The Deer Management Survey is an electronic survey that gathers opinions of deer management at both the county and state level. Survey topics cover broad topics on deer population management, trends in deer populations, and other relevant topics such as chronic wasting disease (CWD), land access, and equipment types permitted for hunting.
Who participates in the survey?
All Indiana residents (hunters and non-hunters) and non-resident hunters are eligible to participate in the survey.
The Deer Management Survey is emailed to individuals who:
- have a valid email address tied to their Access Indiana account (used for purchasing a hunting and/or fishing license)
- have checked in a deer during the last three years and who have a valid email address associated with their check-in account
- Note: Hunters using a license exemption should create an Access Indiana account in order to participate in future surveys.
Anyone can create an Access Indiana account and verify e-mail addresses below:
Survey recipients can opt out of future surveys at any time.
What questions are asked?
Each year, survey participants are asked questions about:
- participant demographics (residence, age, gender)
- hunting demographics (hunting location and frequency)
- desired deer management goals (e.g., should DNR adjust its management goals to produce larger bucks or more deer, etc.)
- observations of deer populations in the county where a participant lives and/or hunts (number and size of deer)
Special questions that change annually are included at the end of the survey and are based on relevant topics in deer management in Indiana.
Historical survey results are available in the annual Indiana White-tailed Deer Reports.
Surveys in Wildlife Management
The North American Model of Wildlife Management is the foundation of fish and wildlife management in Indiana and throughout North America. Two principles of the North American Model are that wildlife is held in the public trust for current and future generations, and sound science is the proper tool for managing wildlife. To realize these principles, sociological science is used to measure public desires (via. surveys, public comment, forums, etc.) and biological science is used to manage wildlife populations (via. wildlife surveys, measured harvest, disease management, habitat improvement, etc.).
Historically Indiana DNR has incorporated the desires of hunters, landowners, and other stakeholders into deer management decisions and continues to do so. Wildlife is managed by DNR for our citizens and is not exclusively based on biological and ecological factors. Surveys are used to obtain sociological data.