5,000 deer taken by Putnam hunters in past three years

Putnam County hunters bagged more than 5,000 deer over the past three years, according to data released by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Local hunters are also nothing if not consistent, having killed basically the same number of deer each of the past three years, according to DNR records.

The most productive of the past three deer seasons in Putnam County was 2013 with 1,772 total deer taken, almost identical to the 1,770 Putnam total for 2015. Meanwhile, in 2014, Putnam hunters bagged 1,697 deer.

Overall, Hoosier hunters harvested 123,664 deer during the 2015 season, representing a three percent increase from the 120,073 deer taken during the 2014 season.

The antlered deer harvest, however, was 10 percent greater than the 2014 harvest, while the antlerless harvest was one percent lower than in 2014.

The overall 2015 deer harvest ranks as the 10th highest in Indiana history. The 2015 antlerless deer harvest ranks 11th highest.

Counties contiguous to Putnam were led in 2015 by Parke at 2,390 deer harvested, Owen at 1,717, Morgan at 1,316, Clay at 1,165 and Montgomery at 1,046. Neighboring Hendricks reported just 627 deer taken in 2015.

The 2015 season was composed of four statewide segments: Youth (Sept. 26-27); archery (Oct. 1 to Jan. 3); firearms (Nov. 14-29); and muzzleloader (Dec. 5-20).

A late antlerless season was available from Dec. 26 to Jan. 3 in 60 counties, with additional date restrictions for counties with "A" designated quotas.

Also, hunters could harvest additional deer beyond the statewide bag limits in designated deer reduction zones during the deer reduction zone season which opened Sept. 15 and continued through Jan. 31.

Firearms season was the most productive, accounting for 72,555 deer, or 59 percent of the total harvest.

Archery season accounted for 32,753 deer, or 26 percent, followed by the muzzleloader season with 10,784 (nine percent), special antlerless firearms season with 5,105 (four percent) and youth season with 2,467 (two percent).

The Hoosier harvest exceeded 1,000 deer in 58 counties (including Putnam, Owen, Clay and Montgomery) , 2,000 in 17 counties (including Parke) and 3,000 in one county.

Harrison County was the state's top producer for the third season, with 3,227 deer taken.

Benton County recorded the fewest deer taken (90), followed by Tipton County (114).

The nine counties after Harrison with the greatest harvest in descending order were: Washington (2,891), Franklin (2,890), Switzerland (2,653), Noble (2,624), Dearborn (2,559), Steuben (2,523), Lawrence (2,502), Parke (2,390) and Crawford (2,370).

Three Indiana counties set unofficial record harvests in 2015. They were Dubois (2,040), Henry (601) and Lawrence (2,502).

Hunters have harvested approximately 3.5 million deer during 64 hunting seasons in Indiana.

Dates for the 2016 deer-hunting season are: Youth (Sept. 24-25); archery (Oct. 1 to Jan. 1); firearms (Nov. 12-27); and muzzleloader (Dec. 3-18).

To view the full report, go to widlife.IN.gov and locate "2015 Deer Report" in the "Hunting and Trapping" panel.