Deer Hunting Licenses & Exemptions

Valid Season: Archery and youth seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use vertical bows and crossbows. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The archery license is valid for harvesting one deer of either sex. Harvesting more than one deer requires additional archery licenses. A hunter may use archery licenses to fulfill all state and county deer bag limits.

Cost:

• Resident Adult: $39
• Non-resident Adult: $240
• Non-resident Youth: $39
• Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39

Valid Season: Firearms and youth seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use legal shotguns, handguns, rifles, muzzleloaders, or air guns. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The firearms license is valid for harvesting one antlered deer only. A hunter may purchase only one firearms license per year.

Cost:

• Resident Adult: $39
• Non-resident Adult: $240
• Non-resident Youth: $39
• Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39

Note: A hunter may not purchase both a firearms license and a deer license bundle in the same year.

Valid Season: Muzzleloader and youth seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use legal muzzleloaders only. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The muzzleloader license is valid for harvesting one deer of either sex. Harvesting more than one deer requires additional muzzleloader licenses. Hunters may use muzzleloader licenses to fulfill all state and county bag limits.

Cost:

• Resident Adult: $39
• Non-resident Adult: $240
• Non-resident Youth: $39
• Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39

Valid Season: Archery, firearms, muzzleloader, and youth seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use any equipment currently in season. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The multi-season antlerless license is valid for harvesting one antlerless deer at any time during the regular season. Harvesting more than one antlerless deer requires additional multi-season antlerless licenses. A hunter may use multi-season antlerless licenses to fulfill some or all state and county antlerless deer bag limits.

Cost:

• Muli-season antlerless licenses may be purchased separately from other licenses.
• First multi-season antlerless license
  • Resident Adult: $39
  • Non-resident Adult: $240
  • Non-resident Youth: $39
  • Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
  • Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
  • Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39
• Second and additional multi-season antlerless licenses (discounted rate; must first purchase a multi-season antlerless license at regular price)
  • Resident Adult: $24
  • Non-resident Adult: $39
  • Non-resident Youth: $24
  • Apprentice Resident Adult: $24
  • Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $39
  • Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $24

Note:

• Hunters may not use a multi-season antlerless license to harvest antlerless deer with a firearm on some DNR-managed properties during the firearms season. See County Antlerless Bag Limits for a list of properties with restrictions.

Valid Season: Archery, firearms, muzzleloader, and youth seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use any equipment currently in season. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The deer license bundle is valid for harvesting three deer: 2 antlerless deer and 1 antlered deer. The deer can be taken in any order, in any season, with appropriate equipment for that season.

Cost:

• Resident: $91
• Non-resident Adult: $550
• Non-resident Youth: $91
• Apprentice Resident: $91
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $550
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $91

Note:

• Hunters may not purchase both a deer license bundle and a firearms license in the same year.
• Hunters may not use a deer license bundle to harvest antlerless deer with a firearm on some DNR-managed properties during the firearms season. See County Antlerless Bag Limits for a list of properties with restrictions.

Valid Season: Deer reduction zone season only

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use only archery equipment from Sept. 15 until the opening day of firearms season. Then, hunters may also use firearms equipment until Jan. 31, where local ordinances allow. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The deer reduction zone license is valid for harvesting one deer of either sex in a designated Deer Reduction Zone (DRZ). Hunters must first harvest an antlerless deer before harvesting an antlered deer (earn-a-buck) with this license. Harvesting more than one deer requires additional deer reduction zone licenses. Hunters may harvest up to 10 deer using deer reduction zone licenses (10 antlerless; 9 antlerless and 1 antlered). See Deer Reduction Zones for more information.

Cost:

• Resident Adult: $39
• Non-resident Adult: $240
• Non-resident Youth: $39
• Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39

The youth hunt/trap license is for Indiana residents age 17 and under. It includes all deer hunting licenses, so the youth can hunt in any deer season with this single license. This is the only license a resident youth hunter needs to hunt deer in Indiana.

Valid Season: Youth, archery, firearms, muzzleloader, and deer reduction zone seasons

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use any equipment that is currently in season. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The youth hunt/trap license is valid for harvesting all state and county deer bag limits (1 antlered and up to 6 antlerless) and the Deer Reduction Zone bag limit (10 antlerless, or 9 antlerless and 1 antlered). Youth hunters must follow all season regulations. See County Antlerless Bag Limits for more information.

Cost:

• Resident Youth: $12
• Apprentice Resident Youth: $12
• Non-resident Youth with parent, grandparent, or legal guardian who is an Indiana resident: $12
• Non-resident Youth: ineligible; must purchase regular deer hunting licenses

Note:

• The youth hunt/trap license is valid from April 1 through March 31. If a youth hunter turns 18 after purchasing a youth hunt/trap license, they can continue to hunt with the youth license until it expires on March 31.
• Non-resident youth may purchase a resident youth hunt/trap license for $12 if their parent, grandparent, or legal guardian is an Indiana resident.
• The youth hunt/trap license can be used during the military/refuge and state park management hunts (hunters must be 18 years old on the day of the hunt).

Valid Season: Not season specific. This license is for hunting during reserved hunts on military and wildlife refuge properties only.

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use equipment currently in season. See Deer Hunting Equipment and Reserved Hunt Information for more details.

