Brennan Tinker shot his 10-point buck hunting with his dad in Dearborn County on Muzzleloader opening morning. provided

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Most Indiana deer hunters had no difficulty finding a prize buck or doe during the 2010 hunting season season.

A record 134,004 deer were harvested across the state, besting the previous record set in 2009 by more than 1,200 according to data released by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Wednesday.

2010 was the third consecutive year where Hoosier hunters set a record for the deer harvest over the archery, firearms, and muzzleloader seasons.

"We're seeing a healthy number of deer throughout much of the state, and that is translating into success by our hunters during the hunting season," DNR deer biologist Chad Stewart said.

Nearly 81,000 of the deer taken were antlerless with the remaining 53,000 antlered, although the male to female ratio was 50:50.

Southeast Indiana was one of the state’s deer hunting hot spots once again in 2010. Switzerland County was third out of 92 counties with exactly 3,400 deer harvested, up from 3,223 in 2009. Franklin County was fifth with 3,054 – nine fewer than the previous year – and Dearborn County ranked seventh with 2,865, off about 120 from 2009.

Ohio County hunters accounted for 1,150 deer as Ripley County posted 1,876.

Northeast Indiana’s Steuben County had the highest total with 3,948, followed by 3,578 in nearby Kosciusko County.

"Hunters are continuing to put up high harvest numbers and see a lot of success in many northern counties," Stewart said.

LINKS:

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