes every attempt to kill or capture and every act of assistance to any other
person in killing or capturing or attempting to kill or capture a wild animal. (H) “ Possession ” means both actual and constructive possession and any control of things referred
to. (I) “ Bag limit ” means the number, measurement, or weight of any kind of crayfish, aquatic insects,
fish, frogs, turtles, wild birds, and wild quadrupeds permitted to be taken. (J) “ Transport and transportation ” means carrying or moving or causing to be carried or moved. (K) “ Sell and sale ” means barter, exchange, or offer or expose for sale. (L) “ Whole to include part ” means that every provision relating to any wild animal protected by this chapter
and Chapter 1533. of the Revised Code applies to any part of the wild animal with
the same effect as it applies to the whole. (M) “ Angling ” means fishing with not more than two hand lines, not more than two units of rod
and line, or a combination of not more than one hand line and one rod and line, either
in hand or under control at any time while fishing. The hand line or rod and line shall have attached to it not more than three baited
hooks, not more than three artificial fly rod lures, or one artificial bait casting
lure equipped with not more than three sets of three hooks each. (N) “ Trotline ” means a device for catching fish that consists of a line having suspended from it,
at frequent intervals, vertical lines with hooks attached. (O) “ Fish ” means a cold-blooded vertebrate having fins. (P) “ Measurement of fish ” means length from the end of the nose to the longest tip or end of the tail. (Q) “ Wild birds ” includes game birds and nongame birds. (R) “ Game ” includes game birds, game quadrupeds, and fur-bearing animals. (S) “ Game birds ” includes mourning doves, ringneck pheasants, bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed
grouse, pinnated grouse, wild turkey, Hungarian partridge, Chukar partridge, woodcocks,
black-breasted plover, golden plover, Wilson's snipe or jacksnipe, greater and lesser
yellowlegs, rail, coots, gallinules, duck, geese, brant, and crows. (T) “ Nongame birds ” includes all other wild birds not included and defined as game birds or migratory
game birds. (U) “ Wild quadrupeds ” includes game quadrupeds, fur-bearing animals, and wild boar or feral swine. (V) “ Game quadrupeds ” includes cottontail rabbits, gray squirrels, black squirrels, fox squirrels, red
squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs or woodchucks, white-tailed deer,
elk, and black bears. (W) “ Fur-bearing animals ” includes minks, weasels, raccoons, skunks, opossums, muskrats, fox, beavers, badgers,
otters, coyotes, and bobcats. (X) “ Wild animals ” includes mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, wild
birds, wild quadrupeds, and all other wild mammals, but does not include domestic
deer. (Y) “ Hunting ” means pursuing, shooting, killing, following after or on the trail of, lying in
wait for, shooting at, or wounding wild birds or wild quadrupeds while employing any
device commonly used to kill or wound wild birds or wild quadrupeds whether or not
the acts result in killing or wounding. “ Hunting ” includes every attempt to kill or wound and every act of assistance to any other
person in killing or wounding or attempting to kill or wound wild birds or wild quadrupeds. (Z) “ Trapping ” means securing or attempting to secure possession of a wild bird or wild quadruped
by means of setting, placing, drawing, or using any device that is designed to close
upon, hold fast, confine, or otherwise capture a wild bird or wild quadruped whether
or not the means results in capture. “ Trapping ” includes every act of assistance to any other person in capturing wild birds or
wild quadrupeds by means of the device whether or not the means results in capture. (AA) “ Muskrat spear ” means any device used in spearing muskrats. (BB) “ Channels and passages ” means those narrow bodies of water lying between islands or between an island and
the mainland in Lake Erie. (CC) “ Island ” means a rock or land elevation above the waters of Lake Erie having an area of five
or more acres above water. (DD) “ Reef ” means an elevation of rock, either broken or in place, or gravel shown by the latest
United States chart to be above the common level of the surrounding bottom of the
lake, other than the rock bottom, or in place forming the base or foundation rock
of an island or mainland and sloping from the shore of it. “ Reef ” also means all elevations shown by that chart to be above the common level of the
sloping base or foundation rock of an island or mainland, whether running from the
