Firearm Deer Hunting season ended Dec. 1, with over 110,000 deer harvested statewide.
The DNR says the number of harvested deer from 2023 and 2022 were not all that different in 2024, despite a new Deer Hunting Interim Rule, effective Sep. 15.
DNR Deer Research Biologist Joe Caudell says that the biggest change was a new, statewide limit of six harvested does in a season. However, Caudell doesn’t anticipate drastic changes in the overall numbers in future seasons.
“Most hunters have an idea of how many deer that they wanna harvest,” Caudell said. “The numbers that we allow folks – those bag limits to harvest – are kind of right in those ranges.”
Many deer remain in the Bloomington area. There are still opportunities for hunters to harvest deer through January within Monroe County’s deer reduction zones.
“If anybody is interested in, you know, maybe putting an extra deer in the freezer, there are still plenty of opportunities to do that,” Caudell said.