Deer Hunting 'landowner' exemption question regarding 'livestock'

[xanderphillips]

Apologies if this has been discussed before, but I searched forums and didn't see it.

According to the DNR website hunting on one's own farmland qualifies as an exemption to a deer hunting license, but the land has to be used for farming, for livestock, or at least zoned agricultural.

I'm pretty sure that Indiana also defines a beekeeper's honeybees as 'livestock'.

I'm a beekeeper, and I keep bees on my 6 acre wooded property which is zoned as 'homesite' and 'residential excess acreage'. (I'm out in cornfield territory, not in any town/etc...)

Wouldn't that qualify me for the landowner exemption to hunt on my land even though it is not zoned agricultural?

I've not actually seen deer here in my woods, but think that I might be covered. I know the canned answer is that I would need to take it up with the conservation officer / DNR / etc. and even then might not be covered even if they said I was, but I wanted to get what other's opinion would be on it.

They don't specify WHAT livestock you have to have, just that the land be for livestock. I don't 'use' my woods for anything other than a place for my bees to forage for pollen and nectar, so that seems legit to me.

What do you think?

 

[Thor]

I looked into this same things earlier for myself...I believe you need to be zoned agricultural for the exemption.

 

[Hkindiana]

Do you have enough woods for a "tree farm"?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Do you have enough woods for a "tree farm"?

If so and you dont have any trees, you are welcome to come clean my gutters in the spring. You'll get bag after bag of free "helicopter seeds" to start your tree farm.

 

[Reagan40]

I live on 10 acres that is zoned agricultural. In my county, as long as you are only building one house on the plot, you can have the agricultural zoning. It was zoned that way before we bought the property, so we just kept the zoning in place. I have bees as well and I intend to get chickens next spring. I hadn't even looked into the deer hunting exemption. I wonder if I would qualify. On the other hand, I don't mind purchasing my deer license, as it is a tax that the proceeds go to fund things that I feel are important. I also wonder about shooting deer outside of the scheduled seasons. In the winter, I imagine they might be too lean and may not be all that tasty. I also don't want to kill a doe that has a deer fetus in it. So, other than being able to shoot them if they are nuisance animals eating your crop, what would the benefit really be?

 

[dieselrealtor]

If you are not in city limits or buffer zone, you should be under county zoning. Don't go by what your tax statement states, call the county zoning commission & ask them what your zoning is. It is likely you are zoned agricultural.

 

[natdscott]

County zoning has precisely f&@kall to do with State Law regarding fish and wildlife.

Think about it for a sec...not all counties even HAVE zoning.

If you read the code, understand the code (which says NOTHING about zoning), and you feel your position is defensible...then go ahead.

Here's a question: Do you get USDA ag surveys every year?....

-Nate

 

[Fred78]

I think you have to have 40 acres to be qualified for the land owner exemption

 

[natdscott]

Show me where it says that Fred.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I think you have to have 40 acres to be qualified for the land owner exemption

And a mule. 40 acres and a mule!

 

[Lex Concord]

Excerpted from IC-14-22-11-1

[FONT=&amp]Sec. 1. (a) As used in this section, "farmland" means agricultural land that is:[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp](1) devoted or best adaptable for the production of crops, fruits, timber, and the raising of livestock; or[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp](2) assessed as agricultural land for property tax purposes.
...
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp] (b) An individual may not take or chase, with or without dogs, a wild animal without having a license, except as follows:[/FONT]
...
[FONT=&amp](2) Subject to subsection (d), an owner of farmland located in Indiana who is a resident or nonresident of Indiana and the spouse and children living with the owner may hunt, fish, and trap without a license on the land that the owner owns.
[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]

coupled with

[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]IC 15-19-5-3"Livestock"
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp] Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "livestock" means any animal or fowl raised for commercial purposes.
[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]

Should allow one to clarify whether he needs a license

[/FONT]De antwoorden zijn altijd al aanwezig

 

[chemteach]

I own 5 acres in the county and have sold walnut trees out of my woods twice in the last 20 years. According to a local CO, I can hunt my woods without a license. I choose to buy the bundle license which allows me to hunt my neighbor's property as well as my own.

 

[Cameramonkey]

And a mule. 40 acres and a mule!

Dammit. Came here to say that.

 

[trapperDave]

No Fred, there's no acreage requirement

Don't hold your breath for having a few bees as counting you as ag.

 

[Reagan40]

Im thinking the " IC 15-19-5-3"Livestock"

Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "livestock" means any animal or fowl raised for commercial purposes." is the important part. I would qualify under IC 14-22-11-1, but the COMMERCIAL PURPOSES thing rules things out for me. Im guessing if I sold a few jars of honey or some fruit from my trees each year to friends, this wouldn't count as commercial purposes. I wonder, are their guidelines to how much you have to sell, or what percentage of your income makes it "Commercial Purposes?"

For the record, I still intend to buy the license and hunt during hunting seasons.

 

[dieselrealtor]

Sec. 1. (a) As used in this section, "farmland" means agricultural land that is:
(1) devoted or best adaptable for the production of crops, fruits, timber, and the raising of livestock.

This seems pretty broad, trees take a long time to grow to be marketable timber, there is a lot of room here.

Seems that talking to the local CO would be the best course of action to get their take on it. One that I heard in a hunter safety education course caused me to believe that if you own land (that could have some sort of agricultural use, timber, farm, etc) that you are exempt.

 

[Fred78]

I had never read about an acreage requirement per say, but when I moved out from town a farmer friend said you needed a minum of 40 acres of course that was 35 years ago.

 

[IndyDave1776]

And a mule. 40 acres and a mule!

If the owner of the 40 acres is an ass, does he get to count as his own mule?