shore of an island or parallel with the contour of the shore of an island or in any
other way and whether formed by rock, broken or in place, or from gravel. (EE) “ Fur farm ” means any area used exclusively for raising fur-bearing animals or in addition thereto
used for hunting game, the boundaries of which are plainly marked as such. (FF) “ Waters ” includes any lake, pond, reservoir, stream, channel, lagoon, or other body of water,
or any part thereof, whether natural or artificial. (GG) “ Crib ” or “ car ” refers to that particular compartment of the net from which the fish are taken when
the net is lifted. (HH) “ Commercial fish ” means those species of fish permitted to be taken, possessed, bought, or sold unless
otherwise restricted by the Revised Code or division rule and are alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus),
American eel (Anguilla rostrata), bowfin (Amia calva), burbot (Lota lota), carp (Cyprinus
carpio), smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus), bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus),
black bullhead (Ictalurus melas), yellow bullhead (Ictalurus natalis), brown bullhead
(Ictalurus nebulosus), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), flathead catfish (Pylodictis
olivaris), whitefish (Coregonus sp.), cisco (Coregonus sp.), freshwater drum or sheepshead
(Aplodinotus grunniens), gar (Lepisosteus sp.), gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum),
goldfish (Carassius auratus), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), mooneye (Hiodon tergisus),
quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus), smelt (Allosmerus elongatus, Hypomesus sp., Osmerus
sp., Spirinchus sp.), sturgeon (Acipenser sp., Scaphirhynchus sp.), sucker other than
buffalo and quillback (Carpiodes sp., Catostomus sp., Hypentelium sp., Minytrema sp.,
Moxostoma sp.), white bass (Morone chrysops), white perch (Roccus americanus), and
yellow perch (Perca flavescens). When the common name of a fish is used in this chapter or Chapter 1533. of the Revised
Code, it refers to the fish designated by the scientific name in this definition. (II) “ Fishing ” means taking or attempting to take fish by any method, and all other acts such as
placing, setting, drawing, or using any device commonly used to take fish whether
resulting in a taking or not. (JJ) “ Fillet ” means the pieces of flesh taken or cut from both sides of a fish, joined to form
one piece of flesh. (KK) “ Part fillet ” means a piece of flesh taken or cut from one side of a fish. (LL) “ Round ” when used in describing fish means with head and tail intact. (MM) “ Migrate ” means the transit or movement of fish to or from one place to another as a result
of natural forces or instinct and includes, but is not limited to, movement of fish
induced or caused by changes in the water flow. (NN) “ Spreader bar ” means a brail or rigid bar placed across the entire width of the back, at the top
and bottom of the cars in all trap, crib, and fyke nets for the purpose of keeping
the meshes hanging squarely while the nets are fishing. (OO) “ Fishing guide ” means any person who, for consideration or hire, operates a boat, rents, leases,
or otherwise furnishes angling devices, ice fishing shanties or shelters of any kind,
or other fishing equipment, and accompanies, guides, directs, or assists any other
person in order for the other person to engage in fishing. (PP) “ Net ” means fishing devices with meshes composed of twine or synthetic material and includes,
but is not limited to, trap nets, fyke nets, crib nets, carp aprons, dip nets, and
seines, except minnow seines and minnow dip nets. (QQ) “ Commercial fishing gear ” means seines, trap nets, fyke nets, dip nets, carp aprons, trotlines, other similar
gear, and any boat used in conjunction with that gear, but does not include gill nets. (RR) “ Native wildlife ” means any species of the animal kingdom indigenous to this state. (SS) “ Gill net ” means a single section of fabric or netting seamed to a float line at the top and
a lead line at the bottom, which is designed to entangle fish in the net openings
as they swim into it. (TT) “ Tag fishing tournament ” means a contest in which a participant pays a fee, or gives other valuable consideration,
for a chance to win a prize by virtue of catching a tagged or otherwise specifically
marked fish within a limited period of time. (UU) “ Tenant ” means an individual who resides on land for which the individual pays rent and whose
annual income is primarily derived from agricultural production conducted on that
land, as “agricultural production” is defined in section 929.01 of the Revised Code . (VV) “ Nonnative wildlife ” means any wild animal not indigenous to this state, but does not include domestic
