TOPIC:

Indiana DNR is asking Indiana deer hunters questions on how you think the deer herd is being managed and possible proposal changes.

There has been a change in the top position for deer hunting management at the state level, Joe Caudill is not new to Indiana deer management. He recently has left the fish management side of the INDNR and is now the top guy for deer management. He is trying to right the ship. If you see this stuff show up in your email please take the time to fill it out.

Did it yesterday 

I filled out mine today.. The thing I don't get is the talk about making Indiana a Trophy hunt only. For me it's nice to shoot a big 1 but it's not the real reason I hunt. Just my 2 cents. 

I saw that Wildkat. I am only assuming here but, there are many groups out there trying to move their agenda in the hunting world. So by sending out a survey that covers that plus other silly stuff like a velvet season in August, they (INDNR) are covering everything from a -z . At the end of this will be a new roll out state wide for deer hunting. The survey will help lead them in the right direction,. I suspect that Indiana is now moving into a new way of doing business with the public, and we may see something like this for the fisheries on lake Michigan.

Oh boy that sounds like we'll have more to think about than enjoying our outdoors. 

I am a western PA native living in MI. I hunt w PA and have done so for about 45 years. Thus i dont know anything about IN deer mgt (or MI) but i will relay some observations from PA. In 2002, PA implemented antler restrictions. Since then i have seen many more bucks each year than i did before that. The purpose of the restrictions is to ‘improve’ the quality of the buck component of the population. It has worked in my opinion, both in the number of bucks and the racks size. In the several wildlife management units that border OH, a legal buck must have ‘3up’ on one side. ‘3 up’ means 3 primary points off the main beam, brow tines cannot be included. As you can imagine, you really need to get a good look before hitting the safety button. Even with this, I've been getting plenty of looks. In 2021, i saw 6 bucks on opening day, four of them did not have 3 up and i could not tell on the other two. I shot a 7 point on the 3rd day; during the 3 days i think i had 9 buck sightings. Over the past 5 years i have shot three 8 pts and the 7 pt. None have been wall hangers but all were very nice racks. (I hope this is not misconstrued as boasting, only intended to substantiate my points.) Bottom line, the antler restrictions, plus sound antlerless harvest management, have resulted in improved buck hunting.  I don't know if a preponderance of small racks, or the number of bucks are issues in IN or MI, but if they are and the state considers changes similar to PA, do some good homework before developing opinions. BTW, PA has exceptions to the rack rule for military, disabled, kids. 

Interesting concept. 

I've filled out 2 surveys so far. Glad they are doing this.