Harvested Deer: The military/refuge license is valid for harvesting one deer of either sex during a reserved draw hunt on a military or wildlife refuge property only. Hunters may use this license to harvest deer from these properties in addition to the regular season bag limits. Each additional deer requires an additional military/refuge license. Military and wildlife refuge properties have specific daily bag limits. See Reserved Hunt Information for more details.

Cost:

• Resident Adult: $39
• Non-resident Adult: $240
• Non-resident Youth: $39
• Apprentice Resident Adult: $39
• Apprentice Non-resident Adult: $240
• Apprentice Non-resident Youth: $39

Note:

• A military/refuge license is not required for military personnel. Military personnel purchase regular deer hunting licenses.
• If hunting during a military/refuge reserved hunt, it is best to use a military/refuge license because any deer harvested with this license will not count toward the statewide bag limits. A hunter may use a regular season deer hunting license (e.g., archery, firearms, etc.), but the license can only be used when the military or wildlife refuge hunt coincides with the season in which the license is valid. The harvested deer would then count toward the state and county bag limits.
• To register for the military/refuge hunts, hunters need to possess any valid deer hunting license, including any resident deer licenses, non-resident deer licenses, youth licenses, or a lifetime comprehensive license.

Any hunter born after December 31, 1986, who has not yet taken a Hunter Education Course must purchase an apprentice deer hunting license to hunt deer. 

Each type of deer hunting license has an apprentice version with the same hunting privileges for the same cost. See the deer hunting license descriptions above.

An apprentice hunter must be accompanied at all times during the hunt by a licensed hunter at least 18 years old. The apprentice hunter must be near the licensed hunter and always able to communicate with them.

Valid Season: The season for which the license is valid.

Legal Equipment: Hunters may use the equipment that is in season and allowed by the license they carry. See Deer Hunting Equipment for more information.

Harvested Deer: The number of deer a hunter may harvest with an apprentice license depends on the type of apprentice license. See the descriptions of deer hunting licenses above for more details.

Cost:

• Apprentice licenses cost the same as the regular license. See prices above.
• A hunter may purchase 3 apprentice licenses in a lifetime before they must take a hunter education course.

Note: Hunters who meet a license exemption (i.e., landowner exemption) are not required to take the Hunter Education Course and are not required to purchase apprentice licenses.

These landowners do not need to purchase a deer hunting license to hunt on their property:

• Resident owners of Indiana farmland, their spouses, and children living with them.
• Resident lessees of Indiana farmland who farm that land, their spouses, and children living with them .
• Trustees and named trust beneficiaries comprised solely of the members of an immediate family that are residents of Indiana when hunting on the trust property (as defined in Indiana Code 30-4-1-2).

Farmland is defined as agricultural land that is devoted or best adaptable to the production of crops, fruits, timber, or the raising of livestock, or is assessed as agricultural land for property tax purposes.

There is no acreage requirement to qualify for this exemption.

This exemption does not apply to land owned by a business, corporation, or partnership unless the shareholders, partners, members, or owners are comprised solely of the members of an immediate family and farm that land and does not extend to immediate family members of those shareholders, partners, or members of the business entity.

Leasing farmland for hunting does not qualify for the landowner exemption.

There is not an age restriction for being a “child” to qualify for this license exemption. An individual of any age that is living with their parents who own the farmland does not need to purchase a hunting license to hunt deer on that farmland property.

Indiana allows non-resident landowners, including their spouse and children living with them, to hunt deer on their own farmland in Indiana without a hunting license if their home state allows the same exemption for the same species to Indiana residents who own farmland in that state.

Hunters from these states do not need a hunting license to hunt deer on the Indiana farmland that they own:

• Ohio
• North Carolina
• Virginia

Only youth hunters from these states do not need a hunting license to hunt deer on the Indiana farmland that their parents own:

• Florida: youth under 16 years
• Iowa: youth under 16 years when accompanied by a licensed adult
• Kentucky: youth under 12 years
• Missouri: youth under 15 years
• South Carolina: youth under 16 years
• Tennessee: youth under 12 years

Youth aged 17 and younger participating in free youth hunting weekends do not need hunter education certification or a hunting license to hunt those weekends. Youth may harvest any legal game that is in season during that time, and they must comply with all other hunting regulations.

During free youth hunting weekends, the youth hunter must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter who is at least 18 years old, and they must be in close proximity at all times during the hunt. The adult may help the youth with calling game but may not carry any equipment, except for a handgun carried lawfully.

Non-resident youth may purchase a resident youth hunt/trap license for $12 if their parent, grandparent, or legal guardian is an Indiana resident.

Residents who are catastrophically disabled veterans as defined in 38 CFR 17.36(e) may hunt during four free hunting days without a deer hunting license. All other hunting regulations apply (bag limits, legal equipment, etc.).

• The catastrophically disabled veteran must be accompanied by an adult who is at least 18 years of age, and they must be in close enough proximity to monitor and communicate with the veteran at all times. The adult may help the veteran with calling game but may not carry a firearm, crossbow, or bow and arrow, except for a handgun carried lawfully. The adult partner must possess a valid hunting license unless exempt from needing a license.

Residents of Indiana engaged in full-time military service and who are carrying their leave orders and a valid Indiana driver’s license or Indiana voter registration card are exempt from license requirements.

Non-resident military personnel on active duty and stationed in Indiana may hunt or fish with a resident license.

Residents or non-residents participating in a field trial sanctioned by the Indiana DNR director do not need to purchase a deer hunting license to hunt deer.