You Hit a Deer on a Pike County Road. The 24-Hour Rule Is Statewide.

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Pike County does not have a local version of the deer-in-the-ditch law. Ohio Revised Code 1533.121 is the rule. You do not have to report every strike. You do have to report within 24 hours, to a wildlife officer or other law enforcement officer, if you want to keep the animal. The Pike County sheriff’s office is the practical call. A Division of Wildlife officer can do it too.

If the account checks out, you get a certificate and you keep it with the deer until the meat is processed. Miss the day and the legal path closes. A first illegal-possession case can mean a fine up to $500. The antlers are not a loophole. They are part of the deer.

If you do not want the meat, get the car out of the lane if you can do it safely and call the sheriff if the carcass will cause another wreck. Do not field dress a deer on a narrow shoulder after dark. Insurance is a separate call. Comprehensive coverage is how most of these repairs get paid. The wildlife paper does not start that claim.

A deer someone else hit is not finders-keepers. A tagged deer from a legal hunt is a different set of rules.

Call within 24 hours if the deer is going in the truck. Otherwise clear the road and call the insurer. The certificate is the whole legal difference.

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