Hey @tynimiller and @pastorjim08 and anyone else I am missing- looking to get into some Indiana late season hunting and I see they have a separate crossbow liscense vs. regular archery. As it's late season and I really want some meat in the freezer, I want the option (if legal) to do either/or. If I buy (only) a crossbow license, can I still hunt w/ a verticle bow? I can't find where it's expressly forbidden; in the regs it's clear you can't hunt w/ a x-bow using just a regular archery, but doesn't say anything about the other way.
I'm pretty sure you have to have a separate license according to what weapon you are using. I remember the first year I used a crossbow, I didn't pay alot of attention and purchased an archery license. I killed a deer and then realized I had made a mistake. I registered it as a crossbow kill with the archery license. No one ever said anything, so I guess they didn't pay much attention. Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
Not saying you're wrong, but that seems dumb as they cost the same and have the same season dates. I don't know why more states don't let you hunt with the 'lesser' weapon all tags. Lots of guys will switch back and forth to and from crossbow. In WI you just pay a $3 crossbow 'endorsement' fee. MI doesn't matter the weapon, the tags are good for whatever but each weapon has it's season dates (and you can always use any archery during any gun season.) Actually, same question would apply to MZ. I was thinking about getting a MZ license but wanted to take my bow out with me. Guessing that's a non-starter without each type of tag?
Well the weird part is that you can hunt with an archery/crossbow tag throughout the firearms seasons. That seems like a contradiction to me with the separate crossbow/archery license. I don't know, maybe they're just trying to keep track of how many deer are taken with each weapon. I dunno Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
Dnoodles.. indiana is trying to expand its license sales cause they are loosing hunter buying license from its own residents. More license types more revenue. $$$ If you have a valid lifetime license from when you lived in Indiana you could use it at no cost. Doubt you have one though because they did away with them a long time ago. You wanna use bow and xbow $480... If you want to hunt any season with any weapon a bundle is available for $550. This would be 3 tags. One buck and two antlerless.
thanks. They're dumb. They're making it cost-prohibitive. Hopefully they learn. Yeah, I don't have a lifetime license, sure wish I did. They weren't offering them when I lived there and I think I was out of hunting for that time frame. Oh, well. I'll figure it out.
They are more interested in their revenue stream than they are in recruiting more hunters by making license cost favorable.
It was not revenue based. It was for tracking purposes AND until still quite recent crossbows were not allowed in the same timeframe as vertical archery equipment. The old deer biologist actually sat down with me on an old podcast idea (Indiana Deer News) and outlined how that is all changing. Soon the archery license, agree or disagree, will be all encompassing of any legal equipment; compound, traditional, crossbows.
Maybe so 6 or 7 years ago. But rising license cost no matter the scenario are revenue based. They need the cash to operate. Less hunters equals less revenue.
When the last license increase hit, how long do you think it had been since they increased them? Indiana historically has been one of the slowest states to increase license privileges. FTR this isn't a defense of their decisions, I was just in a couple meetings and constantly try and stay up to date on NRC decisions, discussions and deer biologist updates. Non-consumptive user fees I wish were somehow able to be conducted and granted PR or JD funds like hunting licenses. If all the non-consumptive users of public lands and state operated grounds would also help fund conservation the difference would be tremendous. Shoot I know some hiking and kayaking groups that encourage their members to purchase a basic hunting license just so it counts towards PR fund calculations...that's awesome.
As far as I was concerned, an Archery license covered all archery equipment. I just always buy a Bundle but I'm a resident
crossbow license or a bundle is for crossbows.... Archery license is for vertical bows .... you can get a "antlerless bonus license" and use any weapon that is legal for 'antlerless deer' within that particular season... you are allowed only ONE buck with any legal hunting tool (special hunts can allow an extra buck, urban for ex. if you kill a doe first with an urban/reduction zone license)....number of Antlerless depend on county, but you can hunt different counties .. at one time you could kill over 300 deer in a season the way the licensing structure was, but that would entail buying the various license, hunt every county, fill every tag and participate in the 'special hunts and urban zones' (possible, yes/probable, no).... urban zones/deer reduction zones using those tags are 10 deer, 1 buck + 9 antlerless or just 10 antlerless ..... I sold licenses for many years as also being a check in station(when those were around) and was a hunter ed instructor for many years .. a reminder, even if bowhunting or using a crossbow when ANY deer firearm season or muzzeloader season is open, you MUST wear blaze orange ..... per the regulations/DNR .... To use a crossbow during the archery season, an individual must have a crossbow license, deer license bundle, bonus antlerless, resident youth hunt/trap, lifetime comprehensive hunting, or lifetime comprehensive hunting/fishing license.
thanks everyone, I just realized how dumb I was not to have been hunting down near Kankakee, Willow Slough, Iroquois, and LaSalle all these years I have lived in the Chicago area, esp back when IN non-resident tags were like $120. I could bounce back and forth across the state line and on the Kankakee river system. All that area is only about an hour from me. Occasionally I hunted back in Wabash or Huntington (IN) when my parents still lived there, but that was several years ago; and that's 3 hours from me. So I've been driving 3 hours each way to hunt in IN, WI, or MI for like 15 years. I'll be sticking with archery or x-bow there this year, but I may have to pick me up a .350LGND since it's legal in both IN, IL, and in southern MI.
Willow Slough is known for HUGE bucks, they now have quite a bit of The Nature Conservancy property under their control .. they also have a large portion where they re-introduced Bison on it (fenced in ), neat to see .. I hunted Pheasant/quail, bunnies there for many years ... its about 70 miles for me to drive there (one way), so I havnt been there in a while.. used to hunt 'yotes there in Jan/Feb. killed around a dozen there thru the years with my 22-250 .... there is over 10,000 acres now, including the TNC lands.. they have done a lot to bring back the natural plains savanna which is where the Bison are located (no access there), however much of the TNC is huntable ... some great waterfowl hunting there also, Iroquois is also known for good waterfowl hunting ..... all properties are by daily draws for waterfowl ... Kankakee FWA is also great for waterfowl, not so much for deer .... there was a 201" buck found dead at Kingsbury a few years back, no sign of how it died, a few 160's killed there this season ...... the 201" is in their check in station, my buddy did the euro mount for them... he does all my deer and critters, been friends since jr high/high school when we trapped together on the Kankakee river ... ...
My folks moved to FL like 7 years ago so I don't have any roots there anymore. But there is some real good hunting in both resevoir areas. Salamonie too.
hunted down there for two years on a lease ... tough property to get into because of where we had to park .... over by Rich Valley ... took one nice Buck, a spring Turkey and a 'yote ... trespassing sucked as did the f'n dogs.. we gave it up after two years ... had less pressure and problems on local state lands than down there which was a 105 mile drive one way for me ... .... my SR350 came from Bass and Bucks down there... nice place .... btw, love the terrain in that part of the state ....
I live about 20 miles from bass and bucks. I just drove there the other day to look at a 350 legend. You're right, that is pretty country around rich valley Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
