Ind. DNR prepares for hunting season

With the leaves changing and the air beginning to cool, outdoor enthusiasts and others can enjoy the rich natural resources Indiana has to offer.

And starting today, in addition to camping and boating, outdoorsmen can take part in the sport of hunting.

Today the Indiana Department of Natural Resources marks the beginning of both Indiana’s 2009 fall turkey season and early archery deer season. From Oct. 1 to 25, wild turkey can be hunted legally. Deer can only be hunted with bow weapons until Nov. 14.

State DNRs often regulate the time a particular animal can be hunted after the animal’s breeding period when its numbers are vulnerable to change. Indiana hunters are required to apply for separate hunting licenses depending on what animal they choose to hunt.

The turkey season is split into two parts, according to the state’s 2009-10 Hunting and Trapping Guide. For the first 20 days of October, hunters may only use archery equipment to hunt game. For the remaining five days, hunters can lawfully use firearms to hunt, but there is a bag limit of one bird.

For deer, hunters are limited to archery weapons until Nov. 14, when the firearms season starts. Until Nov. 29, deer can be hunted with permitted bow weapons and firearms. The late archery season runs from Dec. 5 to Jan. 3, which runs concurrently with the muzzle-loader weapon season from Dec. 5 to 20.

Hunters should expect a good deer season this year, DNR wildlife research specialist Mitch Marcus said.

“In general our statewide deer population has been doing very well,” Marcus said.
It is important to note that crossbows are only permitted in the late archery deer season but are allowed for the entirety of the turkey season.

But not everyone views hunting from the hunters’ point-of-view.

IU-based animal protection group Revitalizing Animal Welfare said it believes hunting is a complex issue that has to be looked at on all sides.

“We believe that hunters have a moral obligation to use sportsmanlike methods and minimize animal suffering,” RAW President Courtney Wennerstrom said in a statement.

“We also welcome hunters who care about animal well-being to join RAW because we believe there is a lot that responsible hunters and animal protection advocates can agree on.”