Indiana Deer Harvest 2022-23

Data as of 11/27/2022 7:00:36 AM 109,140

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wil...mals/white-tailed-deer/deer-harvest-data

Looking like a strong year so far, in statewide numbers. To-date 112,109 which looks like is slightly higher to this point than any year in the last 7 years they have charted.

And....antlered bucks kill is also higher at 55976 so far.

and it is done WITHOUT all the extra bonus tags and the for now defunct late rifle (kill all the does) season ....

And this being the year we cycled back to the earliest firearm start date probably helped boost the buck take. They get a lot more visible (dumb) from about the 12th to the 20th.

Strongly depends where you're at. Switzerland is way down and on it's way to zero lol. Many counties around here are down.

Add license increases also…. DNR is smiling I say!

120,434 as of 9:05 am on December 28th

Antlered buck kill totals way up for firearm and down for bow & crossbow.

more Bucks taken than Antlerless .... its now been 3 years since Ive killed a Doe .... I am seeing more bucks during the season than Does on the state land I hunt (is that really a good thing ?)... Ive talked to others there that also wonder that, where are all the Does on the place ?? ... I cant go by this new data system on the state properties. I cant find ANY accurate 'data' about state/public lands (other than the State park hunts) that breaks down each F&W areas/preserves, etc like they used to have on the year end reports .... looking at what the DNR has for the 3 counties of the "public" land/F&W area it now shows OVER 400 deer being taken off that one "public"/F&W area .... THAT is impossible ...

Explain how the DNR harvest record is wrong in YOUR opinion?

Folks checking in phantom Deer?

yea, its F'd .... there is only 8100+- acres (JP).... Ive hunted it since 1981, so I know the place very well .... ... 2017 is when the DNR started to include all the various F&W areas, preserves, Game Bird mgt areas and the like in the online report ... 2017-114 killed, 2018 -113 killed, 2019-140 killed, 2020- 113 killed, no online report from 2021 to now..... even back in the days of the super high deer populations (late 80's, '90's/early 2000's) they were around a 200 +- kill mark .... are idiots killing deer on private and then checking them in for the State lands, yea, its possible. Not until the F&W area(s) matches up online checked in kills for the property with their property cards will they have a semi-accurate count .... there is NO WAY that property has seen 400 deer killed this season, NO WAY !! ...

heck, the two largest F&W areas up north are Willow Slough/Kankakee Sands which combined is around 18,000 acres (WS-9600+-acres /Kankakee Sands 8400 acres) and they average 115-150 each year ... and Pigeon River which is 11,000 acres, and they are around the 200-around 300 yearly kill .... I'm calling downstate this week to find out whats up ..

if one includes the 600 acre non-huntable refuge on JP, and all the lakes/water areas and the Nursery, there is waaaay less than the 8100 acres of useable/huntable deer habitat ... there 'prolly isnt 400 resident deer on the place either ..

Report back with what your told…. I have a hard time believing the live harvest data is skewed!

Can’t kill what’s not there the numbers don’t lie IMO

the only thing I can see is that the daily numbers are a conglomerate of the F&W areas and any other smaller properties, I even looked up the " where to hunt' and looked at those smaller properties that are with in the counties that make up JP (3 counties)..... those kill numbers are also added in to the daily kill. .....without the Year End deer report/summary of years past there isnt a way to see those kill numbers as they are now all lumped together .. (??) ...

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/files/fw-deer-summary-report-2020.pdf (last year of the report)

Public Land Harvest data/numbers start on page 22/23 and cover the state owned properties ... many of those smaller lands have much lower kill numbers 1-15ish ..... however, Winimac F&W area is included in those 3 counties too, so that adds in to the kill numbers ...... they need a separate report or a way to access the kill numbers on the public lands and break 'em down as a per property basis like they use to do on the year end report ... smh ..

What's crazy is that they have the data, they just don't let us see it. Idnr does not care about deer hunters.

Have you tried to get the data and been denied?

the info on the individual public lands is NOT available thru this new data set up, not that I can find ... did you look at those 2-3 pages from the 2020 Deer report ?? .... THAT is what I want to see ....

they have info on the park reductions ... not sure if 2021 is the last of these ... https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/files/sp-2021-deer-management-reduction-results.pdf

the info on the public lands may be there (I doubt it) and its just that I cant find it .... BTW, who heck is the new deer biologist, or do we even have one yet ??

its a Federal Holiday today, so I cant even get hold of anyone down state ...I may try the regional Biologist also ....

Joe Caudell is back as biologist and has been for over six months .... contact info 812-822-3300 jcaudell@dnr.IN.gov

Good, I liked him .....

ok, talked to Caudell this AM ..... he said the year end deer reports/summary will still be coming out ... just cant give an aprox. date ... he said due to losing personnel (?), its hard to get them out in a timely manor ..... and no, there isnt a way for the public to access the Individual "public' property yearly kills until the report is out online .... smh ...

Glad you was able to connect with him.

Did you try asking him for the information you wanted?

no, I did not, since he said the report is forth coming, I'll be patient and wait ... just unsure of how long it will be ... they are a year behind, and now this season is over, so there is another that needs completed. the last one that is online is 2020 ...

went down to the property today to check a cam, start scouting for next season and talk to the property mgr ... they had only 80 deer killed on the place, these were from the cards turned in. ... they will get the final totals when they reconcile the numbers from downstate he said but dosnt expect a huge increase from the 80 .. as I said, NO WAY they killed 400 deer ... it is the way the daily harvest data is set up that shows such a high number, a conglomerate of any state owned within those counties and they dont break down the individual properties unfortunately ..