The state of Indiana has signed into law, the use of high powered rifles during the firearms season. Giving more range to firearms hunters. This would not be a problem except for the fact that their plan is to reduce the deer herd on a "maintenance basis" rather than a "management basis". The Indiana firearms season starts during the peak of the whitetail rut (November 14th) and runs to the end of Nov. At this time the buck lets his guard down greatly when it comes to danger and concentrates on procreation. Then a Muzzle loader season from Dec 5 to Dec 20th. This is allowing 30 days of long range hunting. Adding high powered rifles increases the chance of a kill and decreases the chance of bucks reaching maturity (that being 3.5 years old and older).
If our goal is to get the herd to a healthy level then bucks need to have a greater chance of reaching maturity and the buck to doe ratio needs to be around 3 or 4 to 1.
We are looking to get the state to do a county by county re-assessment of the deer population before the 2016 season begins by using information gathered by the hunters who are out on the front lines seeing deer numbers first hand, as well as get the firearms season shortened to 9 days and muzzle loader season shortened to 9 days as well. The reassessment will give a better idea of what counties need doe reduction the most. The adjustment to the number of firearm days will help give the bucks a chance to mature. The average age of a buck taken in Indiana is 2.5. A wild deers typical life expectancy is 7 - 10 years when things are managed correctly.
