I know for a fact, in 1952 you had to consult your county Clerk for the season dates.

When I began hunting in the mid 80's the firearms season was just like it is now. 2 weeks long encompassing 3 weekends and I'm pretty sure it came in around November 10th.

I'm CERTAIN that archery has been expanded. When I began, archery began around October 10-15... somewhere in there. I know this to be true because I met my wife in 1988 and her birthday is October 1st. Right around that time- 1989-90 give or take, archery season opening day was moved to her birthday. Hunting on opening day of archery was OUT for me... Till the honeymoon was over

Muzzleloader season was not 2 weeks either. It gained a week a few years ago but I'm not certain when.

According to the IDNR the first year of a 16 day firearm season was 1967. That is 47 seasons of 16 days. the muzzleloader season expanded to 16 days and that was in 1992.... copied and pasted

YEP....

Several LE officers were worried about this bill and have contacted me and others including those in the outdoor press.

Right now almost no one from the DNR is allowed to set foot in the statehouse. The Pence administration has gagged the DNR.

Not a good way to make laws when the experts the state hires has to stay silent. Most of these legislators have very little respect for the resource and it's management.

I believe it was 92 when the muzzleloader season was expanded by a week and the buck limit went from 4 bucks to 2. The IDHA and IBA push for those changes. Also you had the Whitetail lobby come along too and then fade. They were pushing for trophy management. Previously one could take like 2 deer either sex with a bow, gun tag was buck, and an either sex with the muzzleloader. Some people cried then but not that many.

I don't ever remember being able to take 4 bucks here. I thought it was one in archery and one with a gun. If you tagged a buck in the general firearms you were only allowed a doe during muzzy season. Excluding any draw hunts, but I could be wrong.

Doug is correct regarding the four buck limit, but I'm pretty sure 1992 was the last year for it. The two buck system (one archery and one firearm/ML) took affect in 1993 I believe.

I do. I'll never forget the time pre change I took in some deer to be ground and the processor had buckets of forkies and small racked skull caps. One of the most vulnerable deer is the young buck in the rut. They are easier than adult does and you can bet guys took advantage of that. After all they still had more opportunity for a bigger one.

DNA is correct at one time you could take four(4) bucks, Hoosier hunters were fat and sassy with that limit of spikes and forks.

In exchange for another week of muzzleloader season the IDNR agreed to cut the buck limit to TWO(2). Later on sportsman demanded the IDNR cut the buck limit to one(1)....... to the dismay of the previous deer biologist(not Chad Stewart) we have seen a MAJOR increase in the age structure of bucks in Indiana harvests figures.

Now when it is evident hunters want further limits, people are screaming to leave it as is........ A great quote........ "If you keep doing the same thing and exspect a different result, YOU are doomed to fail."

We had a slow reduction plan that the populce did not like. They chose a different direction and the "perfect storm" arrived. NOW those same people want to hold IDNR acountable, and at the same time want to use a "conservative" approach to grow the herd again.

I want anyone, anyone and again anyone to show me another resource that we "peak and crash"! Show one instance of a resource where we grow it to where it is unaceptable then crash the resource ONLY to grow it again?

That's what you are asking for !

Give it a couple more years and we can re populate some counties . Of course that could NEVER happen.......... visit history. Indiana's last native deer was killed in 1892. Next hunting season was 1952............. Was there pistols with cenerfire being used in 1892? How about pistol caliber rifles, compound bows, crossbows,add in the range finders scent control Ect..........

Now tell me with todays improvemants we "can't" extripate whitetails from the State.

You are living in a dream world..........IDNR only dreams of revenue as it guarantees their J_O_B!

You wanted the rules we have today, step up and own it, we all get to live with it.

Wasn't there only one year of 4 bucks a year and then one year of 3 bucks and then it went right back to two bucks a year!!!.... And wasn't all this part of the herd reduction effort in the mid 1990s?

