INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ A panel of state lawmakers is proposing the General Assembly craft rules for allowing fenced-in deer hunting.
Members of a study committee examining the issue proposed Tuesday that the General Assembly take up the issue when it reconvenes in January and then have the Department of Natural Resources craft final rules for the activity.
Fenced-in _ or “canned'' _ hunting has become increasingly popular and contentious in the state. A Harrison County judge determined last year that the state Department of Natural Resources overstepped its bounds when it tried to shut down one fenced-in operation.
Efforts to allow the practice have narrowly died in recent meetings of the General Assembly.
Wildlife officials have expressed concern that the operations can spread chronic wasting disease to the state's wild deer.
