2016 centerfire deer rifle push?

[Willie]

Well said, and I think some of the baby steps were taken when rifles were opened up with pistol calibers. Like you say, start opening up more and more rifle calibers, look at the data, and go from there.

We've been "baby stepping" for a long time...

Perception is reality to these folks that think "high powered rifles" are dangerous..

There wasn't enough hunters in favor as opposed to the number of landowners against them..

The DNR and NRC does take input form any citizen, not just hunters...


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[Landon]

(this is going to make me sound like an ******* but...) the Hunters for the Hungry program needs to be altered if not removed. Too many people go out to just kill deer because they like it and then donate it away. At least its getting used that way but it gives people more chance to just kill for the sake of killing.

I would disagree. I know the point of hunting for many hunters is to put meat in the freezer, but DNR doesn't care about you putting meat in the freezer. They are simply trying to manage the deer population. I can certainly understand that some people may enjoy hunting and not care for the meat, in that case I think its great that there is an option for those people to put the meat to good use. If the program was removed, I doubt that would stop people from hunting. They would probably take deer and either leave them lay or dispose of them by some other means.

 

[Landon]

Is the antlerless bonus dropping in counties? Almost every county around me allows 8 bonus deer, I don't know of anyone that takes that many. Most people I know take 1 buck and 1 or 2 does. I don't doubt there are some that take more, but I'd say its a small percentage of the people hunting.

 

[10mmMarc]

I don't see where magazine capacity has anything to do with a regulation on caliber.
I hunt with a AR-15 in 450 bushmaster and I have 5 rounds in my magazine but carry 2 extras, if I could have a 15 or 20 round mag I would, the number of rounds means nothing.

 

[dusty88]

An acquaintance of mine is on the rule-making committee. We didn't really talk about why they decided against the rifle caliber change, but I didn't get the impression they have any intention of revisiting it again soon.

 

[MRP2003]

Tyrajam thank you for putting that information out there. I have always heard that due to ricochet, a slug would go further but now I have the data. It would be great to put this into every local news paper around the state where a whole page was taken up. I am sure that it would cost a lot of money to do that but I would be willing to donate to the cause. It would be great if Indiana gun owners was able to create links for us members to donate to certain causes via a credit card method. For causes like this, there probably would be a huge amount of money collected in a short period of time.

 

[Willie]

An acquaintance of mine is on the rule-making committee. We didn't really talk about why they decided against the rifle caliber change, but I didn't get the impression they have any intention of revisiting it again soon.

It did not get to the NRC for final approval. The DNR pulled it. I'm sure that the top dogs of the DNR and NRC talk behind closed doors and make decisions ahead of time as what to go forward with and what to thumb down. The final approval meeting is usually a legal formality. Even though they do take public input at it their minds are usually made up going in..

 

[Willie]

Is the antlerless bonus dropping in counties? Almost every county around me allows 8 bonus deer, I don't know of anyone that takes that many. Most people I know take 1 buck and 1 or 2 does. I don't doubt there are some that take more, but I'd say its a small percentage of the people hunting.

IDNR drops more bonusantlerless deer permits

Quotas have been reduced in eight counties and increasedin one. As a result, 60 counties will be included in the special antlerlessseason compared to 63 in 2014-15.
4 more of the state’s counties has dropped out of the late“special antlerless season".

Only 1 county (Martin ) went up. It went from a 3 to a 4.

Reduced tags…

LaGrange – 4 to a 3
Steuben 4 to a 3
Marshal 4 to a 3
Sullivan 4 to a3
Jackson 8 to a 4
Whitley 3 to a 1
Benton 1 to an A
Switzerland 8 to a 4

Added tags…

Martin 3 to a 4

In addition to basic bag limits, hunters can purchasebonus licenses to take additional antlerless deer based on the quota assignedto the county in which they hunt. Bonus antlerless licenses can be used in anyseason, except the Reduction Zone Season, using the equipment that is legal forthat season.