deer. (WW) “ Reptiles ” includes common musk turtle (sternotherus odoratus), common snapping turtle (Chelydra
serpentina serpentina), spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata), eastern box turtle (Terrapene
carolina carolina), Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), common map turtle (Graptemys
geographica), ouachita map turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica ouachitensis), midland
painted turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata), red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans),
eastern spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera spinifera), midland smooth softshell
turtle (Apalone mutica mutica), northern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus),
ground skink (Scincella lateralis), five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus), broadhead
skink (Eumeces laticeps), northern coal skink (Eumeces anthracinus anthracinus), European
wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), queen snake (Regina septemvittata), Kirtland's snake
(Clonophis kirtlandii), northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon), Lake Erie
watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularum), copperbelly water snake (Nerodia erythrogaster
neglecta), northern brown snake (Storeria dekayi dekayi), midland brown snake (Storeria
dekayi wrightorum), northern redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata),
eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), eastern plains garter snake (Thamnophis
radix radix), Butler's garter snake (Thamnophis butleri), shorthead garter snake (Thamnophis
brachystoma), eastern ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus), northern ribbon
snake (Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis), eastern hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos),
eastern smooth earth snake (Virginia valeriae valeriae), northern ringneck snake (Diadophis
punctatus edwardsii), midwest worm snake (Carphophis amoenus helenae), eastern worm
snake (Carphophis amoenus amoenus), black racer (Coluber constrictor constrictor),
blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxii), rough green snake (opheodrys aestivus), smooth
green snake (opheodrys vernalis vernalis), black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta),
eastern fox snake (Elaphe vulpina gloydi), black kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra),
eastern milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum), northern copperhead (Agkistrodon
contortrix mokasen), eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus), and timber
rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus horridus). (XX) “ Amphibians ” includes eastern hellbender (Crytpobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis), mudpuppy
(Necturus maculosus maculosus), red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens),
Jefferson salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum), spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum),
blue-spotted salamander (Ambystoma laterale), smallmouth salamander (Ambystoma texanum),
streamside salamander (Ambystoma barbouri), marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum),
eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum), northern dusky salamander
(Desmognathus fuscus fuscus), mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus),
redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus), ravine salamander (Plethodon richmondi),
northern slimy salamander (Plethodon glutinosus), Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei),
four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), Kentucky spring salamander (Gyrinophilus
porphyriticus duryi), northern spring salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus),
mud salamander (Pseudotriton montanus), northern red salamander (Pseudotriton ruber
ruber), green salamander (Aneides aeneus), northern two-lined salamander (Eurycea
bislineata), longtail salamander (Eurycea longicauda longicauda), cave salamander
(Eurycea lucifuga), southern two-lined salamander (Eurycea cirrigera), Fowler's toad
(Bufo woodhousii fowleri), American toad (Bufo americanus), eastern spadefoot (Scaphiopus
holbrookii), Blanchard's cricket frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi), northern spring
peeper (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer), gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor), Cope's gray
treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis), western chorus frog (Pseudacris triseriata triseriata),
