INDIANA — Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed Senate Bill 241 into law on Monday. This bill requires the Indiana Department of Natural Services to establish a bobcat hunting season by July 1, 2025.
Senate Bill 241, authored by Sen. Scott Baldwin, passed through both the Indiana Senate and House despite critics’ resistance. Bobcats were endangered in Indiana until 2005, leaving many questioning whether the animal’s population was healthy enough to be hunted.
A significant point of contention was the lack of data on the bobcat population. While sightings of bobcats have increased over the last decades, many question if a species considered endangered 19 years ago has had enough time to claw back to being healthy enough to hunt.
No studies, estimates, or educated guesses about the bobcat population were presented during either the Senate or House committee hearing.
Critics also pointed out that the DNR already has the authority to implement hunting seasons independently and did not need a bill passed by lawmakers to create a new hunting or trapping season. Some expressed unease at Baldwin, a lifelong hunter who owns property in southern Indiana, flexing his legislative muscle to force the DNR into establishing a bobcat hunting season no matter their findings.
DNR previously sought to establish a bobcat hunting season in 2019 but ended up backing out after public backlash. At the time, DNR said the bobcat population didn’t support a sustainable hunting season. DNR has not said whether that decision has changed since 2019.
Hunters and trappers backed the bill. Senator Baldwin said the bill doesn’t set bag limits, meaning the DNR must establish a hunting season but could set the number of bobcats eligible to be hunted during the first season at any number, including zero.
DNR will work on deciding the first bobcat hunting season in 2025, including the method of take and bag limit.
