What would your deer proposal be?

What would your deer proposal be?

What would your deer proposal be if you were “King of the DNR”?

Keep in mind the goal is to reduce the herd and attempt to achieve a 60/40 female to male harvest.


Here is mine -


I would add the new nonresident youth deer license types

I would make the nonresident antlerless bonus tags the same price as the residents - $24 for the first and $15 thereafter. Kentucky and Illinois both have very reasonable NR bonus permits.

Bonus tags prior to October 1st would sell for $13 each. On October 1 they would go back up to $24 for the first and $15 for each one thereafter.

I would require hunter orange for youth hunters during the youth special deer season and during the new antlerless only seasons.

I would require that a a hunter orange patch measuring 4” by 4” be on all four sides of factory manufactured deer blinds when hunter orange is season required.

I would require the owner’s name and address on ground blinds used on department properties. Not sure how many leave blinds out on state property. I know I wouldn’t.

Allow a crossbow to be used by any hunter during all seasons. Ohio archery hunters (vertical and crossbow) killed 91,526 deer last year. 49,057 with crossbows and 42,469 with vertical bows. Vertical bowhunters have set harvest records for the last 11 years straight. This is a big missed opportunity to kill more deer.

I would allow youth hunters to take the number of antlerless deer allowed in each county during the special youth deer season (in addition to one antlered deer)

I would extend the urban deer season through January 15 of the following year. More than that we are getting into developed fetus and dropped antler time.

EAB that requires archery hunters to take at least one antlerless deer prior to taking an antlered deer in the urban deer season.

EAB on a second buck statewide.

General firearm tag to be either sex.

Since the gun hunters are the major source of controlling the herd I would leave the firearms season as it is today. If I did anything I would follow Kentucky’s lead and time the opener to the rut. More deer, buck and does, are killed during early start dates as opposed to late start dates.

I would leave the muzzleloader season alone. Their kill is 80% now. They should be rewarded, not penalized.

I would add two antlerless deer only seasons in October on two separate weekends in counties with an antlerless quota of 4 or more. These weekends would be the next two weekends after the youth hunt weekend. The hunter would be able to take the number of antlerless deer in each county allowed under the bonus county quota.

I would add another antlerless deer only season from December 25 through the first Sunday of January the following year. Ending this season on January 1 might miss a weekend when hunter have the time to get out and hunt and more deer are killed. The hunter would be able to take the number of antlerless deer in each county allowed under the bonus county quota. The hunter may use any deer tag that he had not used in the proceeding seasons.

These special antlerless deer seasons would give Indiana gun and MZ deer hunters 5 “opening gun dates”.

My wish list..



.