A Brief History of White-tailed Deer in Indiana
“It’s hard to treat natural resources casually when you know that generations have fought for them” (Jim Posewitz)
Introduction
In November 2021, Indiana resident Dustin Huff shot a 212 inch buck on a 185-acre Indiana farm, destroying the previous state record, and sitting comfortably in position as the second biggest typical whitetail of all time. As many a Hoosier hunter can attest, this behemoth is not necessarily representative of the deer herd in the Hoosier state, but in 2019 and 2020 Indiana took the top spot for number of Boone and Crockett record-book white-tailed entries, and between 2021 and 2023 Indiana sat at number 2 overall, behind only Wisconsin, with 84 record book typical white-tailed deer (https://www.boone-crockett.org/indianas-big-white-tailed-buck-revival).
Of course, deer hunting is about much more than record book entries, and the health of Indiana’s herd is our true indicator of success, especially when we consider the white-tailed deer was extirpated from the Hoosier state by the end of the nineteenth century.
The success for Indiana’s place as a top white-tailed hunting destination is due to the success the Indiana DNR have had managing the herd over the last 70+ years.
A Brief History of Game Laws in Indiana
Legend has it that the last deer in Indiana was shot in Knox County in 1893. The sad fact is that deer had been nearly extirpated from the state by the end of the nineteenth century, and the populations decimated much earlier.
In the mid to late nineteenth century, market hunting had decimated the herd. In 1923, the Decatur Daily Democrat ran a story titled “We Have the Gun Which Killed Last Wild Deer.” In it, we get a story out of Adams County in October of 1873, when “Garrett” was just a boy, and during which time Hubert Scott, the “Daniel Boone” of Indiana, killed the last deer in Indiana. Legends of the last deer aside, European settlers believed in the “myth of superabundance,” the idea that natural resources were so plentiful they could never be exhausted. This mindset led to the near extinction of the bison, the extinction of the passenger pigeon and the Carolina parakeet, and put species such as the white-tailed deer and wild turkey on the brink. The forests of the northeast and upper Midwest also paid a hefty price.
For European immigrants and Indigenous populations alike, deer provided food, clothing, tools, and commodities, especially hides and venison, for trade. With the expansion of the railroads in the mid and late 1800s, large amounts of meat and hides were able to be shipped to market in the upper Midwest and Eastern United States. Following the Civil War, repeating rifles improved the efficiency of market hunters dramatically. Combined with the use of dogs, night-lighting, traps, pitfalls, and snares, deer populations through most of their range declined rapidly, probably to no more than 500,000, by 1900. That’s not just in Indiana, but the entire American herd.
In the late nineteenth century, Forest and Stream magazine (which became Field and Stream in the 1930s) was the premiere publication for sporting folk. In these pages, conservation issues were shared and debated, along with stories of epic hunts and fishing expeditions. Indiana is well-represented in its pages, and was known for good bird hunting, but deer hunting in the Hoosier state wasn’t even worth a mention.
In response to conservation concerns raised by hunters and anglers, on April 14th, 1881, the Indiana General Assembly passed a new game law:
Here with find statement of the Indiana game law, as approved April 14, 1881. Open seasons, penalties, etc. ,- Deer, October 1 to January 1; penalty $10. Quail and pheasant, Oct. 15 to Dec. 20; penalty $2 for each bird shot out of season. Turkey, Nov. 1 to Feb. 1; penalty $2. Prairie chicken, Sept. 1 to Feb. 1; penalty $10. Woodcock, July 1 to Jan. 1 ; penalty $2. Duck, Sept. 1 to April 15, penalty $2.
When adjusted for inflation, these penalties were fairly steep. But the “pot hunters,” as the market hunters were called, were not happy and fought back. In November of 1882, Forest and Stream reported the following story:
An Associated Press dispatch from Chicago, Nov. 14, reports: “The Tolleston Club of this city, composed of many influential and wealthy men, owns several thousands of acres of marsh land in Lake county, Indiana. They procured the passage of stringent game laws, and so incurred the enmity of the ‘pot hunters’ in that section. In retaliation, the latter secured the passage of a law making it a misdemeanor to carry out of the State any game shot within its boundaries. A few days ago a couple of poachers have retaliated by causing the arrest of Judge Knickerbocker of the Probate Court of this city and F. A. Howe, President of the club, and they have been bound over for a hearing on a charge of illegally exporting game from the State. A general war between sportsmen and market hunters is looked forward to.”
