All the information of every County, State Area, Refuge/Military hunts/State Park Reduction Hunts/Deer Reduction Zones, EHD/CWD surveillance, deer/vehicle collisions and much more ... a breakdown of the 2019/2020 season that is very very in depth ... over 160 pages in PDF form .. http://www.state.in.us/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-DeerSummaryReport_2019.pdf
Joe Caudell our State Deer Biologist is a good guy, Ive talked to him on numerous occasions ...the DNR FINALLY has dropped the bonus anterless tags down to most of the state being a two bonus tags now (many counties were 4-8 bonus antlerless) .. its about time they are done hammering the Does .... we are still a One buck state with regular tags (a few exceptions ,Reduction zones and special draw hunts) ....
I’m glad they dropped down the county quotas. There for a bit, it seemed I.W.D.H.M had urged the dnr to do a county board idea to dictate quotas. I know they did some pilot programs, and then it seemed the dnr got more involved and lined out the county quotas. I thought they did really well when cases of EHD hit and the cut antlerless quotas again. It seems like the biologist and the DNR are on the same page now. The survey had some questions about having multiple buck tags...I don’t know. There are multiple theories. Of course I want to have two opportunities at a buck, but I’m not sure that’s the best way to go.
I believe when Indiana went to the One Buck Rule, it was the best deer management move they ever did .... many feel the same ... I'd hate to see it go back .... the overall age for Bucks taken has gone up, it makes guys stop and think about what they are about to kill ... Ive grown more picky as Ive gotten older .... heck, I'll hold out and even if it takes me more than one season to get a good buck, I'm happy... I can always kill a Doe for meat... since I'm on state land, I hold out for a 3.5 yr old or older... sometimes it works out, sometimes it take two to three years .... I for sure wont kill one less that 2.5 ... my 2016 and last years buck were 3.5 yr olds ... Ive got 25 bucks on my wall(s), I can be picky .... one can always kill another Buck on a State Park reduction hunt or in a reduction/urban zone .....
