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Last updated on Wednesday, November 11, 2015
(UNDATED) - Select Indiana state parks will close temporarily to allow for controlled deer reductions in the coming weeks.
The dates for the temporary closings are November 16 and 17, and November 30 and December 1.
The state parks affected are Clifty Falls, Fort Harrison, Harmonie, Lincoln, McCormick's Creek, Ouabache, Pokagon, Potato Creek, Prophetstown, Shades, Shakamak, Tippecanoe, Turkey Run and Whitewater Memorial.
These state parks will close to the general public the evening before each of the two efforts and reopen the morning after each two-day reduction.
Only individual hunters drawn last September and those hunters they listed on their applications may participate in the hunts. There will be no standby drawings this year.
DNR biologists evaluate which parks require a reduction each year based on habitat recovery and previous harvest rates at each park. The state parks are home to more than 32 state-endangered plants and numerous significant natural communities. The reductions help control browsing by deer to a level that helps maintain habitat throughout the state parks for all plants and animals.
Information on 2016 state park deer reductions, including online applications, will be available next summer at dnr.IN.gov/fishwild. The application deadline is usually the end of August.
A report on the 2014 reductions is at dnr.IN.gov/parklake/files/sp-DeerRMRR.pdf.
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