attention Indiana Sportsman

[hoosierhunter]

As many of you know the DNR recently adopted rules changes to allow high powered rifles for deer hunting among other things. We all know our deer herd is in trouble and most agree this is a poor management decision for Indiana. The DNR has tried to slid the open comment period in without sending public notification out.

Here is the link to make your comments heard regarding this potential change.

http://www.in.gov/nrc/2377.htm

I urge everyone to comment because without proper representation it is a guarantee this goes into law in 2015.

[hoosierhunter]

It's also important to know the the head biologist who is responsible for recommending this rule change, Chad Stewart, stepped down effective immediately in the past week.

[wtnhunt]

Good luck. Dunno how much a rifle season will impact your herd if limits remain the same. We have a roughly 6 consecutive week long rifle season here, and i don't think it is the weapon that has had as much an impact as what the liberal limits have. Where just ten years ago we would regularly see a dozen does or more in a small food plot these days we are lucky to see four.

I still write the state with my input(they ask) and every year they come up with another slap in the face. This year was a lesson on carrying capacity and the author insisted the same as prior articles that this state is producing same age class bucks "big buck" states. Last estimate i heard was about half a million deer in TN.

You work in the insurance industry? What's your take on the industry influence on the state paid biologists?

[hoosierhunter]

Yes I do work in insurance and the State Farm and farm bureau lobby is very strong. When I spoke with the DNR earlier this year they made that extremely clear. The big issue with rifle hunting is our lack of topography and dense populations in the state. It may be ok for southern Indiana, but northern IN is flat. Then couple the fact that our deer herd is very down and the harsh winter, we are effectively walking off the proverbially cliff. I mean good grief my lifetime license allows me to legally harvest around 400 deer per year! And that's not a misprint 400!!!!

[wtnhunt]

I mean good grief my lifetime license allows me to legally harvest around 400 deer per year! And that's not a misprint 400!!!!

Here with a sportsman or the regular licenses and a type 94 supplemental permit you can take 3 antlerless deer a day from season start in September until the end of season in January. Have heard a lot of stories, one from a preacher who claimed someone he knew killed over 60 deer in a single season just to see how many he could.

[Rhino]

Don't have to deal with those special exception excess deer kill numbers by a hunter where I hunt. I don't know squat about the deer population issues in Indiana either. I can only suspect they were affected like Illinois was last year and possibly the prior year too with EHD die offs. In MO it was worse in 2012 than it was last year. Deer harvest numbers were down ~25% last year in MO. This year's gun season is over in MO now and harvest numbers are up but still 10% lower than they were 2 years ago. Gun season hunters were limited to only 1 doe this year too. There are other things being considered in MO now for next year to further benefit the deer herd.

Not sure how high powered rifles would add a substantial benefit to hunters there. I understand your concern with the flat land part of Indiana. Rifles have been legal to hunt with in MS for as long as I've been around. The delta area in MS from just N of Vicksburg to just SW of Memphis, TN is as flat as it gets. It's mainly agricultural land too and covers a huge area...possibly as much as half the size of Indiana. In that part of MS you can hunt with a rifle from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the end of January. That's a lot longer than the Indiana gun season so the impact is worse than it would be there.