Putnam deer harvest in state’s top 10 for 2022-23

With all Indiana deer seasons for 2022-23 ending on Jan. 31, Putnam County is among 10 Hoosier counties in which the harvest was more than 2,000 deer during the period.

Putnam, with 2,180 deer taken over the period, ranked as No. 9 in the Indiana top 10. Topping Hoosier counties for the period was Steuben in northeastern Indiana, the only county to exceed the 3,000 mark with 3,239 deer taken.

The 2022-23 figures mark the first time Putnam County has topped 2,000 deer harvested. Previous figures were 1,984 in 2021-22; 1,999 in 2020-21; 1,743 in 2019-20; 1,893 in 2018-19; 1,769 in 2017-18; 1,847 in 2016-17; and 1,769 in 2015-16 for an eight-year total of 15,013 reported by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

The state total for 2022-23 was 121,854 deer.

According to DNR figures, Putnam, County boasts a deer habitat of 44 percent. By comparison, Brown County is 94 percent, while Tipton County northeast of Indianapolis, is only three percent.

The top 10 counties for the 2022-23 deer harvest were:

1. Steuben, 3,239;

2. Lagrange, 2,837;

3. Noble, 2,785;

4. Kosciusko, 2,632;

5. Harrison, 2,396;

6. Dekalb, 2,271;

7. Washington, 2,227;

8. Parke, 2,222;

9. Putnam 2,180; and

10. Lawrence, 2,140.