Deer hunting firearm season opens Saturday in Indiana

Saturday morning will be a tough one to withstand, even for the most seasoned hunters. Feel like temperatures will be in the 20s, isolated mixed wintry precipitation is likely, and winds will be on the breezy side.

Hunters will need to bundle up in multiple layers and pack plenty of hand warmers.

Always remember this time of year deer do not care about the weather conditions, rain or shine, strong winds or light breeze, deer will be moving with the rut on.

Hunters, before hitting the woods make sure you know the latest rules and regulations to ensure responsible deer harvest. This year there are no new regulations for hunters in Indiana.

In Michigan, hunters can now harvest an antlerless deer with their regular deer license and deer combination license.

Hunters who also purchase the universal antlerless license can harvest an antlerless deer in any open unit.

Also hunters, especially in Michigan, if you suspect your harvested deer has CWD, you can take the head to any DNR check station. The link to those locations is posted below.

Hunting is a very important part of keep deer populations at healthy numbers. It also mitigates some of the interaction between people and deer.

In an interview last year with the Indiana DNR Moriah Boggess-Indiana DNR Deer Biologist, stated, “Deer hunting provides a service to the general public in mitigating some of the issues that we have with deer like vehicle collisions. There is a social carrying capacity with deer. As biologists we talk about the biological carrying capacity which is how much the land scape can support, but then you have a growing population of humans and we are taking away deer habitat and building our homes. So deer end up in our flower gardens and grill. Then we have some conflicts so hunting helps us manage those population numbers.”

Indiana DNR check stations-https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/hunting-and-trapping/hunting-trapping-guide/hunting-check-stations/

Michigan DNR check stations-https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/Publications/pdfs/ArcGISOnline/interactiveMaps/deercheck/