Indiana Deer Season

Deer Season Indiana – Overview

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In this series, we are going to cover Midwestern states that you can hunt deer in this year. There are many states across this great country that boast significant deer herds and quality deer hunting opportunities. If you have only hunted your home state to date, this could be your year to explore new territory. This article is meant to provide detailed information and deer hunting season dates.The information that follows will outline any special or different laws or requirements that may vary from your home state. As always review each states regulations and deer season dates prior to hunting. With that being said, let’s look at the Indiana Deer Season.

Indiana Deer Season – Overview

Indiana is the home state to part of the 1^st Rut family, and while we may no longer reside in the state.  We still travel home for deer camp each year. Indiana is home to some of the best crop ground in the country, it is no surprise that Indiana has a healthy whitetail population. It is a sleeper in terms of being known as a quality deer producing state but consistently produces trophy quality bucks.

The entire state of Indiana enforces a one buck only policy during the regular deer season. There is no statewide daily bag limit, but hunters must stay within specific county’s bag limits. Hunters may use rifle cartridges with bullet diameters .243 and larger on private land. On public land, the cartridges look to be straight-wall cartridges, and the full list can be found on the Indiana DNR website. Indiana also has a “bonus” license program, that you can utilize to fill your freezer. You are required to buy a license for each antlerless deer harvested, but this is an excellent way to do a lot of deer hunting. Once quotas have been reached in the county, bonus licenses will no longer be sold. 

Deer Reduction Zone

Indiana’s healthy deer population and growing urban / suburban ares that Indiana has deer reduction zones.  Deer reduction zones are essentially are urban areas and along parts of Indiana’s highways. There is a seasonal bag limit of 10 deer in deer reduction zones, and each license is only good for one harvested deer. An additional license must be purchased for each deer. Only one of these reduction zone deer may be antlered, and a hunter must take an antlerless deer before they can harvest a buck. This “earn a buck” rule only applies to reduction zones.

Much like many other states, various counties have different specific rules and regulations, and it is important that you research these deeply before hunting. Also pay attention to the deer reduction zones and the special rules that they may have. Luckily all the season starting and ending dates are the same across the state. Always be sure to check for whichever county you are hunting in, as some offer a special antlerless firearm season.

Indiana Deer Season – Dates

Indiana Deer Season	Start Date	Close Date
Reduction Zone	Sept. 15, 2020	Jan. 31, 2021
Youth	Sept. 26, 2020	Sept. 27, 2020
Archery	Oct. 1, 2020	Jan. 3, 2021
Firearms	Nov.14, 2020	Nov.29, 2020
Muzzleloader	Dec. 5, 2020	Dec. 20, 2020
Special Antlerless	Dec. 26, 2020	Jan. 3, 2021

Wrap Up

Indiana is the first state we are going to cover in this series. Stay tuned as will post a new state every couple of days. If you are planning an out of state hunt, it would be wise to have a backup plan this year. We don’t know today how the states will react to another outbreak in the current pandemic. Many states closed public lands and prevented out of state hunters from entering for spring hunting seasons.  There are many options to hunt deer in this great country we call home.  Take the challenge and hunt deer in new territory this fall.  It cannot be overstated, please read and understand each states regulation prior to hunting this fall.  If you are looking to increase your knowledge of whitetail deer and how to hunt them, the 1^st Rut Whitetail 101 content is for you.