Section 1501:31-9-04 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Field trials on public hunting areas(A) Except as herein provided, field trials for dogs and raptors may be conducted on state public hunting areas administered by the division of wildlife from the first day of September through the last day of October and from February twenty-eighth through the last day of April . If the last day of April is a Saturday, then field trials may be conducted on the first day of May. Field trials are permitted on the following public hunting areas:
(1) Delaware, Tri-Valley, and Woodbury wildlife areas;(2) Other public hunting areas when approved by the chief of the division of wildlife, or the chief's designee. (B) It shall be unlawful for any person to use any area owned, administered, or controlled by a division of the Ohio department of natural resources for field trial purposes without first making application for and receiving a permit to do so from the chief of the division of wildlife or the chief's designee. (1) An application may be declined if it is not received at least ten days prior to the date of the field trial.(2) Permits for the spring season will not be issued prior to the first of October of the preceding year. Permits for the fall season will not be issued prior to the first of April of the year involved. However, beginning at noon on the last Sunday in August, or as otherwise agreed by the division and interested field trial participants, a priority scheduling meeting will be held at division headquarters, Columbus, or another mutually agreeable site for the purpose of establishing an annual schedule of dates for field trials on public lands.(C) It shall be unlawful for any person to release wild animals on any area open to field trials unless such release was previously approved by an authorized agent of the division of wildlife.(D) It shall be unlawful for any person to use any area for field trial purposes which is administered or controlled by the division of wildlife without first having complied with the requirements of rule 1501:31-9-06 of the Administrative Code.(E) The following conditions must be adhered to when conducting a field trial on state lands:(1) No admission fee may be charged for spectators.(2) Activities of the field trial, including spectators, must be confined to the approved site as indicated on the permit. Horses must be confined to the immediate trial area or as otherwise designated. Horses shall not be ridden or led across standing crops, pond fills, dikes, or other areas designated by the area manager.
(3) The field trial club assumes all responsibility for personal injuries, handling of traffic, parking, cleaning up trash, papers, etc. and other occurrences resulting from the trial.(4) If a concession stand is permitted, acceptable standards of sanitation and food quality must be maintained.(5) A scheduled field trial date may be changed, including requests for extensions beyond the approved ending date, pending receipt of written notification to the wildlife district office in which the field trial is located under the following conditions:(a) Notification is received at least fourteen days prior to the original trial date; and(b) No conflict exists with another approved field trial or division activity.(F) Quails, chukar partridges, ducks, pheasants, and other game birds approved for release in conjunction with an authorized field trial on a public hunting area listed in paragraph (A)(1) of this rule may be released unbanded.(G) Clubs are not required to release replacement birds for those unbanded birds that are shot in conjunction with a field trial held on a public hunting area.(H) All definitions set forth in rule 1501:31-1-02 of the Administrative Code apply to this rule.Ohio Admin. Code 1501:31-9-04
Effective: 1/1/2025
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 8/26/2024 and 01/01/2030
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 1531.06, 1531.08, 1531.10
Rule Amplifies: 1531.06, 1531.08, 1531.10, 1533.19, 1533.20
Prior Effective Dates: 08/25/1975, 07/11/1980, 11/12/1982, 05/31/1983, 06/01/1986, 08/11/1991, 10/25/1991, 08/15/1995, 11/01/1997, 06/01/2006, 11/27/2009, 07/01/2010, 07/01/2015, 01/01/2018, 01/01/2023