An Allen County man was recently charged in a multi-year investigation that involved the confiscation of more than 200 antlers.
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In January 2023, a tipster told Ohio Wildlife Department officials that the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a large buck by a Harold man’s son “seemed weird.”
The caller thought Steven Ness had shot the buck, not his son.
Wildlife officers discovered the caller was right.
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Following a lengthy investigation, Ness was found guilty of three counts of possessing unmarked deer body parts and three counts of falsifying information when inspecting a deer.
As part of the conviction, Nice was forced to confiscate 58 antlered deer skulls, two epaulettes, 11 antlers from broken skullcaps and 164 sawn-off antlers.
Niese was also ordered to pay nearly $4,300 in fines and court costs, in addition to being ordered to pay more than $10,400 in restitution and serve nine days in jail on weekends during certain deer season.
His hunting license was also suspended for 10 years in all 50 states.
The Ohio Department of Wildlife noted on social media that Niese has 14 convictions in four different counties since 2001. He had previously been jailed for 30 days on deer-related charges and had his three-year sentence revoked in 2017 for possessing untagged antlers.
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