By Howard Greninger
TERRE HAUTE — Deer hunts last month in 17 state parks resulted in 1,334 deer being harvested, a decrease of 134 deer from last year.
The controlled hunts occurred Nov. 16 and 17 and Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at Chain O'Lakes, Charlestown, Harmonie, Lincoln, Ouabache, Pokagon, Potato Creek, Prophetstown, Shades, Shakamak, Spring Mill, Tippecanoe River, Turkey Run, Versailles, Whitewater Memorial, Fort Harrison and Clifty Falls.
“We had rainy weather at most of the parks during the early hunt and this year there was a lot of standing corn” in fields adjacent to many of the state parks, said Mike Mycroft, chief of naturals resources of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks & Reservoirs.
“If you don’t harvest a lot of deer, that is actually a good thing as it indicates these reductions are about managing habitat, the vegetation,” Mycroft said. “Also, each of the two-day hunts were done on less acreage this year than last year.”
Hunters killed 42 deer in Turkey Run State Park near Marshall, 28 in Shakamak State Park near Jasonville and 60 in Shades State Park near Waveland.
DNR biologists evaluate which parks require a deer reduction each year, based on the recovery of vegetation that deer eat and previous harvest information at each park.
The state parks are home to many unique natural and rare plants, Mycroft said, and the controlled hunts help reduce browsing by deer to a level that helps vegetation recover.
Officials first opened state parks to deer hunters in 1993, harvesting 392 deer. The hunts were halted in 1994 and resumed in 1995. Turkey Run State Park has been involved in the hunts since 1999, but now deer numbers may be at a point where the park is taken off as a hunting site for a year, Mycroft said.
“Turkey Run in 2009 had 11 deer [harvested] per square mile. Last year it was 20 deer per square mile. Turkey Run is probably in a position where the deer are having much less impact [on vegetation] than they did five years ago. That park started at 39 deer per square mile [in 1999],” Mycroft said.
“We will take a closer look to make sure of this so we do not lose any ground. Turkey Run is somewhat odd as it does not have a smooth trend [in reduction of deer],” Mycroft said, adding that corn still standing in nearby property could be influencing this year’s deer numbers at that park.
About one-third of state parks regularly take a year off from deer reductions. Brown County State Park is one such example, Mycroft said.
The breakdown by parks shows 93 deer killed at Chain O’Lakes, 133 at Charlestown, 26 at Clifty Falls, 43 at Fort Harrison, 111 at Harmonie, 43 at Lincoln, 29 at Ouabache, 40 at Pokagon, 186 at Potato Creek, 80 at Prophetstown, 60 at Shades, 28 at Shakamak, 16 at Spring Mill, 119 at Tippecanoe, 42 at Turkey Run, 202 at Versailles and 83 at Whitewater.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com
