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Indiana’s 2014 state park deer harvest fell 40 percent

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A state wildlife official says Indiana hunters killed about 40 percent fewer deer at state parks last year than in 2013, likely because unseasonably cold weather kept some hunters home.

The Department of Natural Resources says hunters took just over 1,000 deer during Indiana’s park hunts in mid-November and early December. That’s down 43 percent from nearly 1,800 in 2013.

State parks natural resources chief Mike Mycroft says Indiana’s cold weather meant deer were moving about less and that reduced the number taken by hunters.

But he says the cold also kept some hunters away, with hunters a no-show at a few state properties.

Mycroft says another factor in last year’s deer harvest decline is that only 18 state parks had hunts, compared with 22 state parks in 2013.