This “Non-Export Law” was an important response to the decimation of game populations, but it turned into quite the battle. These “pot hunters” were not a rag tag bunch of trappers and shooters eking out a living selling coon skins and a few quail, but an organized and well-funded constituency. The members of the Tolleston Gun Club who are cited above as having lobbied for the game laws were targeted. The law specified that it was illegal to transport game across state lines, and that included from a property a hunter might have owned just across the Illiana border.
This is only one example of the many “swing and a miss” policies that would not stand the test of court challenges. In the short term, however, its effects were supported by those in the hunting community. As one Forest and Stream contributor wrote, “The non-export law was enacted as a remedy for the depletion of game by market-hunters who sold their game outside of the State. As against them the law was much needed; its working has been satisfactory; and it is, therefore, certainly in the interest of Indiana sportsmen to show the law’s constitutionality.”
Despite such wishes, by 1883 the game export law was ruled unconstitutional, but further efforts were made by sportsmen to hinder the market. By 1887, Jacob Covert introduced a bill in the Indiana Legislature to prohibit the sale of game in the state for a term of five years, and sportsmen celebrated the effort, noting that “he deserves great credit for his efforts in support of the measure.” This was a compromise approach that was meant to appease market hunters to a degree.
In the 1890s, however, the laws were not strong enough to prevent further decline, mainly because they were difficult to enforce. This was true of game laws across the nation; conservation departments had no effective law enforcement arm.
By 1900, public perceptions of game laws were changing. In the pages of Forest and Stream, there is a long piece on the evolving mindset of Hoosier hunters: “Down in Indiana there is more interest in game legislation than was ever before known. That State was never noted for its respect for game laws, but it seems now to be awakening and to have a sincere desire to save its game.”
This included efforts to establish a non-resident hunting license, and to limit the bag per day to twenty-four quail per person. A shotgun license was already established in Indiana, as well as Wisconsin and Illinois, and Minnesota was working on passing one. Times were changing, and as our Hoosier hunter put it, “it surely seems that it is pretty soon going to be a case of hunt at home or pay to hunt abroad.”
A Brief History of White-tailed Deer in Indiana
White-tailed deer populations fluctuate over time, and Indiana is no exception, but there was a time when there was no whitetail hunting in the state primarily as a result of the market for deer skins.
One Forest and Stream contributor, writing at the turn of the century, explains the plight of the deer in North America: “In early days deer skins were the currency of many of the settlements, but they were killed by Indians who used the animals’ flesh and by them were brought in to trade. The early settlers were too hard at work wresting subsistence from the stubborn soil to waste time and ammunition on game unless they needed it to fill their children’s mouths. But as time passed and population increased, skins still had a value, and people were found willing to hunt game for the small pay that there was in selling deer skins. This process of turning the product of the wild creatures into money has gone on constantly, and at a constantly increasing rate, and the results are what we see to-day.”
According to Richard Nelson, author of Heart and Blood: Living With Deer in America, hides and furs were an essential part of market hunting, especially in the early nineteenth century. Around 1830, in states like Indiana and Illinois venison sold for two or three cents per pound, and deer carcasses for about a dollar, hence the expression “one buck.” The deerskins were used to make hats, gloves, pants, waistcoats, shoe uppers, leather stockings, rugs, upholstery fabric, saddles, handbags, and more. Antlers were used for buttons, knife handles, stands, etc. As the American population grew following the American Civil War, these goods were in high demand, and market hunting provided.
As early as 1857, the Indiana General Assembly attempted to respond to reports of declining deer numbers and closed the deer season. However, as the general theme goes, there was no way to enforce game laws, and Hoosiers paid no mind.
By the 1880s, the deer population had dropped so greatly Hoosiers hardly pursued whitetail in Indiana, but were well-known by residents of Wisconsin and Michigan as interlopers who descended on the Northwoods once the leaves started falling. One description in Forest and Stream best captures the sentiment: “…railroad officials say that their roads carried 2,000 deer hunters into Wisconsin last fall from Indiana and Ohio. I do not think that the railroad officials knew of all the deer hunters that went over their lines. Add to this army of well-equipped men all those that no doubt went into the same state from other directions, and all shooting at every deer that came within range, and how long could one expect the supply to hold out, even though the resident countrymen killed none at all?”
It turns out conflict between resident and non-resident hunters is hardly new!
Non-resident hunting licenses and bag limits would soon be accepted by northern hunters as it became clear the herd could not survive the onslaught of hunters from southern states whose herds had already been decimated. But there were, as you can imagine, more than a few critics.
