deer hunting zones

[practicalsportsman]

How many of you think deer hunting would be better if we had deer zones instead of county by county, i mean tons of states have them and i have heard deer hunting is better, what do you think should we go to that system or not. I think this would work better as each region could use harvest and deer vehicle collision data to have a better idea of how many deer in habit the area, here is the list of regions with region enforcement as it should be.

District 1 Headquarters (zone 1)
9822 N. Turkey Creek Rd.
Syracuse, IN 46567
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 2 Headquarters (Zone 2)
1353 South Governors Drive
Columbia City, IN 46725-9539
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 3 Headquarters (Zone 3)
4112 E SR 225
West Lafayette, IN 47906
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 4 Headquarters (Zone 4 )
3734 Mounds Rd.
Anderson, IN 46017
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 5 Headquarters (Zone 5)
1317 W. Lieber Rd., Suite 2
Cloverdale, IN 46120
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 6 Headquarters ( Zone 6)
P.O. Box 266
Nashville, IN 47448-0266
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 7 Headquarters ( Zone 7)
2310 E. State Road 364
Winslow, IN 47598
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 8 Headquarters ( Zone 8)
3084 N. Dillard Rd.
Birdseye, IN 47513
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 9 Headquarters (Zone 9)
1387 E. US Hwy 50
Versailles, IN 47042
[phone]
[e-mail]

District 10 Headquarters (Zone 10)
100 W. Water Street
Michigan City, IN 46360
[phone]
[e-mail]

South Region Headquarters ( Zones 5,6,7,8,9)
4850 S. St. Rd. 446
Bloomington, IN 47401
[phone]
[e-mail]

North Region Headquarters (Zones 1,2,3,4,10)
1124 N. Mexico Rd.
Peru, IN 46970
[phone]
[e-mail]

[dadfsr]

The only state I'm familiar with that has game zones is South Carolina. Every time I try to decipher SC's game zones versus their regulations it just gets totally confusing but that's coming from a non-resident for SC. Maybe for the state's residents it wouldn't be so confusing. However even without the game zones SC's game regulations are very confusing between trying to figure out which weapon can be used on which day and what is in season...since all of the hunting I've done in SC is for hogs ( a non-native pest), which to me shouldn't even have regulations or seasons, but yet SC continues to try to manage them as a game animal. So you have regulations for the WMA's in different game zones plus there are also regulations for private land.

I'll get off my soapbox but suffice it to say I'm not a big fan of game zones.

[practicalsportsman]

Here is the map to help everyone out, i was thinking that this would help as far as antlerless quota's so instead of having 3 in one county and eight in another the state could just have a blanket antlerless quota for that area.

Attachments:

[salt]

I can tell you that there is no way Adams and Wells county could be grouped in the same zone as Stueben, DeKalb, and Noble. Deer populations aren't even close.

[Decatur]

Dec 5, 2010 18:56:21 GMT -5 salt said:

I can tell you that there is no way Adams and Wells county could be grouped in the same zone as Stueben, DeKalb, and Noble. Deer populations aren't even close.

A HUGE !!!

[firstwd]

Zones for management purposes work, they are used now for quail, waterfowl, and somewhat for turkey. It is just not as simple as using the Law Enforcement Districts map, or even the District Biologists area map as the zones. Serious research would need to be done to divide the state up. With the budget woes the IDNR has endured for years, using county lines was much cheaper and easier.

[danf]

I believe the data for each county is analyzed for previous harvest, collisions, etc, etc, etc to determine the quota for the county the next year.

NH has different zones, and they are like SC- they are a PITA to decipher. Keep it by county and it's a lot easier.

[huntingman]

washington and oregon both have Game Mannagment Areas(GMU's)

[tjmurf]

Here in this area (UDZ) we would be better served if we used the depredation tags system during the hunting season to control the deer collision problems and crop damage. Then we could lower our 8 antler-less tag quota and eventually eliminate the UDZ to take the pressure off other areas that have been reduced to or below minimum levels. Using a district system would be just the opposite of what is needed. There are counties in our area with much less deer than we have. I bet they wouldn't want to see an 8 tagged on their doe population due to a District system. For years we have been told to reduce our total doe numbers for a better doe to buck ratio, auto collisions and for the health of the deer and I am fine with that. What I am not happy with is there are areas that have been reduced from seeing groups of 24 every day down to two or three once a week and not bigger bucks but less bucks. Then the state raises our county to an 8? Many hunters in these areas go strictly by what the state says to reduce. No one has explained to them what the desirable number for an area is. If you are looking at crop damage you need to identify what is causing the damage. Too many people look at a corn stalk down and claim it is deer damage. It may surprise you on how much damage is caused by the raccoon over population these days. Every property is different and needs to be judged as such, not a broad District system.