Bonus licenses may be used in any county, but hunters may not take more thanthe county quota for bonus antlerless deer in any specific county.

County quotas range from A to 8. For counties designated as an “A,” a bonusantlerless license can be used to take one antlerless deer from Nov. 26 throughJan. 3, 2016 (the last four days of the regular firearms season, plusmuzzleloader and archery seasons). Bonus antlerless licenses cannot be used inan “A” county prior to Nov. 26.

Since 2011, the number of counties with a bonus quota of 8 has dropped from 45to 23 this coming season.

Comparing bonus numbers bycounty - 2012 versus 2015
Adams – No Change
Allen – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Bartholomew – 4 to an 8 (+4)
Benton – 2 to an A (-2)
Blackford – No Change
Boone – No Change
Brown – No Change
Carroll – No Change
Cass – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Clark – No Change
Clay – No Change
Clinton – No Change
Crawford – No Change
Daviess – 3 to a 2 (-1)
Dearborn – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Decatur – No Change
De Kalb – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Delaware – No Change
Dubois – No Change
Elkhart – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Fayette No Change
Floyd – No Change
Fountain - No Change
Franklin – No Change
Fulton – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Gibson – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Grant – No Change
Greene – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Hamilton – No Change
Hancock - No Change
Harrison – No Change
Hendricks – No Change
Henry – 3 to a 4 (+1)
Howard – 8 to a 3 (-5)
Huntington – 8 to a 3 (-5)
Jackson – No Change
Jasper – No Change
Jay – No Change
Jefferson – No Change
Jennings - No Change
Johnson – No Change
Knox – No Change
Kosciusko – 8 to a 4 (-4)
La Porte – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Lagrange – 8 to a 3 (-5)
Lake – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Lawrence – 4 to an 8 (+4)
Madison – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Marion - No Change
Marshall – 8 to 3 (-5)
Martin – 3 to a 4 (+1)
Miami – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Monroe – 4 to an 8 (+4)
Montgomery – No Change
Morgan – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Newton – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Noble – 8 to a 4 (-40
Ohio - No Change
Orange – No Change
Owen – No Change
Parke – No Change
Perry – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Pike – No Change
Porter – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Posey – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Pulaski – No Change
Putnam – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Randolph – No Change
Ripley – 4 to an 8 (+4)
Rush – No Change
St. Joseph – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Scott – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Shelby – No Change
Spencer No Change
Starke – No Change
Steuben – 8 to a 3 (-5)
Sullivan – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Switzerland – 8 to an 4 (-4)
Tippecanoe – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Tipton – No Change
Union – No Change
Vanderburgh – No Change
Vermillion – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Vigo – No Change
Wabash - 4 to a 3 (-1)
Warren – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Warrick – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Washington – No Change
Wayne – 4 to a 3 (-1)
Wells – 1 to an A (-1)
White – 8 to a 4 (-4)
Whitley – 4 to a 2 (-2)

 

[MRP2003]

I sent a friend of mine the information from tyrajam. here is his response:

There is that argument and there is the sporting argument….shooting deerat long distance, in Indiana, is not very sporty. Like the game farms thatraised penned-in game, not very sport-like and caters to the lazy, unskilled,"hunter" that wants to sit in the open and snipe wild game from greatdistance to make up for the stand-off of their stench. I consider rifled slug anear primitive weapon because of effective range. The argument getsweaker when you start adding in-line muzzleloaders. I say go back to bows,clubs, and spears and see who wants to hunt. Lastly, the report is out of PA,not very credible
Thought his response was pretty funny
In my opinion, the mentality of a lot that are against it.

By the way, he does hunt with a gun, muzzle loader, and crossbow when he does not get one in early bow season

 

[jblomenberg16]

We've been "baby stepping" for a long time...

Perception is reality to these folks that think "high powered rifles" are dangerous..

There wasn't enough hunters in favor as opposed to the number of landowners against them..

The DNR and NRC does take input form any citizen, not just hunters...


.