In an October, 1895 issue of Marshall County Independent, one writer vented his frustrations in an opinion piece uncreatively titled “Deer Hunting Expensive.” He lamented that the license fees in Michigan are “prohibitive to the non-resident.” This included a $25 license fee for five deer for a non-resident, in comparison to a resident fee of 50 cents. In addition to the fees, the manner of take had been changed: “Chasing by dogs is strictly prohibited and no deer must be killed while in the water. Killing of fawn is prohibited and the hunter must use great care that the deer is of maturity. Pits or falls, traps or artificial lights to attract them near the hunter are prohibited.”
For a modern reader, it might be surprising that the laws described above were once controversial. But the “Fair Chase” ethic that guides the majority of North American hunters was just developing at the turn of the century.
In 1901, the Indianapolis Journal reported that 15,000 deer were killed in Michigan, and “public sentiment had been aroused and legislation to limit each shooter to two deer a season and the season to sixty days is now probable, while it is more than likely that the trout streams will be closed altogether for a term of years to give the trout a chance to get better.”
By the early twentieth century, Americans had come to support game laws and the conservation movement had broad public support. On Christmas Day of 1918, the Indianapolis News ran a feature-length article on conservation in the US. On Indiana specifically, they wrote: “At the beginning of the conservation movement of this state, and for several years thereafter, there was considerable opposition manifested by a large number of citizens who were accustomed to perfect freedom in hunting, fishing and the lavish use of other natural resources. However, as time went by, and the conservation department forced observance of the conservation laws, the people, who had complained, began to see the wisdom of these laws and the wholesome effect produced by an increase in the wild game and by the protection of birds and animals that were of great benefit, particularly to the agricultural interests.”
This change in attitudes led to the voluntary formation of conservation clubs across Indiana.
The last wild deer reported in Indiana was killed in Knox County in 1893. Whitetail were extirpated from Indiana for the next 50 years. During this time, just seeing a deer was newsworthy. In the Evening Republican, on November 24th, 1916, Raymond Coble made headlines as he “had the distinction of killing a deer on the banks of the Wabash near Delphi, a feat that has not been accomplished in Indiana for a good many years.” However, it was escaped from a game preserve/park.
The Greencastle Herald, on December 5th, 1923, ran this headline: “Hunters Report Seeing Wild Deer in Clay County.” Rabbit and quail hunters reported seeing a wild deer in the woods northeast of Harmony, probably from a game preserve. Still, this was a big deal in Indiana. The reporter wraps up the story with an account of two foreign miners in West Terre Haute who killed a deer and, as a result, got a hefty fine.
As these headlines indicate, there was broad support for reintroduction of white-tailed deer in Indiana. We were not the first state to attempt such a reintroduction, but it had worked elsewhere, and Hoosiers were ready. Between 1934 and 1942, the Division of Fish and Game reintroduced 296 deer purchased from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina to the southern part of the state.
The release of these deer was a festive occasion, and children in southern Indiana schools were let out of class to watch the Department of Conservation release them.
On December 27th, 1934, the Times News, out of Putnam County, ran the headline “Deer Seen in State.” The story was straightforward: “Deer liberated by the Department of Conservation last summer have been seen in three sections of the state during the past week according to reports from game wardens. One deer was seen between Bloomington and Bloomfield and another was seen at night along State Road 7. Within the city limits of North Vernon Hendricksville school children and other residents of that community had a thrill recently when they saw three deer grazing along Richland creek. Deer tracks have been seen several times in that community but no deer had been seen until the past week. Reports of deer being seen in various parts of southern Indiana are being received frequently by the Department of Conservation. No reports of deer being killed or molested by hunters have been received.”
By 1939, reports of white-tailed deer sightings in “wooded sections of southern Indiana” were making the papers. At that time, the herd was estimated at 200. Dale News noted “The deer have ranged over a wide territory, having been seen as far north as Greencastle and Muncie. Some deer have been seen in barnyards and pastures with farm stock and others have been seen along the highways by motorists.”
(Wild White-tailed Deer, The Daily Banner, March 13th, 1939)
This reintroduction effort was celebrated by Hoosiers. In a November 28th 1941 issue of the Dale News, a newspaper out of Spencer county whose editor was clearly enthusiastic about hunting and conservation, a buck sighting was considered newsworthy, as was a reminder of game laws and the penalty for poaching: “The buck deer has been reported from other parts of Hendricks and neighboring counties. Reports of deer being seen during the last few weeks have come from Huntington, Rochester, Wabash, Terre Haute, and Greensburg…Deer are protected by law, the statute providing a fine of from $50 to $200 and a sentence of from one to six months for violators. It is unlawful to ‘hunt, shoot, kill, capture, pursue or possess, dead or alive, any wild deer, buck, doe or fawn or any part thereof, of any species or kind in the State of Indiana at any time.”
