I'll be honest I hope not. We don't have the terrain that warrants high powered rifles as a needed weapon. I mean shoot proper practice and loads in a ML can make someone very pinpoint deadly out to 300 yards...slug guns nowadays are being made ridiculously good at slinging slugs down range in the 200+yard range with accuracy. With the layout of Indiana and the already successful harvest numbers allowing any kind of rifle cartridge would only raise chance of injury or property destruction due to strays or more long range shots taken innapropriately. You want a dee/yote/misc killer well a shotgun can do this, a ML can do this, a pistol caliber rifle can...
Fellas if you are still chasing a buck tag, first couple weeks of December are shaping up to be very good! These colder temps have saved some bucks from gunners...and come the dark period around the first week of December look for some bruisers to be cruisin'....kinda wish I still had a tag!
That's what I was thinking! This warm weather is bogus! Looking forward to the temp drop and deer herding up. I haven't really been out a whole lot this year. Work/warm weather has taken it's toll on my season this year. Work is slowing down and the cold weather is here in mid-east Indiana. I'm ready to stick something!
Buy a .450 Bushie or .458 SOCOM upper for your AR. Already legal for Indiana, and problem solved. Both are capable of 250 yards, no problem. Can get one shipped to your door for like $400, no FFL required (upper only.) Also, there are some guys making custom bolt actions in some pretty cool wildcat cartridges that are Indiana legal... I think the .358 Hoosier (?) is the name? Their ads are in the DNR hunting regulations booklet.
respectfully disagree...Indiana has very diverse terrain, and population densities are almost as varied. Other states manage to divide into rifle/shotgun zones without too much trouble. Michigan has very similar terrain and population density, and they do OK. It all boils down to the human element. All else being equal, I'd rather see the average marksman take a 200 yard shot with a 30-06 than the average hunter try to fling a slug half that far. JMO
I think you're kind of making my point. The effective range of a 30-30 is roughly 200 yards. I've seen guys shooting this using shotguns and MLs with special loading and whatnot. So if you can already shoot that distance, why not allow that size of rifle? The only thing I can think of is "slow down". The slugs and MLs rounds will more than likely lose efficiency much quicker. That's the only thing I can think of. I agree that I don't think 30-06 or 308 is a good idea for Indiana. The .450 bushmaster on an AR is a great idea, but I really wasn't wanting to get in $2k deep (.223 AR + .450 upper).
I just don't see the need. Sensible/well practiced guys would be no more deadly or better hunters by allowing rifle cartridges over what is offered now....but you would be opening higher velocity rounds whizzing around by guys that shouldn't be allowed to shoot them. Minimize stupid I guess is my argument...if screening was done before allowing someone to hunt with them I'd be 100% behind them :D
Well I am tagged out on our indiana property so now it's time to start making plans for next year. We are starting to make plans for a few plots on our property. For our larger plots We have 2 small pastures about 1/4 acre each and also about 1/2-3/4 an acre to plant as well. Any of you from southern Indiana have any suggestions based on what has worked for you?
Good work buddy. I haven't been down that way in a month at least but we're hoping to head that way in the next week or two.
Yeah I ended up taking a 7 point during the gun season. he was about 60 yards away and about to leave my shooting window. I actually thought he was a different buck. We have a really old big bodied 6 running around and thats who I thought this was until I climbed down and realized it was not our old 6. Oh well, it happens from time to time. Now that we have a tractor and tiller I plan on getting some larger plots in because the nearest ag field is about 1 1/2- 2 miles away.
Honestly, Goose did hit the nail on the head for one plot I'd consider doing. A clover/chicory plot can thrive for 3-4 years if properly fertilized/trimmed back at times and receives some moisture. If you plant this in the spring or fall I'd include some winter rye or oats or buckwheat to help produce some other source of food while the clover matures and chicory does as well. This mix of clover and chicory though is great because offers two types of food with one being a lot more cold tolerant (chicory) than the other but both are food produces all year long outside of the cold winter time. I'm a massive advocate of brassica blends always present if possible on your property. This is the best way to provide tonnage to the localized deer herd in your area during the most food depleted winter months. Purple Top Turnips are a favorite and in my opinion should be found in every brassica mix. Tom, from Monsterraxx, will be putting out some plot mixes this next year that have been killer for those of us testing/using it this year. Ours was planted right before a supposed rain...but got none for over 3 weeks....despite that and not getting rain till basically October 1st we still got some great growth of leafy greens but bulbs just didn't get to full maturity...still tonnage there for the deer though. I also love your winter hardy cereal grains like rye/oats and dusting peas in or buckwheat. The key is diversifying your offerings. If you have three plots I'd do a Chicory/Clover one....and then the other two you could plant brassica type plots in one and the other a cereal grain mixture (can always lightly dust in PTTs) and rotate these two...but don't have bulb brassicas in the same plot for years and years as it can cause a kind of ground rot to set in...we don't go over 3 years..2 if good growing seasons in a row. Also keep in mind some plots are nitrogen fixing while others are nitrogen using....rotating these minimize the depletion of the nitrogen and can assist in growth of your plots. Don't overlook hinging though as well...provides awesome food at the deer's level through woody browse....as well as thickening up the place!
We have a small clover plot right now in our large pasture thats surounded by timber in the middle of our property. As of right now the plan is to increase its size to about 1/4+ acres. Thank you for all the information guys.
Hey guys kind of need some last minute advice. I I got permission last minute to hunt a large property in southern indiana that I've never even seen before. I plan on going all day Wednesday even with it being so cold. What are your guys tips on where to hang a stand. It is such a large property it's overwhelming. What are some key locations you guys would look for this time of year. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Google earth! Look for a good source, you can go back in time on google earth to somewhere close to the same time of year and locate and thing that's green. I tend to look for edges and cedar thickets because that's where the deer bed on our farm. But I tend to think my deer do everything backwards of a normal whitetail! Lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you're buck hunting I'd find the thickest nastiest stuff you can find. Which in most cases might be briars or honeysuckle. We still have some honeysuckle bushes with green leaves so I consider it a food source. This time of year with the snow it'll be easy to find the travel corridors once you're in there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
