The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is restricting some hunting regulations this fall due to a severe viral outbreak in southern Indiana deer herds.
The changes come after the DNR received hundreds of reports from Hoosiers who described deer that they suspected were infected with epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), a virus that is highly deadly to white-tailed deer.
The outbreak started the last weekend of August and stretched into at least September, according to Joe Caudell, a deer biologist at the DNR.
In areas with high deer mortality from EHD and unchecked bag limits, heavy hunting pressure can cause deer populations to drop the following year with a slow recovery period.
“Usually, we make this call to lower the bag limits earlier to give us a little bit more time to get the word out,” Caudell said. “But this (outbreak) just happened so late and it was so severe.”
The DNR reduced antlerless bag limits, the number of antlerless deer hunters can harvest in a given county, in seven counties this hunting season.
Jennings County’s had 301 suspected EHD cases reported to the DNR as of Oct. 8, and the bag limit decreased from four antlerless deer to two.
Antlerless bag limits in Jackson, Jefferson and Scott Counties— which had 231, 91 and 71 EHD reports respectively— were lowered from four to three, and Bartholomew, Martin and Switzerland Counties saw their limits drop from three to two.
The updated regulations are in effect for the 2025-2026 deer hunting season.
While deadly, EHD is a naturally occurring insect-borne disease in white-tailed deer across the United States. It usually impacts some Indiana deer each year.
Severe outbreaks can stem from prolonged periods of warm, dry weather. Without much rain, deer are more likely to congregate at water sources, which can be a breeding ground for disease as small midges and gnats congregate to feast on the deer, transmitting EHD across herds as they buzz from one animal to the next.
Deer infected with EHD often start exhibiting symptoms, like salivation and facial and neck swelling, within a week of infection. Apart from the rare individual that survives and develops immunity, symptomatic deer will succumb to EHD within 36 hours.
There is no treatment for EHD, but spread of the disease usually slows when the fall ushers in colder weather and the insect population starts to die off. While EHD is persistent on the Indiana landscape, it doesn’t have long term implications for deer population health, according to the DNR.