Once again leading the way in the zone, and the state in particular, is Steuben County with 3,287 deer. This is down just slightly from the 3,428 deer posted there the previous year. Kosciusko County snatched the No. 2 slot from Noble with its 3,083 harvest total, which is up significantly from the 2005 harvest number of 2,680. Noble County came in at No. 3 with 2,740 deer, compared with 2,919 in 2005.

Marshall County climbed to the No. 4 spot in the zone last year with its total of 2,583 deer. This number is up from 2,376 deer taken there in 2005. LaGrange fell to No. 5 for the year with 2,562 deer, down a bit from the previous mark of 2,632. Coming in at No. 5 for the zone is DeKalb County with 1,950 deer. DeKalb produced 2,115 the previous year. Rounding out the zone is Elkhart County with 1,354 deer taken for the year, up a bit from the previous mark of 1,343.

The large stands of timber, wood lots, thickets, wetlands and abundant farm fields in this zone should continue to produce plenty of deer for years to come.

ZONE 2
Northwestern Indiana's Zone 2 harbors its share of whitetails. With a mixture of habitat types from the industrialized northern section to the suburban areas to the more agricultural and open areas to the south, the zone produces an abundance of deer. Zone 2 produced 15,344 deer last season, compared with the 14,735 in 2005. While only two of its counties produced at least 1,500 total deer, several of the other counties produced between 1,000 to just less than 1,500. The harvest in this zone was distributed fairly evenly within the 11 counties that exist here.

LaPorte County continues to lead the zone with its 2006 harvest of 2,421 deer. This is up significantly from the previous mark of 2,282. Fulton County remained at No. 2 for the zone with 1,757 total deer for the year, up from its previous mark of 1,694. Jasper County jumped up two spots to No. 3 with 1,438 deer, which is up from its 2005 total of 1,300 animals. Pulaski County dropped to No. 4 for the year with a total of 1,424, up slightly from its previous total of 1,385. Cass County dropped one spot to No. 5 for the year with 1,376 deer, which is up just slightly from the 1,287 deer taken there in 2005. Starke County stayed at No. 6 with a final tally of 1,361, compared with the 1,323 taken there a year ago.

ZONE 3
Zone 3 doesn't harbor as many deer as its neighboring zone to the north, but it still hosts enough whitetails to provide excellent opportunities for its residents. Highly urbanized Allen County, which continues to lead the zone, produced 1,589 deer last year, compared with 1,498 deer it gave up the season before. Wabash County climbed one spot to No. 2 for the zone with its total of 1,362 deer, down just slightly from its previous total of 1,384.

Dropping one spot to No. 3 for the year is Whitley County with 1,305 whitetails. This is down slightly from its earlier number of 1,436 deer. The following counties remained in their same spots from the 2005 season. Huntington County produced 1,159 deer compared with 1,148 in 2005, followed by Jay County with 1,022 deer for the year. Jay produced 1,084 in 2005. Adams County produced the same number of deer this past year as 2005: 561. Wells County turned out 506 total deer last year, down a bit from its former total of 538. Blackford County rounds out the zone with its 2006 total of 302 deer, compared with 368 in 2006.

ZONE 4
Stretching from the eastern and western state lines in central Indiana are the 25 counties of Zone 4. The zone tallied 15,318 total deer for the year, compared with 15,527 in 2005. This area is home to perhaps the lowest deer density in the entire state. None of the counties in the zone produced 1,500 total deer for the year.

Leading the zone, as usual, is Fountain County with its total of 1,452 deer, which is down somewhat from the 1,508 deer taken there in 2005. Miami County jumped one spot to No. 2 for the year with 1,248 deer, compared with 1,144 deer taken there the year before.

Tippecanoe dropped one place to No. 3 for the year with a total harvest figure of 1,232, which is up from its previous total of 1,184. Warren County jumped one spot to No. 4 with its total of 1,020 animals, down just a bit from the 1,056 deer harvested there the year before.

Montgomery County dropped one slot to No. 5 for the year with 988 deer taken, compared with the 1,107 taken there in 2005. Wayne County remained at No. 6 in the zone with 943 whitetails taken, which is down only slightly from the 951 deer taken there the year before.

ZONE 5
Southeastern Indiana's Zone 5 is a nine-county area that is known to produce plenty of deer with its excellent habitat, and higher deer density. The zone produced 15,784 deer in 2006, compared with the 16,786 deer it produced the previous year. Six of the zone's counties produced at least 1,500 deer in 2006.