Judge: DNR overstepped in attempt to shut down Indiana high-fence deer hunting

The topic of hunting deer on fenced preserves divides many Hoosiers — even, it appears, judges.

A ruling this week in a Harrison County lawsuit only adds fuel to the debate that has been simmering since 2005, when the Department of Natural Resources tried to shut down the 12 high-fence hunting preserves operating in the state at the time.

The new ruling came in a challenge brought by Rodney Bruce, who operates Whitetail Bluff near Corydon. Harrison County Circuit Court Judge John Evans found the DNR overstepped its authority and that deer at facilities such as Bruce’s “are privately owned and not the property of the people of the state of Indiana.”