(Hendricks County “Buck,” Dale News, 1941)
By 1943, the deer population was estimated at 900, and the honeymoon period for the public and whitetail was over as reports of human and wildlife conflict filled the papers.
Indiana’s first Whitetail Season
Hoosier hunters knew that, if successful, this reintroduction would eventually mean the opening of a deer season in Indiana for the first time in years, and combined with the discontent of farmers it seemed it was on the horizon. The Indianapolis Times, on the day after Thanksgiving in 1941, wrote that “So plentiful are the deer becoming that we got this amazing reply the other day from a person who should know when we opined that maybe deer hunting in Indiana isn’t so far off.”
Public pressure for an open deer season mounted. According to the Nappanee Advance-News, out of Elkhart County, in 1946, “Henry W. Moesch, Jr., director of the department of conservation club activities, suggests permitting hunters to stalk deer with bow and arrow. Farmers in self-defense are threatening to shoot deer caught raiding their cornfields and gardens to protect their property. Heavy damage is being done.”
A bill was introduced in 1947 that would have provided a special license for deer hunting in case an open season was declared, but then Governor Gates vetoed it. This would mean any hunting license would work for deer hunting, but the Game Commission was not optimistic: “Turning three-quarters of a million hunters loose in the approximately 15 to 20 counties in which a majority of the deer would be found, would create a major safety problem for both the hunters and the residents of the area involved.”
Director John H. Nigh said “It is believed that the present state law does not empower the Conservation Department to control the type of firearms for deer hunting purposes…Neither does it authorize us to make other provision essential to safety. We feel that a limited deer season is necessary, but the public welfare must come first.” They feared “more people than deer would be killed.”
In the days before blaze orange requirements, it was dangerous out there.
Southern Indiana citizens were asking for a season due to heavy crop damage, and a Jackson County petition contained 1500 signatures. Once they were given the power to determine what weapons could be used, the conservation officials announced a county-specific season would be opened, including archery.
By 1948, the Game Commission estimated the herd had increased to 3,000, and complaints of crop damage were again making the headlines. In response, a bill was introduced in the General Assembly to provide farmers suffering from deer damage with compensation. It failed to pass, but the conservation department was given the power to declare an open season on deer and establish the right of farmers to shoot “at or toward” deer damaging their crops, “using shotguns with not larger than No. 5 shot. These shootings needed to be reported”
Opening Day in Indiana!
By 1951 a herd estimated at 5,000 allowed for the first deer season in 58 years. The shotgun slug and archery season was opened in 17 southern counties, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dubois, Harrison, Jackson, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Orange, Perry, Pike, Scott, Warrick and Washington, with licenses issued for $5. The regulations stipulate shooting “Between sunrise and sunset, archery or shotgun with slug (12, 16, or 20). Only broadheads and 40 pound minimum weight. Some designated areas in state parks. One deer of either sex. License is $5 ($60 today).” The game wardens warned hunters: “It shall be unlawful to hunt, pursue, or kill deer with the aid of dogs, domestic animals, automobiles, aircraft, or any other mechanical conveyance.”
The first deer season lasted three days in November and there was a 13% success rate.
The Speedway Flyer, published out of Indianapolis, wrote that “Nearly everyone agrees that the 1951 deer hunting season was an unqualified success. Previous accounts in newspapers and magazines have generously described delighted hunters and amazed, but pleased landowners. A brand of consideration and cooperation not exhibited in many years was displayed by hunters, farmers, and employees of the Conservation Department.” As is to be expected, some wild hunting stories swirled, including rumors of 400 pound bucks from DuBois county that could not be substantiated. Sounds like a good story.
Scientists and wildlife managers were learning much about deer herd management from this reintroduction. The 633 harvested deer were examined for disease and found to be healthy, aside from evidence of some attempts at poaching using .22s and other small caliber rifles and shotguns. Of significance, conservation officers learned that “Rapid reproduction such as this can enable us to harvest a large portion of our herd on a sustained yield basis if illegal hunters do not steal the surplus throughout late winter, spring, and summer months by killing fawns and pregnant does.” The most important thing to come out of the inaugural whitetail hunt, however, was “the exchange of viewpoints between hunters, farmers, and members of the Conservation Department.”
White-tailed Deer in Indiana Today
All these years later, we arrive at the “Huff Buck” and a state with a healthy herd consistently producing Boone and Crockett bucks. If ever there were a conservation success story, this is one.
