549.17 HUNTING WITHOUT PERMISSION; IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.
   (a)   For purposes of enforcement and interpretation applicable terms including those utilized in this section shall have the same meaning as set forth in the Ohio Revised Code §1531.01.
   (b)   No person shall engage in hunting without the appropriate license, permit, stamp, or combination thereof, issued by the State of Ohio, Division of Wildlife.
   (c)   No person shall hunt or trap upon any lands, pond, lake or private waters of another, except water claim by riparian right of ownership in adjacent lands, or shoot, shoot at, catch, kill, injure, or pursue a wild bird, wild waterfowl, or wild animal thereon without obtaining written permission from the owner or the owner’s authorized agent.
   (d)   Except as otherwise provided in this division, the owner, lessee, renter, or occupant of any lands, pond, lake, or private waters upon which a person violates division (a) of this section is not liable in damages to any person in a civil action for injury, death, or loss to person or property that arises during or incidental to the violation. For the purposes of this division, a finding that a person violated division (a) of this section is not dependent upon the person being charged with or convicted of a violation of division (a) of this section. This division does not apply to civil claims based upon alleged willful or wanton misconduct or intentionally tortious conduct of the owner, lessee, renter, or occupant. This division does not create a new cause of action or a substantive legal right against the owner, lessee, renter, or occupant, and does not affect any immunities from civil liability or defenses established by another section of the Revised Code or available at common law, to which the owner, lessee, renter, or occupant may be entitled under circumstances not covered by this section.
   (e)   A person who obtains the permission required under division (c) of this section shall carry it with the person at all times during which the person is engaged in an activity for which the permission is required and shall exhibit it upon request of a wildlife officer, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, other law enforcement officer, or the owner of the lands, pond, lake, or private waters on which the person is hunting or trapping or the owner’s authorized agent.
   (f)   No person shall engage in hunting within the territorial limits of the City of Sandusky except as set forth in this section nor shall any person engage in hunting within 200 yards of the shoreline of the Sandusky Bay or Lake Erie.
   (g)   No person in the act of hunting, pursuing, taking, or killing a wild animal shall act in a negligent, careless or reckless manner so as to injure persons or property.
   (h)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(Ord. 04-134. Passed 7-26-04.)