Allows a crossbow to be used by hunters who are at least 64 years old during the
early archery season
Allows a crossbow to be used during the deer firearms and muzzleloader seasons
by hunters of any age
Allows a hunter of any age to use a crossbow in an urban deer zone during the
urban deer season.
Allows a rifle cartridge to have a maximum case length of 1.8 inches instead of
1.625 inches
Seasons and Bag Limits
Allows youth hunters to take the number of antlerless deer allowed in each county
during the special youth deer season (in addition to one antlered deer)
Extends the urban deer season through January 31 of the following year
Requires hunters to take at least one antlerless deer prior to taking an antlered
deer in the urban deer season
Expands the urban deer zones in Lake and Porter counties to all of those counties
Changes the deer firearms season to start on the first Saturday before
Thanksgiving and continue for only 8 additional days
Shortens the deer muzzleloader season to only 9 days
Adds an antlerless deer only firearms season in October (2 days only) in counties
with an antlerless quota of 4 or more. The hunter may take the number of
antlerless deer in each county allowed under the bonus county quota.
Adds another antlerless deer-only firearms season from December 25 through
January 1 of the following year. The hunter may take the number of antlerless
deer in
Slow reduction plan,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Looks to me prop one had more doe killin days than prop 2, but I guess shortening firearms and muzzle loader and moving it out of the rut would save many, many does.

Deer hunters need to quit going at each other and work together to achieve what most want. You will never please all but I believe you can reach agreement on much of what people want. The real enemy is Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. and their hold on the legislature. This Farm lobby funded by their insurance company for years have lobbied the legislature to reduce the deer population which in turn gave a mandate to the DNR. Now Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. is lobbying on behalf of the High Fence Hunting operations and the Amish deer farmers to increase deer and deer hunting behind the fence. It's a fact I have witnessed it at the statehouse. More private wildlife less public. Hunters need to wake up. Limit access make money. The average hunter which I and others have tried to help for years is going to get squeezed out. The DNR really is at the mercy of the legislature and the legislature is under the influence of $$$$$$$ and who gets them elected.

Sportsmen are disorganized and shooting at the wrong target and often themselves.

I don't recall how many years the four buck system survived. It was more than one though. Took longer than that to get it snuffed. If there was a three buck system (I don't remember that being in place?), it would have been prior to four bucks.

The reduction effort of the mid-90's was all about bonus county antlerless tags. Up until then, does had been relatively protected..thus growing the herd.

Like Doug said, it was three sporting organizations (IBA, IDHA and Whitetail Lobby)responsible for the two buck limit.

This was also the same timeframe bowhunters were allowed to hunt through general firearms season...but only if you had not already killed a buck with a bow. The rule I never understood? (i.e. Two buck limit, but bowhunters had to pick up a gun (longer range, more efficient weapon) to kill one of them.

So, if you were a dedicated bowhunter, the two buck rule was in reality a one buck rule...a full decade before the actual one buck rule came into play.

Dang, has all of that really been more than twenty years ago!

The crazy thing is the people that supported 1.0 said it was the only way to reduce the deer herd. They said more opening days would create additional excitement and the shortened seasons would pressure hunters to harvest their deer sooner. They also said crossbows would just shift the harvest of one weapon to another. Now that we have gotten closer to the 60/40 split the DNR set as a goal while reducing the buck harvest and increasing the doe harvest the 1.0 people are back. This time they say we need 1.0 to help grow the herd and get it back to the levels it was before 2.0 which has been in effect for two seasons. I fail to see how a much more efficient reduction plan will now grow the herd but it just may work.

That is just absolutely false. Not one person I know of said it was the "only" way. There were several ways suggest in committee by many others.
The plan you refer to was the DNR's plan 80-90% of it. Were there things that committee members liked about it sure but it was the DNR. Participating in that group and then having the NRC reject it and then having others blame groups like the IDHA was BS. I still get angry that the groups took the hit for the DNR's plan. People want to blame someone for this one blame the NRC as well as the DNR. If the DNR ever ask the groups to support them on something I would run as fast as I can. They need a big license fee increase or they are to start laying people of they say. You are not going to see me stick my neck out.

I was not at the DNR, IDHA, SRT, or any other chats BUT I attended several NRC, Caucus, and other meetings. Doug, in my opinion, is correct with what he is saying. I am not a fan of the NRC. Really the whole legislation process controlling our outdoors sucks.

2 things..........

1) js2397..........TOTALLY FALSE STATEMENT. I don't know where people like you still to this day get their "facts" so warped. Just craziness........

2) DNA.......you bet the NRC drove the "rejection bus".........but just like any bus....there were just a FEW NRC members driving the NRC bus.

Bump..........continue to let the IDNR have your feedback. Many are letting them know we are SICK of what they were forced to do.........and SICK of what it is doing to our herd. Talked to 7 different hunters in just the last MONTH that say they are getting out of deer hunting next year due to lack of animals.