(“White-tailed Deer Biology,” Indiana Department of Natural Resources https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife-resources/animals/white-tailed-deer-biology/)
Today, Indiana’s deer herd exceeds 700,000, and hunters harvest over 100,000 deer annually.
Game laws and bag limits have contributed significantly to the success of the Indiana herd. An essential part of this is law enforcement. In an article published in 1978 in Indiana DNR’s Wildlife Today, wildlife biologist Roy Grimes lament a rise in arrests and violations, but he touts a new violation report form in the annual hunting and trapping guide, as well as a toll-free number, 800-382-0691, a number that “will be answered by dispatchers or a telephone answering service 24 hours a day.”
This was an early “tip line” for what would become Indiana’s “Turn-In-A-Poacher” program, or TIP, which today is an active and vibrant aspect of Indiana’s conservation law enforcement (1-800-TIP-IDNR). The concept for such a tip line was begun through the efforts of the Dubois County Sportsmen Club in the 1970s, which demonstrates that over a hundred years later sporting folk are still leading the way in conservation in Indiana.
The enforcement of game laws and the TIP program have certainly played a part, but the work of DNR biologists has been essential, too.
The “one buck rule” is credited with the creation of Indiana’s current trophy class. Prior to 2002, Indiana hunters could harvest at least two bucks. Hunters would usually shoot a young “meat buck” and then focus on their trophy. For example, in 2001, 56 % of the bucks harvested were yearlings. Management wise, this caused problems for a few reasons. Firstly, shooting does is essential to controlling deer populations, which in kind helps to limit human-wildlife conflict, which in turn helps to maintain support for the conservation of wildlife. It goes without saying that shooting young bucks for meat also means there will be fewer bucks growing to maturity.
(“Indiana’s Big Buck Revival,” Boone and Crockett Club)
In 2002, the state implemented a one-buck rule as a temporary measure. This is exactly what it sounds like. Aside from being drawn via lottery for special reduction hunts, hunters in Indiana are only allowed to take one buck per season. The state extended it in 2007. But by 2010, there were reports of rising vehicle collisions and crop depredation, and state lawmakers intervened. In response, the DNR authorized a liberal doe season, and hunters were able to bring the population back to a healthy level while maintaining a trophy class of bucks.
This is not to suggest that shooting a young buck for meat is a bad thing, but that this policy has encouraged hunters to shoot more does for meat, leaving more young bucks on the landscape, and more effectively managing human-wildlife conflict.
The biggest threats to today’s white-tailed deer herd is habitat loss, first and foremost, and disease, especially bovine tuberculosis, EHD (which hit some counties hard in 2024), and now CWD, the first case having been reported in northern Indiana in April of 2024.
Habitat loss is the greatest threat to Indiana’s wildlife, and as the human population continues to grow and urbanize, and as rural areas across America disappear, and with them the number of hunters, the future of the white-tailed is far from certain. As those before us, we have an opportunity to put in the work to ensure a hunting heritage for future generations.
If Indiana hunters want to see the quality of the white-tailed herd persist, then they should support conservation efforts, especially those efforts that seek to create more habitat areas, limit habitat fragmentation, and protect wetlands.
Finally, we have a responsibility to recognize and respect that game laws are essential to maintaining a healthy herd. Poaching has been an issue since the first game laws were put in place in the nineteenth century, and that remains true today. While Indiana has some of the best Conservation Officers in the nation, patrolling thousands of acres of wildlife habitat poses challenges. This is where you can play a role. If you see someone taking wildlife illegally, or suspect that they may be, call 1-800-TIP-IDNR. You can make an anonymous report, or you could be rewarded for doing your part.
It's our deer herd, and its future relies on all of us.
Have a great and safe season and wear your safety harness
Further Reading
CWD Surveillance Facilities 2024-2025
https://indnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=f3c264dc44724071b51a600149f3c2c0
“2021 Indiana White-Tailed Deer Report”
https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/files/fw-deer-summary-report-2021.pdf
To read the full account of the first annual deer hunt in 1951, see https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=SPWF19520801.1.3&srpos=9&e=------195-en-20--1--txt-txIN-deer+------
“Population Ecology of Deer” with Joe Caudell
“Hunters and the Conservation and Management of White-Tailed Deer”
https://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/news-events/hunters-and-conservation-and-management-white-tailed-deer
About Brian Stone
Brian serves on the Indiana chapter board of directors and serves as a faculty representative for the Indiana State University BHA collegiate club