Keeping deer numbers in check, especially does, goes a long way to saving valuable flora in our state parks. Photo by Lisa Metheny.

In the fall of 2007, over a dozen successful deer reduction hunts were held at various state park properties throughout Indiana. While many hunters were content with their pre-set quota for deer harvests, others were taking advantage of bonus opportunities to harvest additional deer through these reduction hunts.

Educating hunters on the need to reduce deer populations on park properties is vital to the success of the program. First, let’s begin by taking a look at state park history and why and how individual parks are chosen.

One of the oldest such programs in the United States, Indiana’s state park system dates back to 1916. Created to mark Indiana’s centennial celebration of statehood, an elaborate state park system was outlined and began to unfold with the help of a group of conservationists led by German immigrant and businessman Colonel Richard Lieber. Colonel Lieber became a nationally recognized leader of the state park movement and went on to become Indiana’s first director of state parks.

Today, over 100,000 acres across the state help to create a total of 24 state parks. The original goal of the early park leaders was to provide all Hoosiers an opportunity to visit and enjoy wetlands, forests and prairies within a one-hour drive of their homes. With the opening of the newest state park, Prophetstown State Park near Battle Ground, that goal has been met.

The historical opening of the state’s first park, McCormicks Creek in Spencer, saw long lines of eager city-slickers crowded into Model T Fords flowing steadily through the park’s entrance gates, all anxious to explore the caves, canyons and dense forest that was once roamed and hunted by the Miami Indians.

Our state’s park system ranges from the windswept shoreline of Lake Michigan, where sand dunes create Indiana Dunes SP, to the southernmost part of the state, home to Lincoln SP (named after the former president who spent his childhood roaming through the woods of southern Indiana exploring the hills and rivers of the area). These parks provide plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities to millions of visitors each year.

Hoosiers can take pride in the quality of the parks themselves. Indiana is one of the leading state park systems in terms of self-sufficiency in America today. The key to the success of the state parks has been to develop large parks, instead of tiny little partials of land, which often are more difficult to manage and maintain. While Indiana may have fewer parks, the high level of quality and sprawling acres of land may be worth the tradeoff.

The majority of our parks host old-growth forests that are unique from the regular woodland lots typically seen across Indiana today. Virgin timber, impressive hardwood forests, healthy wetlands and clean water help make the state parks a near-perfect habitat for wildlife, especially white-tailed deer. In many cases, it’s almost too perfect, as the deer population continues to thrive; hence, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources must regularly conduct controlled state park hunts to keep the deer numbers in balance.

Besides offering the traditional forms of park use -- family outings, picnicking, camping, fishing, hiking and sightseeing -- many state parks also provide an added opportunity for Hoosier hunters to harvest additional deer while adding meat to the freezers through special organized hunts called State Park Deer Reduction Hunts.

In order to understand fully the need for state park hunts, we must look at the problems that they’re intended to address. State biologists and the DNR hosted the first state park hunt in 1993 at Brown County SP with a one-day reduction hunt.