Indiana outdoorsmen could be seeing a change in the hunting and fishing rules later this summer. The Natural Resources Commission, the supervisory body of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, has preliminarily adopted several changes to the administrative rules for hunting and fishing in Indiana. An administrative rule is a rule that carries the effect of law. Administrative rules enable the DNR to alter hunting and fishing regulations in response to changing habitat conditions and wildlife populations without going to the legislature to change the state statue. For example, the legislature establishes a deer season and how much the deer tag will cost.
Administrative rules determine the deer hunting rules.
Several rule changes were proposed to the public last year and comments were heard through a series of 16 public comment meetings. Eight-hundred people and hunter groups provided comment about the proposed changes. The NRC has reviewed the comments and biologist recommendations and adopted some of the proposed changes. The following is a portion of proposed rule changes that will be the subject of more public comment later this summer. After a daily bag limit has been reached, allow an angler to release a fish and replace it with another, provided the released fish was held in approved holding conditions and is healthy at the time of release.