Last Updated on November 2, 2016 by cassnetwork
Deer licenses for the 2016-17 deer seasons are now available for purchase.
Information on license types and fees is at wildlife.IN.gov/2380.htm. Still not sure what license you need? The DNR online sport license finder can help at wildlife.IN.gov/6486.htm.
A new online license system requires users to set up an account to purchase licenses. Allow additional time to set up your account and enter your information if you haven’t done so already.
All adults must set up an account to purchase a license in their own name. Youth licenses (under age 18) can be purchased from an adult’s account as an “association.” You must be at least 13 to create your own account.
If you were born after Dec. 31, 1986, be sure to enter your hunter education number in the profile page in your online account. The number is required to purchase a standard deer hunting license. You can find your hunter education number at dnr.IN.gov/lawenfor/7721.htm
A crossbow license is required to hunt with a crossbow during the archery season. The deer license bundle allows you to take three antlerless deer or two antlerless and one antlered deer in the archery, firearm, muzzleloader, and special antlerless seasons combined using legal equipment, including crossbows.
State offices will be closed on Friday, Nov.11 for the Veteran’s Day holiday, so buy your license now. Firearms season runs from Nov. 12-27.
NEW RIFLE OPTIONS FOR DEER HUNTING:
Still scratching your head over what’s legal and what isn’t in the new rifle regulations for deer hunting in Indiana this year?
Here are three questions that will guide you to the correct answers:
Does the rifle have a barrel at least 16 inches long?
Is the rifle chambered to fire a cartridge with a case length of at least 1.16 inches?
Does that cartridge fire a bullet that is either .243 inches or .308 inches in diameter (or their metric equivalents, 6mm and 7.62mm, respectively)?
If the answer is yes to all three, then it’s legal under HEA 1231, a law passed earlier this year by the State Legislature.
If the answer is “no” to any of those three questions, it does not meet the HEA 1231 standards for new rifle options.
Remember: Bullet diameter, cartridge case length and barrel length are the determining factors of this law.
Any bullet smaller than .243 (6mm), larger than .308 (7.62mm), or in between .243 and .308 does not qualify. Neither does a cartridge with a case length that is less than 1.16 inches, or a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches.
Here’s a twist, though. Some cartridges may appear to fall outside the allowable .243 and .308 requirements because of how they are labeled.
Take the .240 Weatherby Magnum, for instance. Disregard the .240 label because the bullet diameter actually is .243 inches and therefore legal to use.
Similarly, .30, .30-06 and .300-caliber cartridges are legal because their bullet diameters are .308 inches.
A few more points:
The new rifle options can be used only on private land.
Full-metal jacketed bullets are illegal.
A hunter can possess only 10 of these legal rounds while in the field.
There is no tree-stand requirement to use the new rifle options.
The new law does not change regulations previously approved for centerfire rifles chambered for so-called pistol cartridges. Those regulations allow for rifles chambered for cartridges that fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger and have a case length of 1.16 inches to 1.8 inches. Unlike the new high-caliber rifle options, these can be used on private and public land to hunt deer.
If you still have questions about new rifle options for deer hunting, call (317) 232-4003 or (317) 232-4200.
SOURCE: News releases from Indiana Department of Natural Resources