Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Indiana deer hunting rifle?

My brother in law and nephew recently bought hunting land in Indiana and I started checking out what guns they can use. It appear that:

Shotguns for public land
.357 caliber or larger rifle caliber with case length between 1.16 inch - 3 inch max on public land
243 or larger on Private land.

So would my little 35 rem model 600 rem bolt action be legal on public land?
I didnt see anything about straight walled cartridge, but it seems like the case length limit may restrict some guns (4570?)

thoughts?

You got the public land 3” max wrong.
It’s 1.8” max

And no that rifle would not be legal

The .35 Rem is not legal either. Unless you trim the case length to 1.8 inches. That is easy to do if you are a reloader. And it does not change the performance of that cartridge.

Copied this out of the online regs to clarify the length issues:

Rifles

Rifles chambered for cartridges that fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger, have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches, and have a maximum case length of 1.8 inches are legal to use only during the deer firearms, youth, reduction zones from Nov. 16-Jan. 31 (in zones where local ordinances allow the use of a firearm), and special antlerless seasons. These rifle cartridges can be used on public and private land.

Some cartridges legal for deer hunting include the .357 Magnum, .350 Legend, .358 Hoosier, .38-.40 Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-.40 Winchester, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express, .500 S&W, .460 Smith & Wesson, .450 Bushmaster, and .50 Beowulf. Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal.

Additional rifles can be used for deer hunting on private land only. During the firearms, reduction zone from Nov. 16, 2019 – Jan. 31, 2020 (in zones where local ordinances allow the use of firearms), youth season, and special antlerless season (where open), rifles that fire cartridges meeting the following requirements may be used to hunt deer on private land only:

The cartridge must have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches and a maximum case length of 3 inches.
The cartridge must fire a bullet with a minimum diameter of .243 inches (same as 6 mm).
A hunter must not possess more than 10 of these cartridges while hunting deer.
Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal.

I reread the rules and realized my missed length between public and private.

Now the question is... Just because you can trim the 35 rem case to meet the length, will the game warden say the design intent is longer and its still an illegal cartridge?

No,it's legal.

Reading this link on buckmasters from the indiana DNR makes me wonder.... WTF... 270 not legal on private...

https://www.buckmasters.com/Hunting...clarifies-new-rifle-law-for-deer-hunters

Rebarreled Marlin 336 to 357 Herrett is the "Indiana Special".

Yes so far it’s .243”
And .308” only
Supposed to be redone (whatever that means) in 2020
Hopefully including all others.

There were a lot of guys trimming the 35 Remington brass down when these silly laws were dreamed up. Everybody was calling it the 35 Hoosier.
I rarely hunt public land but when I do I hunt with a 458 SOCOM.
The trimmed 35 is a nice deer gun.

From the 2019 regulations


Additional rifles can be used for deer hunting on private land only. During the firearms, reduction zone from Nov. 16, 2019 – Jan. 31, 2020 (in zones where local ordinances allow the use of firearms), youth season, and special antlerless season (where open), rifles that fire cartridges meeting the following requirements may be used to hunt deer on private land only:

The cartridge must have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches and a maximum case length of 3 inches.
The cartridge must fire a bullet with a minimum diameter of .243 inches (same as 6 mm).
A hunter must not possess more than 10 of these cartridges while hunting deer.
Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal

A Ruger 77/44 legal on both private and public land. Squeeze the trigger and deer die, pretty simple.

So the game warden will be fine with you trimmed back 35 rem shells when you call it a 358 hoosier?

Some will have a plastic go no go card on them to check cartridge length.
Just don’t get caught with any over 1.8”

FWIW

I ran a .35 rem trimmed under the PCR spec (before the HP rifle test period).
Its pretty popular really.

If the rifle cartridge is legal under the specs, then it's legal.
Don't give a flip what anybody "thinks" about it. The spec is the spec.

I mean, .357 mag rifles legal under PCR spec, but folks could shoot .38 spcl in that rifle.
Rifle is marked ".357 mag"..........but .38 spcl cartridges do not meet the spec.

It's all about the cartridge.

IIRC the .358 Hoosier is a.308 win case based wildcat.
There were some based off WSSM that fit the PCR spec too.
Nobody cares.

Private land, HP rifles legal (have a spec).
Public land, PCR rifles legal (have a spec).

Can run PCR on private.

".35 Hoosier"...............all I ever heard the .35 rem trimmed called, was ".35 rem trimmed" LOL

FWIW

The initial law for HP rifle named 5 cartridges:

.243
.300
.308
.30-30
.30-06

Yeah..........what is a ".300"?
Blackout, Savage, Win, H&H, Weatherby?

Idiots? Or just not exact, as to make "corrections" later?

Legislature passed it, due to having such limits LOL. Politics. The limits lessened pretty quick.

HP rifle passed for a test period.
Initially the two calibers of the non proper named 5 cartridges (.243 and .308, 1.16 to .3 inch case).
2nd yr they said screw it and went .243 or larger (that fit case spec).
So since then, .270 win has been legal under the HP rifle spec (all HP rifle for private land only).

If one sees the progression of the law, it makes sense.
Took a while to get there, but we got there.

Rifles legal for deer in Indiana.
PCR and HP.

Not perfect, but not bad either.

Trimmed or untrimmed, .35 rem is pretty darn good deer cartridge.
Dumped all my trimmed cases.

No more need since HP rifle allowed (hunt mostly private).
Got a Contender pistol (can run .35 rem as is in handgun.........on public land).

That allowance isn't silly if one understands/has used specialty pistols.
EER kinda limits your shot selection, aint gonna lay down the lead on a mover LOL.
Less than 1% of deer harvest was handgun ( and what % were specialty pistols.....I dunno).

358 Hoosier is the 358 Win trimmed down to 1.800” and shoulder bumped back. Just a short 358 Win. (Can also neck up 308 brass if you want to use Lapua) You can get a 200 Hornady SP (a deer killing bullet if ever there was one) or a 200 grain Accubond to 2,500 with TAC, Benchmark or Reloder 10.

The 358 Indiana Deer Cartridge is based off a WSSM case necked up to .35 cal. Gets a little over 2,550 but brass is harder to find and Winchester WSSM actions are rare too. I used to have one of those too.
358 Hoosier can be built off a standard .473 short action.