INDIANA...

[AvgOtdrsmnLf]

Any Indiana people or maybe NR who hunt Indiana, how would you feel about these changes?
Look at the pdf and then read through my thoughts on why these could make sense for the IDNR to consider...


1. Get the gun season out of the Rut. This move in itself would move Indiana from an Opportunity state to a Quality state with an immediate impact on our age structure. Following the model of Iowa (because everyone wants what Iowa has) Early December seems to make a lot of sense.

2. Archery..... Crossbows are not equal to Compounds. Compounds are not equal to Traditional (no cams/wheels or sights). Lets stop treating them all as such. Indiana could become a unique destination by allowing Traditional Archers first crack at those patternable (maybe still velvet) September deer. October 1 would welcome Compound Archers. Crossbow hunters will enter the woods November 1 and be able to hunt through the rut. *Crossbows would be allowed during Compound season for those with a medical exemption*

This feels like a great move and compromise for gun hunters, crossbow hunters, compound archers, and traditional archers. Match the difficulty/efficiency of the weapon with the time of year.

3. Variety of weapon seasons will help to disperse the investments of hunters throughout the hunting industry acquiring various equipment. Rather than Crossbow and rifle companies scooping up the money and dictating the direction of the DNR, everybody can have their piece of the pie.

4. Including 3 tags through all seasons in the Deer Permit will help encourage a healthy harvest of antlerless deer (and keep the insurance companies happy).

5. License costs... Decrease the cost for Residents, Increase the costs for NR with anticipation of them seeking unique season opportunities and top Quality chances. Quota of NR tags would soon need to be considered with a point system being put in place.

 

[HoosierHunter07]

I like it.

So is the first sheet current seasons, and the second sheet your proposed seasons?

I've had a lifetime license since I was a teen so I'm not really up to date on license fees.

 

[AvgOtdrsmnLf]

I like it.

So is the first sheet current seasons, and the second sheet your proposed seasons?

I've had a lifetime license since I was a teen so I'm not really up to date on license fees.

Yeah, sorry I should have made that more clear! 1st sheet is current seasons, 2nd sheet is my proposed, and third is my proposed license cost changes. I used 2024 dates for easy comparison.


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[Q_Sertorius]

Yeah, sorry I should have made that more clear! 1st sheet is current seasons, 2nd sheet is my proposed, and third is my proposed license cost changes. I used 2024 dates for easy comparison.


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Not an Indiana hunter, but I loathe special seasons. The only justification for the means people can use on deer should be public safety. It makes sense to limit people to bows/compound bows/crossbows while there is greenery on the trees and visibility is limited, but otherwise it’s just bad imo. The only ones who would really benefit from this are the equipment sellers, who get to sell three different bows, a muzzle loader, and a rifle to each hunter.

If you want to brag about using a regular bow and feel superior to someone using a compound bow or crossbow, then do so, but you don’t need a special season just for that.


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[AvgOtdrsmnLf]

Not an Indiana hunter, but I loathe special seasons. The only justification for the means people can use on deer should be public safety. It makes sense to limit people to bows/compound bows/crossbows while there is greenery on the trees and visibility is limited, but otherwise it’s just bad imo. The only ones who would really benefit from this are the equipment sellers, who get to sell three different bows, a muzzle loader, and a rifle to each hunter.

If you want to brag about using a regular bow and feel superior to someone using a compound bow or crossbow, then do so, but you don’t need a special season just for that.


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Just to clarify, I don’t hunt with a traditional bow and have shot deer with both a compound and a crossbow, so not a bragging thing.

But, I think being forced to learn and become efficient at getting within close range and accurate with traditional equipment in order to hunt September will only be beneficial in growing and developing people’s skills and knowledge of the outdoors (including mine) while taking on a new challenge.


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[satchamo]

I’ve lived in IN my whole life and never deer hunted it. I cross the river into IL where we have land and way more access due to both my mom and dad being from there.

Your gun season length couple with now allowable center fires is more of a hindrance than the season timing IMO. Is it too early? Sure but you have almost a month straight of gun bunting when you include muzzleloader.

In IL we get 7 days with an additional 4 days for muzzleloader and some shoulder antlerless seasons…. And we can only use shotguns/ML and now straightwall