Johnny Clay, 37, of Minford, Ohio is no stranger to southern Ohio wildlife officials, cited for 10 deer hunting violations over the years. The huge trophy deer he illegally killed in September, 2009, set a Buckeye standard when Clay was ordered Friday to pay $23,572 in restitution in Adams County Court.The deer’s trophy antlers measured 197 2/8 inches according to Boone & Crockett Club guidelines, the largest typical white-tailed deer harvested in North American in 2009. It would have ranked fourth in Ohio’s Buckeye Big Buck Club standings. It is now the property of the Division of Wildlife.Clay pled guilty to taking a deer out of season, hunting property without the landowner’s permission and a failure to have a valid hunting license or deer permit.A confidential informant contacted wildlife officers Chris Rice and Chris Gilkey last March, said district law enforcement supervisor Dave Brown. Clay had checked the Adams County deer in Kentucky, reporting it as a legal kill during the Kentucky archery season, but trail camera photos revealed it was killed in Ohio.”It was the largest amount of restitution we’d ever sought,” said Brown. Clay, who has served jail time for deer violations in the past, was also fined $1,500, forfeited his bow to the state and lost his hunting privileges for life. Ohio is a member of the 34-state Wildlife Violator’s Compact, which makes it illegal for Clay to hunt in all of those states.

via Poached Ohio trophy buck costs Johnny Clay of Minford, Ohio record $23,572 in restitution | cleveland.com.

ADAMS COUNTY — There were track marks of four-wheel drives. Piles of dead deer.

And sometimes late at night, Evelyn Butts would look out the window at her 100-acre property and see lights flickering in the woods.

None of that made sense – until authorities began investigating a Sharonville man for a wildlife scheme in Adams County that netted more than $80,000 from dozens of hunters and took advantage of elderly property owners.

“I’m angry, disgusted and annoyed,” Butts said. “I’m a 73-year-old lady, and you better bet I’m not gonna sit on this. Oh my goodness – I feel violated.”

Butts, like many others in rural Adams County, owns property that stretches into the woods and well beyond the line of sight from her home. She is one of at least half a dozen property owners who recently discovered that a stranger had been leading hunters onto their property in search of deer and turkey.

That stranger, investigators say, is Joseph Todd Payne, who faces several wildlife charges that are third- and fourth-degree misdemeanors. More charges are pending. He is scheduled to appear in Adams County Court in April.

Payne allegedly charged hunters $1,200 to $1,500 for five-day deer and turkey hunts on land he didn’t own. The 30-year-old helped start a company called Lethal Impact Outfitters, which provides deer and turkey hunting guide services. The company’s Web site touts “trophy class whitetails” and more than 2,000 acres of “private low-pressure” hunting in Jackson and Adams counties.

Payne’s business, which was in operation for several years, wasn’t short on customers.

“It’s a growing industry,” said Joel Buddelmeyer, investigator with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. “There’s a lot of money to be made, especially with out-of-state hunters from Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. We have bigger and better deer here.”

Payne’s alleged scheme didn’t land on the radar until last January, when a property caretaker noticed several people hunting. The hunters said they paid Payne to hunt there and showed written permission slips issued by Lethal Impact Outfitters.

An undercover investigation revealed several parcels of land being used.

A search warrant was issued earlier this month on Payne’s Sharonville home, where authorities confiscated computers, journals, records and receipts.

Most of the property owners, such as Helen Haverland, 83, do not live on the land. Haverland said her land is used for farming and is usually unregulated. She said she allowed hunting on her property years ago but has since posted signs that forbid it.

Butts also has “no trespassing” signs and said part of her land is fenced, but there’s no way for her to regulate so many acres.

“It makes me angry to think that people profit from bringing other people into my property,” Butts said. “It makes me so angry. They don’t pay my taxes. They have no right to be here, and to think they’ve made a profit off of it.”

Hundreds of acres of open land in Adams County go without watch, she said.

No license is required to be a hunting guide, and the only way for wildlife officers to know someone has trespassed is through public complaint, Buddelmeyer said.

“We’re getting more and more deer guides in Ohio, and the Division of Wildlife doesn’t have any regulations on them,” he said.

Butts isn’t sure what she’ll do to protect her land.

“You can’t put up a fence around 100 acres of land, and they won’t stay out because of a trespassing sign,” she said. “I never know who’s back there.”

via Hunting scheme targeted elderly property owners | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal.