The Natural Resources Commission gave final adoption of amendments to rule proposals governing deer hunting and river otter trapping at its meeting on September 17.

The proposed changes to the river otter trapping season are as follows: (1) allows river otters to be trapped statewide, rather than by county; and (2) establishes a statewide quota of 750 river otters for the season. There is no change to the number of otters an individual may trap per season or any other requirements governing river otter trapping in Indiana.

The river otter population is estimated based on teeth collected from trapped river otters, which is why maintaining carcass collection is critical, and the component of the current rule has not been proposed to be changed. The DNR closely monitors the river otter population the citizens of Indiana and the department has worked hard to restore, and the population model is a critical component of the monitoring.

River otter populations have grown since the first river otter trapping season in 2015. The 2021 river otter population estimate was 8,197. A statewide quota of 750 river otters for the trapping season was implemented during the 2021-2022 river otter trapping season and has been maintained for the last several years. DNR staff regularly monitors the population model and other data to assess whether any changes to the bag limit or statewide quota are needed.

Opening the river otter trapping season statewide would provide opportunities for licensed trappers in new areas and allow an opportunity to address emerging river otter damage issues during the season without requiring a permit from the DNR. The statewide quota and individual bag limit will ensure there will be no negative impacts to the river otter population. Allowing river otters to be trapped statewide will also simplify the rule by making it easier for trappers to understand where they can legally trap river otters during the river otter trapping season.  

The changes are in effect this year under an interim rule approved by the Governor’s Office and DNR Director.

Partial List Of Changes To Deer Hunting Regulations

The DNR proposes to eliminate the crossbow license by allowing individuals who use either a bow and arrow or a crossbow and bolt to purchase an archery license and use either equipment. The change will help reduce confusion and give deer hunters an additional equipment option with the one license. Both licenses are currently allowed during the entire deer archery season, so there is no change to the timeframe in which the licenses may be used. 

The DNR recognizes the desire of hunters to keep seasons specific to a type of equipment and to place certain limitations on others who hunt those seasons. However, the deer program aims to simplify the rules governing deer hunting so hunters desiring to enter the sport are less confused by the regulations.

The DNR is proposing to change the bundle license to allow hunters to take one buck and two antlerless deer and removing the option of harvesting three antlerless deer. Landowners and tenants of farmland who are exempt from needing a license to hunt deer on their own farmland would not be affected by the change and neither would resident youth and lifetime license holders. With only a small fraction of hunters using the bundle to harvest three antlerless deer, this will also reflect how the vast majority of hunters use the license.

Creation of the multiple season antlerless deer license. The license will replace the bonus antlerless deer hunting license and allow an individual to take one antlerless deer per license using equipment authorized during the season in which they are hunting.

The DNR proposes to create a statewide antlerless bag limit to go along with the current statewide antlered bag limit. The change is being proposed because the current county bonus antlerless quota (CBAQ) system allows individuals to shoot perceived excessive numbers of antlerless deer across multiple counties, if individuals in each county were to take the maximum number of bonus antlerless deer available in each county. The proposed changes to the rules governing deer hunting will allow an individual to still take no more than one antlered deer during the regular deer seasons combined, as is allowed now, but it will also allow them to purchase up to six additional multiple season antlerless deer licenses to take antlerless deer in any of the regular deer seasons (e.g., archery, firearms, and muzzleloader). 

Changing to the County Bonus Antlerless Quota to a County Antlerless Bag Limit

The DNR’s current bonus antlerless quota (CBAQ) structure is confusing for hunters. Currently, the number of antlerless deer a hunter may harvest in a county includes bag limits for the season types as well as the county bonus antlerless limit. Because there are also individual bag limits for the seasons, hunters often struggle to determine how many antlerless deer they may harvest. Hunters can also make mistakes when purchasing licenses because they may be unaware of the bag limits for the seasons. Therefore, DNR proposes to change the CBAQ to a county antlerless bag limit which will provide a single number for how many antlerless deer may be harvested in a county, regardless of the equipment used to harvest the antlerless deer.

Replacement deer for deer harvested and determined to be unfit for consumption.

The DNR proposes a rule allowing a replacement deer to be taken if a deer was legally taken and has meat unfit for human consumption under 312 IAC 9-3-2(bb). An individual taking a deer unfit for human consumption occurs often during deer season, with a peak during firearms season. Currently, department staff examines photographs, evaluates the meat condition based on observations by biologists and conservation officers, or both. A decision is made whether to allow a person to take another deer if the staff determines the deer is inedible based on department guidelines. If an individual is concerned with the condition of an antlerless deer, and there is evidence of systemic infection, department staff allows the individual to take another antlerless deer on the current license used to hunt a deer. The only issue determined by the department is the usability of the meat to the individual. 

The changes will not take effect this year except for the change in the definition of deer license bundle, bonus county antlerless limits, deer reduction zones under an interim rule approved by the Governor’s Office and DNR Director.

All public comments are part of the official record and are included in the hearing officer’s report for review and consideration by the NRC. Changes approved by the NRC at final adoption must also be approved by the Attorney General’s Office and Governor’s Office before taking effect.

‘till next time,  

Jack

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication or e-mail Jack at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com 

Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.