INDIANA – For the first time in over three decades, deer management hunts will not be held inside Indiana state parks this year.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the change, citing a procedural issue with its rulemaking process. Since 1993, the DNR has utilized these hunts to control the state’s growing white-tailed deer population and safeguard native ecosystems from overgrazing.
The absence of natural predators, such as wolves and mountain lions, coupled with mild winters, has led to an explosion in Indiana’s deer population. These herbivores have a significant impact on local ecosystems, particularly in state parks where they have consumed so much vegetation that they threaten rare and endangered plant species. For more than 30 years, the DNR has issued temporary rulings in the Indiana Administrative Code to permit these managed hunts, thereby helping to protect biodiversity.
According to DNR spokesperson Holly Lawson, the department was unable to establish interim rules for 2025 and must now follow a permanent rulemaking process. “We look forward to having a permanent rule in place so that deer management hunts in Indiana State Parks can move forward in 2026,” Lawson stated, indicating that the hunts are expected to resume next year…