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From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:
With deer firearms season opening on November 14th, the Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife reminds hunters of the following:
- Purchase your license in advance. Signing in to buy hunting licenses looks different now. Access Indiana, an online portal that allows citizens to interact with multiple Indiana state agencies through a single login, launched several months ago. Unless you are exempt from needing a license, purchase a deer hunting license at a license vendor as listed at IN.gov/5334.htm or buy online at on.IN.gov/INhuntfish.
- Know the regulations. Review the 2020-2021 Indiana Hunting & Trapping Guide for up-to-date hunting regulations. The current guide is found at hunting.IN.gov.
- Prepare your equipment. Visit a shooting range to sight in hunting equipment. A list of DNR shooting ranges can be found at on.IN.gov/dnrshootingranges.
- Remember to CheckIN your harvest. Register harvested deer within 48 hours using the CheckIN Game system at CheckINGame.dnr.IN.gov. After doing that, take the After-Hunt Survey. For information on the After-Hunt Survey, visit wildlife.IN.gov/9813.htm.
- Safely field dress your deer. Field dress and cool deer carcasses as soon as possible. While field dressing deer, wear disposable gloves, use clean cutting equipment, refrain from smoking or eating, and minimize contact with the deer’s brain or spinal tissues. Once finished, clean and disinfect all equipment and wash hands. See deer.dnr.IN.gov for videos on processing deer from the field to freezer.
- Confirm with your processor. This fall, some Indiana deer processors may have adjusted hours, may not be taking full carcasses, or may not be taking deer at all. Plan ahead by contacting your processor before taking a deer to them: https://bit.ly/3p2GXpp.
- Have deer tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Although CWD has not been detected in Indiana to date, the DNR is actively conducting surveillance to monitor for the disease. Visit on.IN.gov/cwd for information on 2020 CWD surveillance and to search for a sampling location near you.
For any additional information, visit hunting.IN.gov.
Featured photo by Erik Karits from Pexels