What if I'm both a hunter and land owner?

 

[76chevy]

I think its dead now. WOn't happen anytime soon IMO.

 

[Newprt]

In my opinion I don't see anything wrong with hunting with a 30-30. You are looking at about 175 200 yards with it. For your higher powered rifles if they would decide to legalize it should be zoned. South of 70 where there's more hills. Up where I live at it is as flat as it gets. If dnr would legalize it state wide my butt would not be anywhere near a woods during rifle season cuz it would bring the idiots out (inexperienced shooters) thinking they can shoot 400 yard plus shots.

 

[clfergus]

In my opinion I don't see anything wrong with hunting with a 30-30. You are looking at about 175 200 yards with it. For your higher powered rifles if they would decide to legalize it should be zoned. South of 70 where there's more hills. Up where I live at it is as flat as it gets. If dnr would legalize it state wide my butt would not be anywhere near a woods during rifle season cuz it would bring the idiots out (inexperienced shooters) thinking they can shoot 400 yard plus shots.

I think they should allow a few calibers like 30-30, .35 REM etc. Muzzleloaders can easily shoot well beyond that. Maybe that is the approach..see if we can get a few added at a time.

 

[harb7676]

Id love to kill a deer with my SKS.. however I think gun season should be shortened if we are adding centerfire rifles. Honestly I hunt in Floyd County and I don't know of anywhere you would need a centerfire rifle. On the other hand my Mosin could use a deer kill.

 

[Newprt]

I think they should allow a few calibers like 30-30, .35 REM etc. Muzzleloaders can easily shoot well beyond that. Maybe that is the approach..see if we can get a few added at a time.

I strongly agree with that comment. Like the cowboy action rifles to a certain extent. Don't get me wrong if they would legalize higher caliber rifles I have a rifle that I feel safe shooting 700 yards cuz I've practiced with it for fun, but I would not shoot that far at a deer. I have a couple spots where I'm the only that hunts and I would have to go invest in one of the flatest shooting rifles in my opinion. The good ol .270. But then again I don't think I would feel safe in the woods. And I also agree with shortening the rifle season to 1 week and dropping the bonus tags limits. I just don't see the deer I use to in wells and blackford counties where I hunt.

 

[avboiler11]

I've hunted in Kentucky for twenty years and NOT ONCE have I ever been concerned for my safety during gun season.

 

[Newprt]

I've hunted in Kentucky for twenty years and NOT ONCE have I ever been concerned for my safety during gun season.

I lived in Kentucky and Tennessee. Not as flat down there. Where I hunt it's all flat and wide open. The property that buts up to where I deer hunt there's what I call a couple weekend hunters there and they push the limits on the weapons on distance. I'm just saying I won't be anywhere near that property if dnr would ever decide to legalize higher powered rifles. I'm not kidding they try to shoot 300 yards with there muzzle loaders. Who knows how far they'd shoot with a rifle. If they would legalize it I just hope they're smart about and and zone it

 

[gassprint1]

I thought that if the cf rifles would have passed, i would have went hunting this year. But then i got to thinking, why go out and kill something if you lost the taste for it. Didnt make any sense to me. I first hunted in Arkansas when 16 with a single shot 20. Didnt get any deer but others i was with did an i like the meat then. Did squirrel, rabbit, coon then also with the trusty 20. Lots of people i know wanted to blast deer with 308-3006's just because they tought it would be bad ass with a big round. What happened to common sense today.

 

[oldpink]

Maybe if we could get them to remove the case length maximum, but require .30 caliber and up.
Give it a few years, then when all the alarmism proves unfounded, the DNR will be embarrassed into allowing .243 and up.
It's totally befuddling how so many other states with similar geography and population allow normal centerfires, but apparently Hoosiers are uniquely incapable of handling that level of responsibility.
How is that any less insulting than saying that those who support the status quo are operating more on emotion than on rationality?

 

[Willie]

The DNR will be putting forth a new deer proposal this coming year..

Email them your requests/wants.....