www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-265-W.pdf

[Woody Williams]

Dec 6, 2010 11:28:22 GMT -5 tjmurf said:

Here in this area (UDZ) we would be better served if we used the depredation tags system during the hunting season to control the deer collision problems and crop damage. Then we could lower our 8 antler-less tag quota and eventually eliminate the UDZ to take the pressure off other areas that have been reduced to or below minimum levels. Using a district system would be just the opposite of what is needed. There are counties in our area with much less deer than we have. I bet they wouldn't want to see an 8 tagged on their doe population due to a District system. For years we have been told to reduce our total doe numbers for a better doe to buck ratio, auto collisions and for the health of the deer and I am fine with that. What I am not happy with is there are areas that have been reduced from seeing groups of 24 every day down to two or three once a week and not bigger bucks but less bucks. Then the state raises our county to an 8? Many hunters in these areas go strictly by what the state says to reduce. No one has explained to them what the desirable number for an area is. If you are looking at crop damage you need to identify what is causing the damage. Too many people look at a corn stalk down and claim it is deer damage. It may surprise you on how much damage is caused by the raccoon over population these days. Every property is different and needs to be judged as such, not a broad District system.

www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-265-W.pdf

Yes sir reebob!!

A post right on the spot.

EHD taught us that there can be a no deer one place and a ton of deer a mile down the road. It would be nice, but highly inpractical for the DNR to manage deer kills by townships.

Guys and gals,

The best manager of deer is US! Not enough deer in your area? Then hold off on shooting any more. Too many deer in your are? Lower the boom.

Just cause the state designates a county as an 8 county there is no pressure on us to kill that limit.

[10point]

PA now has zones.

TJMURF, I sure hope they don't change the Urban zone to earn a buck. I wouldn't have been able to earn my buck this year until the second week of gun season. I heard a DNR guy at Arrows 3 telling someone that a lot of hunters are just hunting for a buck in the urban zone and not shooting the does. I don't know who these hunters are because everyone I know will take does but why should I not be able to take a buck if I can't get a doe?

[tjmurf]

10pt
Anytime a government agency has to force you to do something then that government agency has lost it's focus. The moment the Natural Resources Commission forces you take a doe before you can take a buck you will know they have lost there focus on how to manage Indiana's deer herd.
This happens when it stops educating people on what they are doing, and give no true logical reason why they are doing it.

Natural Resources Commissions logic has become BS with the proposal that they are giving us more days to hunt. I would like to see hunting extended into January but not as a replacement for any part of gun or muzzy season. Their reasoning was this would help reduce the doe population?? I have 4 hunting areas, 80, 11, 3 and 1 acre in size several miles apart. In January the deer group up and leave these areas for heavier cover. The 11 acre spot is the only place where I might see them at random 2 or 3 times a month.


www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-2009_Deer_Season_Summary.pdf

[lugnutz]

KY also has zones, and county by county on bonus tags...Even some counties in which your only allowed to hunt for bucks or does cant remember which one, for the last 6 days of firearms season.

Then again KY is light years ahead of our crappy a$$ DNR system, if you can even call it a system.

[boonechaser]

Plus 10 to WOODY"S post. Said it before and will say it again. Manage your deer locally best you can. Why let someone else do it for you? You really want someone else to do it for you?? It's really not that hard to get 3-4 adjoining landowner's to get together and form a mgt plan you can all live with. And yes you can manage small properties as well.

[practicalsportsman]

I was thinking why doesn't the dnr and nrc let us shoot what we need to in order to balance the herd, as long as i'm willing to hunt for excess deer buck or doe, i think i should be allowed to hunt them. And woody thanks for your input i'm liking were this post is going.

[drs]

Dec 6, 2010 22:07:08 GMT -5 lugnutz said:

KY also has zones, and county by county on bonus tags...Even some counties in which your only allowed to hunt for bucks or does cant remember which one, for the last 6 days of firearms season.

Then again KY is light years ahead of our crappy a$$ DNR system, if you can even call it a system.

True, Ky has Zones 1-4 which determines which sex or how many bonus deer one can harvest. Example:

Zone #1......One Buck ONLY & Unlimited number of Anterless Deer
Zone #2......One Buck ONLY & TWO Bonus Deer ONLY
Zone #3......One Buck ONLY & ONE Antlerless Deer. Bonus (2) can only be taken by archery equipment.
Zone #4......ONLY one Buck can be taken in this Zone (4) during Modern Rifle Season & one Antlerless Deer wiith Archery Equipment. I believe one can take an antlerless Deer the last two days of Late M/L Season.

Personally, I would like to see an only TWO Deer Limit (Buck & one Doe) in Ky and NO Bonus tags issued unless the county or Zone has a REAL population problem.