mountain chorus frog (Pseudacris brachyphona), bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), green
frog (Rana clamitans melanota), northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens), pickerel frog
(Rana palustris), southern leopard frog (Rana utricularia), and wood frog (Rana sylvatica). (YY) “ Deer ” means white-tailed deer (Oddocoileus virginianus). (ZZ) “ Domestic deer ” means nonnative deer that have been legally acquired or their offspring and that
are held in private ownership for primarily agricultural purposes. (AAA) “ Migratory game bird ” includes waterfowl (Anatidae); doves (Columbidae); cranes (Gruidae); cormorants
(Phalacrocoracidea); rails, coots, and gallinules (Rallidae); and woodcock and snipe
(Scolopacidae). (BBB) “ Accompany ” means to go along with another person while staying within a distance from the person
that enables uninterrupted, unaided visual and auditory communication. (CCC) “ All-purpose vehicle ” means any vehicle that is designed primarily for cross-country travel on land, water,
or land and water and that is steered by wheels, caterpillar treads, or a combination
of wheels and caterpillar treads and includes vehicles that operate on a cushion of
air, vehicles commonly known as all-terrain vehicles, all-season vehicles, mini-bikes,
and trail bikes. (DDD) “ Wholly enclosed preserve ” means an area of land that is surrounded by a fence that is at least six feet in
height, unless otherwise specified in division rule, and is constructed of a woven
wire mesh, or another enclosure that the division of wildlife may approve, where game
birds, game quadrupeds, reptiles, amphibians, or fur-bearing animals are raised and
may be sold under the authority of a commercial propagating license or captive white-tailed
deer propagation license obtained under section 1533.71 of the Revised Code . (EEE) “ Commercial bird shooting preserve ” means an area of land where game birds are released and hunted by shooting as authorized
by a commercial bird shooting preserve license obtained under section 1533.72 of the Revised Code . (FFF) “ Wild animal hunting preserve ” means an area of land where game, captive white-tailed deer, and nonnative wildlife,
other than game birds, are released and hunted as authorized by a wild animal hunting
preserve license obtained under section 1533.721 of the Revised Code . (GGG) “ Captive white-tailed deer ” means legally acquired deer that are held in private ownership at a facility licensed
under section 943.03 or 943.031 of the Revised Code and under section 1533.71 or 1533.721 of the Revised Code . (HHH) “ Wild boar ” or “ feral swine ” means a hog, boar, or pig that appears to be untamed, undomesticated, or in a wild
state. “ Wild boar ” or “ feral swine ” includes both of the following: (1) Except for Sus scrofa domesticus that is legally confined or held in captivity, members
of the family suidae, including all of the following: (a) Wild pig, wild hog, feral hog, and feral pig; (b) Old world swine, razorbacks, European wild boar, and Russian wild boar, and any hybrids
or crossbreeds thereof; (c) Wild pig, wild hog, feral hog, or feral pig that appear contained in a wild animal
hunting preserve licensed under section 1533.721 of the Revised Code or a wholly enclosed preserve for hunting or trapping. (2) Members of the family tayassuidae, including collared peccary and javelina, and any
hybrids or crossbreeds of members of the family tayassuidae.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ohio § 1531.01
What does Ohio Revised Code § 1531.01 cover?
Section 1531.01 is part of the Ohio Revised Code, the codified statutory law of Ohio. It sets out the legal rule or procedure described in the text above. Statutes are amended regularly, so always verify against the official source.
How do I cite Ohio § 1531.01?
A common citation format is "Ohio Revised Code § 1531.01" (Ohio). Legal writing may require the code abbreviation, section number, and year or edition. Match the style required by your court, professor, or publisher.
Is this the official text of Ohio law?
No. This page is for research and education and may not include the most recent amendments. For official current law, check the Ohio official source linked on this page or consult a licensed Ohio attorney.
How does Ohio § 1531.01 apply to my situation?
Statutes are interpreted in context, and application depends on your specific facts. Only a licensed attorney in Ohio can advise on how this section applies to you. Contact your state or local bar association for a referral.
Sources & Verification
Not legal advice. Verify against the official source and consult a licensed attorney in Ohio.