Ya see that IDNR.........Low Quantity = Lower participation = Lower IDNR revenue.

Better get busy getting ready to create interest in hunters again with your new regs as Quantity will NOT keep hunters buying tags. You've had a money making machine for decades with a long gun season......as long as you had quantity in place.

Many know that will be a bad formula for you to keep in the future to keep hunters interested in buying tags.......

........and a lot of us know what that next "interest" will be when "quantity" gets low........

True...

DNA has it correct, he was not directly involved but he was "connected" to teh process.

Now JJAS you can keep spouting the same line and "hope" people continue to buy the line. Now the "change" is evident........ lower deer seen and fewer deer taken by hunters. Wasn't the weather, wasn't standing crops...... heck we can't even blame the moon phase! Now it is EHD for two consecutive years....... how about 3 years ago when the southwest counties were affected? We were told everything was OK and counties would recover quickly.

NOW...... others affected in "other counties" are going to have to be patient...........LMAO!


Any excuse will work as long as Hoosiers continue to purchase licenses.........

I received a call tonight from a friend who asked why I even "bother to be involved"? I just can't let those who aren't educated or concerned get rolled by the "government".

This person has a standing in the Republican party. He stated that Governor Pence has presidential hopes, he has "gagged" IDNR, Republican legislature has manipulated districts, all in an effort to push a pro business agenda. Farm Bureau is also pro deer farming and shooting preserves, so ........we as hunters suck hind teat.

Enjoy the ride we created......

The only thing I think I would add at this point is that the DNR has been in essence, or seemingly so, "gagged" for a long time and certainly prior to the current governors administration. Additionally, it's not only the DNR but it's the approach of political administrations seem to have taken for all departments of government in all states across the country.

Now, maybe fewer hunters isn't all bad. When things become easy or there is excess, it is typical for there to be a lot of entrants into a sport or recreation. As things become hard and/or the excess lessens, it is reasonable for the number of actives to be reduced by natural elimination. The DNR has had pretty much no choice but to live of the deer licenses because so many other hunting activities have lessened due to a number of issues. The thing I have never fully understood though is that hunters complain about the cost of a license, yet when compared to other recreational activities, when the cost is extremely cheap. They'll spend thousands on a lease, equipment and travel expenses yet gripe about $25 for a license. If the DNR were allowed to run like a business, the cost of a deer license would likely be considerably more, especially if there is a reduced deer herd because oddly, a doe becomes more "valuable". So, while the legislature will never all a huge increase in the license structure, in my opinion, there is always a way to create income if really needed and granted by the executive office.

Got a permission sucured in Iowa, at least I will hunt one state that has it figured out, if I draw a tag? I will say this, if a hunter quits because he isnt seeing animals, he isnt a hunter. It's not an easy sport and we should have to work at it to KILL! I agree numbers are down, but are they managable now? Can we increase quality now? Before we burn the witch lets hear the story, and then we can adjust from there. Being blood thirsty has got us into this mess, the DNR hasnt killed all these deer, we did!

garman6:

You are correct,DNR didn't pull the trigger we did.DNR did provide the tools to make it happen, DNR lenghtened seasons, added more legal weapons and "educated" hunters that we had too many deer. If you keep telling people the same story it will become fact, just like "too many deer" it has become fact,just like the sports groups who participated in the last rule changes said it would reduce the deer herd.

I sat at the table, I reported on this site exactly what was said and asked for input on the next meeting/topic. Once we had a plan it was put out for public comment, BEFORE the comment period was over the NRC jumped in and scrapped the plan. Three members of the NRC called a meeting and told DNR what they were going to do. And we are where we are today!

"Can we increase quality now?" It will never happen under the present season and bag limit structure. You can not have the present length of gun seasons coupled with crossbows for the entire archery seasons and have mature bucks, a balanced male to female herd. Too much pressure, and in the end people will just fill the tag they purchased with their hard earned dollars.

Nothing will change, DNR will adjust some counties, hunters will still fill tags. Once DNR gives into political pressure and hunters who want more.........it NEVER goes away.

I've spent 30 years fighting for hunters and the DNR in the rule process and legislature, time for me to just hunt and protect my little piece of paradise. If I don't get the experience here in Indiana I will join you and others in another state.

