Hi everyone.
My inlaws have a family farm in starke county and they've given me permission to hunt it. It think it's a hundred acres or so but mostly ag fields....maybe 30 to 40 acres of woods. I've been there twice but just to visit. I saw some deer in the area so i know they're there. I'm an avid deer hunter but I hunt in south ga and north fl.....so Indiana is foreign to me. Was hoping for some tips:
When is the rut usually?
I'm all about qdm....are 130+ inch bucks common?
Just in case it doesn't work out at the farm...what's the goin rate on deer leases in that area? What about private hunts?...anything like that in that area?
Thanks

Skeeter,

Not real familiar with Starke County. But, I've hunted in Indiana since the late 70's. There should be decent deer there.

Best week to bow hunt, in my opinion, is the week before firearms season opens. It should open on Saturday, November 15th this year. Best week to gun hunt would be first week Nov. 15 - 22.

I would think a lease would be difficult to find. They are around, but not super popular here. I have no idea on rates. Check out the Indiana DNR web-site for public land to hunt in that area. Overall not a lot of public land to hunt in Indiana. Vast majority is private land. You will just have to network with your family or start knocking on doors. But, my guess is that it would very difficult to find a place that isn't already being hunted. You might find places to hunt, but I doubt it would be exclusive unless you were able to lease.

Overall, I would say 130" are fairly common. That would be a very nice 2.5 year old or average 3.5 year old here.

Good luck!

Starke is up here by me.....it is farm land, flat usually with some dips here and there depending on location...sandy soils, woods can be Oak, some Walnut, Ash, Maple, wild cherry, etc...the north county line is the Kankakee river....Deer and turkey, coyote, squirrel, bunnies, woodchucks, some fox and the usual fur bearing critters.....If you know what your doing, food plots can help....also find out what the neighbors are like...are the the crappy brown and down crowd or do they practice good management.....Starke is known for nice deer so dont go shooting 1.5yr olds....130"+ 185lb deer are common if you know what your doing....find out what the other properties are like too, 'cause the deer will travel from property to property and woodlot to woodlot....If you want a guide, I'm available ;0) ....

thanks guys.

I know Starke County a little and from what I have seen I have been impressed with the turkey and deer I see there when I am up that way visiting my parents...

You have some public ground up there as well if it is not working out on the family land but with 100 acres you should be in good shape...

You can check out Winimac, Jasper-Pulaski, and Kankakee Fish & Wildlife Areas as they are all in the area...

several good public options in the area, have to do your homework but some good hunting can be had on these public properties.

Thanks for the pointers..
Ill prob just plan on shootin only does for a year or two until I can get a feel for the deer herd there...unless daddy war buck steps out.
Now if I can only figure out the indiana rules and regulations...took a glance at those today....I might just be a slow southern boy, but wow....

Your allowed 1 buck... period ..... with any weapon, depending on what season you hunt....1 and done. ...Antlerless can be killed using "bonus" tags(per county quota) or a archery tag, keep the other archery tag for a buck(or buy the sporstmans license)....then there is the late antlerless gun season in counties with a bonus of 4 or more antlerless....yea, it can get confusing.....

Starke county can be a real good area, 130" bucks are pretty much the norm for 3.5 year olds, and you might bump into something better.

If nobody has been hunting the place, you could have some trespassing issues you aren't aware of yet. A friend that had a lease in Stark Co had terrible problems with the neighbors and locals trespassing ans stealing stands and cameras. Hope that is not the case with you.

The first week of firearms is usually good, catches rutting activity, and your odds are much better with a gun than bow. You can buy non res tags on the internet without a draw, and you can get a doe tag or two also.

Oh yeah ... IN has some strange firearms requirements if you're from a rifle state; shotgun, muzzle loader, handguns or rifles shooting "pistol caliber" cartridges. You can't use your 30-06, 308, 270, 243, etc.

Can't speak for other public areas, but Winamac can be a darned good place to hunt, and after the opening weekend it won't be too crowded.