DNR officials are encouraging hunters to take a doe deer to help control the herds. Most deer hunters want to bag that big buck, but that’s not what the DNR necessarily wants to happen. Many of the 270,000 hunters in the state will let a doe or two, or 3, go by waiting for the big buck.
Indiana has one of the highest number of car-deer accidents in the country. The answer, according to the officials, is to cull the female population. When they suggested adding more doe dates while reducing the buck hunting period, they ran into hunters screaming bloody murder.
Over 100,000 deer are usually harvested during the hunting seasons, but the way to control the numbers is for hunters to take more doe deer. A male can breed many female deer, so removing the buck does not solve the problem. A doe can breed beginning 7 months into her life and will breed every year for her lifetime, many times delivering twins.
