Surveillance zones in three east central Indiana counties will be established in response to the recent finding of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in a wild white-tailed deer at a Franklin County cattle farm. Bovine Tuberculosis Management Zones will be for the area south of State Road 44 in Fayette County and for all of Franklin County. The area north of State Road 48 in Dearborn County will be a Surveillance Zone. The Surveillance Zone goal is to collect samples from between 350 and 1,100 deer, depending on the sex and age of the animal. The emphasis will be on 2-year or older bucks, checked during mandatory and voluntary check-ins at biological check stations.
Indiana’s hunting seasons beginning in September are the Youth Deer season September 24 and 25, and for the Deer Reduction Zone September 15 through January 31.
Mandatory check-in of hunter-harvested deer will be required at biological check stations September 24 and 25 and November 4 through 27. Within 12 hours of harvest, hunters must check their deer online.
Hunters should obtain a registration number and bring the deer to the biological check station within the same 12-hour period after harvest.
Deer reduction zones, formerly called urban deer zones, for 2016-17 have been named in five regions: Evansville, Lafayette, Central Indiana, Allen County, Lake County and Porter County. Firearms legal for deer hunting, including legal rifles on private land where allowed by local ordinances, can be used in reduction zones with a deer reduction zone license or to count the deer toward the reduction zone bag limit from November 12 through January 31, 2017.
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