Hunters Helping Farmers sign up starts July 1

Starting July 1, deer hunters who want to help landowners or farmers remove antlerless deer from private property during the regular deer hunting seasons can sign up online at www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild.



Using an online form, each hunter will be able to select up to two counties that he or she would be willing to hunt. Landowners or farmers who think they need additional antlerless deer removed from their property can then contact their district wildlife biologist for the list of prospective hunters for their area. The landowner would then be responsible for reviewing the information on each application and contacting the hunter(s) of his or her choosing.



There are no special hunting benefits associated with this program, which is designed to connect landowners and potential hunters. The program does not increase a hunter’s bag limit, county antlerless deer quotas, or give the hunter any special considerations or license fee reductions. Hunters selected by landowners to hunt on their property must abide by all Indiana hunting regulations, bag limits, bonus antlerless quotas, and purchase the appropriate valid license(s) needed to take one or more antlerless deer off the property.



The registration form must be completed online from July 1 at 12:01 a.m. to midnight on Aug. 31. There will be no exceptions or extensions to the deadline. Mailed or faxed copies will not be accepted. Hunters who do not have Internet are encouraged to visit a local library offering Internet access. Multiple applications submitted by the same hunter are prohibited and will be purged from the database.



Results from the first year of the Hunters Helping Farmers Program showed increased hunter access occurred, but not from those hunters who registered through the Hunters Helping Farmers list. Based on a random sample of landowners who received information about the program, 44 percent indicated that they made an effort this past hunting season to increase antlerless deer hunting efforts and add additional hunters; however, none of those surveyed used the Hunters Helping Farmers list. Instead the vast majority said they increased hunter access by recruiting local hunters with whom they were already familiar.



Even though none of the randomly selected and interviewed landowners used the Hunters Helping Farmers list, 10 landowners specifically requested a copy of the list for their county and six were interviewed. The two landowners who used the list said they were pleased with the results. Of the four landowners who didn’t use the list, all said they might use the list in the future.



The Division of Fish and Wildlife would like to thank all the deer hunters that registered for the Hunters Helping Farmers program and their willingness to help resident landowners by taking antlerless deer. Although most of the hunters who registered for the program did not get called, hunter access to private lands was increased. One of the best ways hunters can help make this program a success is by telling landowners and farmers about the program.





More information: Division of Fish and Wildlife, Private Lands Program Manager (812) 334-1137