INDIANA—The Indiana Department of Natural Resources requests public feedback on its proposed deer hunting rule changes. The new rules would be more straightforward and transparent for Indiana’s hunting community than the current regulations.
“What we try to do is look at the regulations without making any significant changes to how things work, really kind of narrow down what the public is having the hardest time understanding if they want to get into deer hunting,” said Joe Caudell, state deer biologist for Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The rule changes are as follows:
- A statewide bag limit of six antlerless deer and a newly created county antlerless bag limit instead of season antlerless bag limits. Because of this change, the bonus antlerless license would be the multiple-season antlerless license that could be used in the archery, muzzleloader, and firearms seasons.
- Hunters could not harvest antlerless deer on the Division of Fish & Wildlife properties with firearms.
- The use of crossbow equipment would be allowed under the archery license.
- The minimum caliber for a muzzleloader would be reduced from 0.44 inches to 0.40 inches.
- The special antlerless firearms season would be removed.
The possible rule changes would majorly affect the 2025/26 hunting season. Officials will hold a public hearing for the deer hunting rule proposal on August 26, from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. ET, at the Atterbury Fish & Wildlife Area, 7970 S. Rowe St. in Edinburgh. You can attend in person or online anytime during the timeframes.
To attend the public hearing virtually, go to Microsoft Teams and enter Meeting ID: 222 103 323 673 and Passcode: 6Uubce
Public comments can be submitted online at IN.gov/nrc/rules/rulemaking-docket/. Locate the “Submit Comments Here” link in the Rule Docket for the Deer Hunting Amendment Proposal.
