Hunting hours

[kosmo]

I'm new to hunting this year due to my wife hitting TWO deer at once last spring. I'm going to exact my revenge and fill the freezer. I have been studying the regs. and I'm confused by alot of it.

My main hangup right now is the hunting hours and just how sticky it seems the rules can be interpreted. As a boater and a pilot I keep an app on my phone that tells me sunset, sunrise as well as civil twilight. As I sat under a tree with my son just to watch on Sunday morning 1/2 hour before civil twilight I wondered, "...official sunrise is at 8:08...but the sun is clearly lighting the sky."

I see hunters heading into the tree line on our field often before sunrise and I'm sure that I would rather be in the stand or blind before it starts to get light. What is the enforcement of the rule? If I'm walking into a hunting area, if I'm sitting and waiting, or if I'm cocked (x-bow) and actively hunting? What actually constitutes hunting?

This also stemmed from the idea of having a field tip present to de-cock my x-bow. I'm not actively hunting with a field tip but now the law is in conflict with reality and apparently one officers enforcement policy. I usually carry a pistol when I'm in the field also as we have MANY coyote and some are not shy. That can be construed as an infringement if I were hunting or just walking through the field.

My son is more of a hunter than I am so I want to bring him into the sport correctly. He has been through hunter education and is very anxious to bag a deer as his rabbit season last year was less than stellar.

[morrison]

Except in certain situations, Indiana law cannot restrict when you can be in the woods. However, the statutes that regulate the taking of deer and turkey have hunting hours that are based off of sunrise and sunset. "Civil Twilight" is not addressed in any statute that I am aware of. Almost every hunter I know is in his stand prior to it being light and and in the evenings will stay out until after dark. If sunrise is at 8:08 am, you would not be legal to shoot until 7:38 am. If sunset was 6:47pm, you would not legally be able to take a deer after 7:17 pm.

As a department, we are address the field tip issue as follows. The statute does not say that you cannot possess a field tip only that it may not be used to hunt deer.

If a person has a handgun permit or exempt from needing a handgun permit, they may possess a handgun even if the handgun does not meet the regulations for the animal they are hunting. Example, a hunter is hunting the archery season and has a handgun.

All three of these scenarios require a lot of officer discretion to determine if the person is in violation of the statute. If his gun was loaded after legal hunting hours, what actions did the person do that would lead you to believe he was hunting versus just coming out of the woods. What makes the officer believe the person does not just possess the handgun but used it in the taking of an animal in violation of the statutes? What makes the officer believe that the person was hunting deer with the field tip arrow? These are items that an officer would have to articulate in order to prove that a person was in violation of the law.

Our officers are very thorough in their investigations. Some result in charges being filed while others result in proving that the person was legal. Unfortunately, not everyone is out to do the right thing when it comes to hunting laws. Our officers are looking for that group of people in order to improve the outdoor experience for everyone.

I will give some suggestions that are not required by law but serve a safety concern as well as reducing accusations. Why not have your firearm unloaded why walking into or out of the woods in the dark? If you fall, get hooked on branches, or another situation, it will reduce the chances of an accidental discharge or someone being shot. The same applies to a crossbow. We highly recommend that equipment be unloaded when it is raised and lowered from a treestand with a haul line. If I am hunting with one type of weapon, why do I still need another weapon for protection? These are just some things to consider.

The last thing that I will address is your comment about "one officers enforcement policy". Our officers are highly trained people. They have a lot of knowledge when it comes to Indiana Statutes. The must be able to not only understand that law but explain it to individuals and enforce it. The law states that for archery season "an individual must hunt deer only with the following equipment: Arrows or bolts must be equipped with metal or metal-edged (or flint, chert, or obsidian napped) broadheads." Our department understands that the use of a field tipped bolt has become common practice for decocking a crossbow. However, this common practice does not mean that the officers interpretation of the statute was not correct or that there were not additional points of fact that would not necesarily be mentioned on a message board. Keep this in mind the next time you read or hear about an officer making a mistake. I am not saying that it doesn't happen but I will say there is a minimum of two sides to every situation.