Clarifying New Rifle Law For Deer Hunting

This deer hunting season, Hoosiers will have a wide-variety of rifles they can begin using. Under a new law passed this year, additional cartridges and calibers will be allowed on private land during the firearms season.

Cartridges that are now legal include, but are not limited to:

• 6mm-06
• 6mm BR Remington
• 6mm PPC
• 6mm Remington
• .240 Weatherby
• .243 Winchester
• .243 Winchester Super Short Magnum
• .30 Carbine
• .30 Herrett
• .30 Remington AR
• .30-06 Springfield
• .30-30 Winchester
• .30-40 Krag
• .300 AAC Blackout (.300 Whisper)
• .300 H&H Magnum
• .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum
• .300 Savage
• .300 Weatherby Magnum
• .300 Winchester Magnum
• .300 Winchester Short Magnum
• .300 Remington Ultra Magnum
• .308 Marlin
• .308 Winchester
• 7.62x39mm
• 7.62x54mmR

Additional requirements include:

• The rifle must have a barrel length of at least 16 inches;
• The rifle cartridges must have a cartridge case length of at least 1.16 inches;
• The rifle cartridge must fire a bullet with a diameter that is .243 inches (6mm) or .308 inches (7.62mm);
• No cartridges with a bullet diameter between .243 and .308 are legal. Example: .270 Winchester; and
• A hunter may not carry more than 10 such cartridges while hunting.

Cartridges that have been allowed in previous years are still allowed to be used while hunting deer on both private and public property.

A partial list of cartridges not permitted under this law include the .270 Winchester, .38-55 Winchester, .444 Marlin and .45-70 Government.

Provisions under this law will expire after the 2020 deer season. At that time, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will submit an impact report to the governor and General Assembly.

Currently, the DNR is projecting this year’s firearm deer season to take place November 12 through November 27.

For more information on this new law, visit iga.in.gov, the DNR’s website www.in.gov/dnr/ or contact your local conservation officer.  As always, please contact me with questions or input at 317-232-9833 or by email at h75@iga.in.gov. I appreciate hearing from you in order to better represent our district. Stay up-to-date with the work being done at the Statehouse by signing up to receive my email updates at www.in.gov/h75.