INDIANAPOLIS (AP/WDRB) — Seventeen Indiana state park sites will be closing their gates to visitors for a pair of two-day deer hunts later this month.
The hunts are scheduled for Nov. 15-16 and Nov. 29-30, with the parks closing the evening before and reopening the next day.
The annual deer hunts began in 1993, with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources saying wildlife biologists evaluate the parks to determine where the hunts are needed to ensure healthy habitats for native plants and animals.
"We’ve seen a lot of deer this year that have had twins here in the park and their population seems to be doing really well," said Kayla Leach, a Naturalist at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison.
Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, Indiana (WDRB photo)
The hunt will help curb a population increase since the shoot didn’t happen last year at Clifty Falls due to so many deer contracting Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) which is a fatal virus that can attack white-tailed deer populations.
Those parks closing for this year’s hunts are Chain O’Lakes, Clifty Falls, Fort Harrison, Indiana Dunes, Lincoln, Ouabache, Pokagon, Potato Creek, Shakamak, Spring Mill, Summit Lake, Tippecanoe River, Turkey Run, Versailles, and Whitewater Memorial state parks, along with Cave River Valley Natural Area and Trine State Recreation Area.
Only hunters previously selected in DNR drawings can participate.
Old Oaks Outdoors in Madison has seen an increase in business as the hunting season approaches. However, some of its supplies have not arrived due to shipping delays.
Employees at Old Oaks Outdoors in Madison, IN getting ready for the start of the 2021 hunting season. (WDRB photo)
"Business was definitely up, which we are excited about - we hope that it continues - I think it will," said co-owner Blake Deuser.
The hunts are also aimed at reducing the number of car-deer crashes which increase this time of year during deer mating season.
The agency reported that 1,243 deer were killed in last year’s state park hunts. Versailles State Park had the most killed with 205, followed by Brown County with 143 and Chain O’Lakes at 135.
The 2019 hunts killed only 775 deer, the fewest since the first hunt in 1993, but more than 1,700 deer were killed as recently as the 2013 hunts.
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