History of White - Tailed Deer Hunting in Indiana

        During the early 1800s, white-tailed deer were abundant in Indiana. Because there was such a large number of deer, they were an important food source for families. At the time, there were no laws in place concerning the hunting of deer. Therefore, deer were hunted legally year round without hunting license requirements (“Indiana Deer Hunting”). Due to the lack of hunting license requirements, it was possible for one anonymous Indiana settler to harvest 937 deer within 12 years (“Timeline Photos”). Due to settlers being able to acquire such large numbers of game, conservation-related departments began to emerge by 1837. The first of these being the State Geologist. Departments such as this would later become the Department of Conservation, the precursor to today’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) (“DNR Historical Timeline”).

        Though white-tailed deer were abundant in the early 1800s, by 1850 they were scarce. Unregulated hunting led to the last deer being harvested in 1893, and not another deer was seen for the next 41 years (“Timeline Photos”). Due to the extinction of white-tailed deer in Indiana, the Department of Fisheries and Game was created in 1899 (“DNR Historical Timeline”). The department’s job was to perform lake, river, and stream surveys for different sizes of fish in each environment and manage fish hatcheries. The Indiana Department of Fisheries and Game also managed public lands to provide hunting opportunities, consulted with private land owners, taught people about fish and wildlife, and enforced the rules and regulations associated with fishing and hunting (“Careers”).

        Two years after the Department of Fisheries and Game was created, it became a requirement to own a hunting license in order to hunt (“DNR Historical Timeline”). Thirty-three years later in 1934, the Indiana Division of Fish and Game began deer restoration efforts that would last until 1942. In an attempt to repopulate Indiana with white-tailed deer, 296 deer were purchased from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina for release (“Timeline Photos”; “Indiana Deer Biology”). Ideal conditions created high reproductive rates, allowing the small herd to grow to 900 deer by 1943. By 1946, there was an estimated 2,700 white-tailed deer in Indiana (“Timeline Photos”).

        Nearly six decades after the last deer was harvested in Indiana, the first regulated deer hunting season took place. This season only lasted for three days, and at this time there was an estimated 5,000 white-tailed deer in Indiana (“Timeline Photos”; McCreedy). By 1956, deer were being transplanted throughout the state in order to spread out the population, and from this time until 1979 the deer population flourished. This interlude of time also marked the creation of the Indiana DNR (“Timeline Photos”). Created in 1965, the state agency helped with the conservation of land and animal populations in Indiana. Primarily, however, the DNR monitored white-tailed deer and wild turkey populations (“DNR Historical Timeline”).

        By 1980, the annual deer harvest tally hovered around 20,000.  Nine years later, the deer harvest began approaching 80,000 and deer conflicts became widespread throughout the state (“Timeline Photos”). Typical deer conflicts included deer and vehicle collisions and damage to crops and property (“Deer Reproduction...”). Two years later in 1991, there was an estimated 350,000 deer in the state of Indiana (McCreedy).

        Over the years, deer hunting in Indiana has been split into different seasons, and restrictions have been set on the size and number of deer can be killed and kept, bag limits. This is done to prevent the white-tailed deer from being completely killed off again (“Bag Limit Law…”). The bag limit for white-tailed deer in Indiana is three deer (“Deer Seasons...”). This applies in all seasons except urban zone deer hunting, which is primarily an early, early archery season (“Deer Seasons...”). The three deer harvested can be a combination of three antlerless deer or two antlerless deer and one antlered deer. However, an additional license, called a bonus antlerless license, can be bought (“Deer Seasons...”). This special hunting license is used as a way to control white-tailed deer populations by harvesting female deer. Thus, bonus antlerless licenses can only be used on female deer and cannot be used during urban zone hunting (“Deer Seasons...”). All deer that are harvested must be checked in at a registered deer check-in station. This is done so that the DNR can keep record of the number of deer harvested annually in Indiana (“Deer Seasons...”).

The timeframe for legal deer hunting in Indiana is split into three seasons, each with their own restrictions and regulations. The first actual hunting season each year for white-tailed deer in Indiana is archery season. Archery season actually consists of two seasons each year: early archery season and late archery season (“Deer Seasons...”). Early archery season begins in October and lasts for about two months. Late archery season begins in late December and goes into January. In order to hunt during archery season, one must have one of the following licenses: an archery license, a deer license bundle, a bonus antlerless license, a resident youth hunt/trap license, a lifetime comprehensive hunting or hunting/fishing license, or a crossbow license (“Deer Seasons...”).  A deer license bundle is valid for all deer seasons excluding the urban deer zone season and allows individuals to harvest up to three deer with one license (“Deer Seasons...”).

During archery season, four types of bows are legal (“Deer Seasons...”). One of these is a long bow. This bow is roughly six feet in length and traditionally made from yew, ash, elm or wych elm trees (“The Longbow”). The arrows for a long bow are traditionally three feet in length. According to stories from medieval times, if an oak tree is shot at with a long bow at a 200-meter distance, the arrow will pierce through one inch of solid oak (“The Longbow”). Another type of bow is a compound bow. This bow is made up of one string, one or two disks called cams, camshaft, and one or two harness cables (“Understanding Compound Bows”). Compound bows can be made faster by increasing the draw weight. They also have a letoff point, the point at which the force the archer is using to draw the bow back is lessened and holding the string of the bow back is easier (“Understanding Compound Bows”). A third type of bow is a recurve bow. This is a bow that is 56 inches or longer and typically pulls back 40 pounds (Nazzal). Like a long bow and a compound bow, a recurve bow is required to have a draw weight of at least 35 pounds (“Deer Seasons...”). This means the peak amount of weight that an archer will pull while drawing a bow back to maximum draw length is 35 pounds. More specifically, draw length is the distance from the nocking point, where the arrow is put on the string, to the throat of the grip plus 1 ¾ inches (“Draw Length and Draw Weight”). Besides a recurve bow, there is also a crossbow. This is a weapon that has a prod, the curved front of the crossbow with an attached string, mounted on a stock similar to that of a rifle stock. This prod has a mechanism which winds and shoots the bolts. A crossbow also contains a string that is held in place by a bolt rest when the bolt is loaded and the crossbow is engaged. Crossbows must have a draw weight of at least 125 pounds (“Crossbow”). All arrows being used for hunting must be tipped with broadheads flat, triangular, steel arrowheads with sharp edges (“Deer Seasons…”; “Broadhead”). Broadheads are to be made of metal, be metal-edged, or made of napped flint, chert, or obsidian (“Deer Seasons...”).