Everyone should take some time to review a number of legislative bills in the statehouse this year. Especially some of the bills that will allow greater pollution of our streams and waterways and how we move more and more to disrespect every aspect of the environment. I'm all for a positive business and farming attitude, but frankly the direction being taken by the statehouse on many of these types of issues is a precursor to destroying Indiana wildlife and fishing resources. The deer issue is a micro example of a broader issue going on here in Indiana. Eventually, you will see Indiana go dramatically away from the conservative party because of how far the pendulum is swinging now.

Bump.........give your feedback........Deadline is Feb. 28th.

I am hearing that the IDNR is getting slammed by those sick of the devestation to their deer herds that our current regs are doing.

Let 'em have it.........

I agree..let them know how you feel...I sure have.

BTW...I've heard from several different sources that the number of bonus antler less quota permits will be lowered substantially (thus making the late antler less season a non issue in many counties) and......there is also talk about making it much harder to qualify for depredation permits in certain areas of the state.

And none of this requires changes to the regs and going through the mess we did just two seasons ago.....

Those wanting regs in Indiana like they have in Ohio.........please send your comments to the IDNR on the link posted currently on this forum. The IDNR is taking feedback on such till the end of February.

Here is some more advice........fill out the IDNR form multiple times, use fake e-mails, tell all your friends on Face-Book and Twitter to do the same.............then go to other hunting sites from Ohio, Iowa, Illinios, Kentucky, Kansas, etc and have them fill out replies also for our IDNR and have them tell our IDNR they want a shorter gun season in Indiana, out of the rut. The more Hoosiers that have this opportunity here at home........the less they will be traveling then to those states to hunt the deer they wish they had here. The neighboring states WIN by encouraging voting to keep us more like what THEY have.........that we want. Get them on board........it will reduce non-residents in their state they don't want from Indiana. Regs like those other states helps keep our hunters in Indiana. Get on those out of state Forums and get their hunters to help us get it done. Our IDNR is stuck with an "un-secure method" for gathering electronic feedback.....everyone knows it.....so EVERYONE should get to abuse it. May pave the way for more secure feedback and halt "multiple bullzhit" submissions that do not represent one person. But until that's fixed..........FLOOD our IDNR with feedback from anyone that can fill out that feedback form.

Here's the link gang.....let them have it.....

IDNR Feedback Link

These are the tactics that a few hunters used to get Prop 2.0 pushed through.

Repackage the A-Bomb and toss it back to them. Hoosiers are fed up with this mess.......the average deer hunter was NOT represented by Prop 2.0.........and our IDNR was NOT able to use their first choice of Prop 1.0 which was more like Ohio regs. Help our IDNR get the voices heard that will restore their first choice in the beginning.

DFTT

So in other words, encourage people to lie just to get your point across?

And people wonder why there is no integrity anymore... :rolleyes:

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Yep and Nope.

"Yep".......Use the same tactics that is being done as a few are doing to SQUASH what the average hunter wants. Do I like it....not one bit....

"Nope".........IDNR needs to realize and feel the significance of having UNSECURE electronic feedback. When it comes to things they really want to change........they better have a system in place where duplicate feedback can't happen. In the meantime.......prove the point of how REDICULOUS the system for feedback as it is set up is currently.

Multiple ways to skin this friggin cat.....

And there are people right NOW absolutely FURIOUS that the IDNR may change to a secure system for average hunter feedback. They are FURIOUS about what it may reveal....

Push it.........

What dew you consider the average Deer hunter to be like

One deer hunter with ONE voice.......whatever that may be.

Not..... "one deer hunter" that has MULTIPLE voices .........to PUSH whatever that may be.

I'm not sure the average deer hunter was represented by either plan. I actually imagine that the average would have supported 2 because I really don't believe the average deer hunter wants firearms shortened. Now, I believe things could change with the seeming reduced deer in the field but I pretty much believe there will have to be a lot of pain before guys will give up access and opportunity. It's just human nature.

Other than lowering the number of bonus antler less permits available (and thus lowering the number of counties participating in the late antler less season)...I doubt much changes this upcoming season.......

Your asking the wrong person that question. dew has no idea what the average Indiana deer hunter is. He is, and always will be the average Indiana deer hunters biggest enemy, but when it's all said and done the INDNR will see he's just a PITA antler junky who's main objective is, and always will be lowering the odds of the average hunter to tag one of his bucks.

^ this

X -2......someone just hit a home run!!!

We both know that the momentum being built isn't about THIS upcoming season.....