Lake County, Indiana: deer harvest and public hunting land
Lake County covers 504 square miles around Gary. Hunters took 1,523 deer here in the 2025 season, 630 of them antlered, by the DNR's deer report. That is up 9% from 2024, and the most in the 5 years shown. 4.4% of Lake County is public land open to the public, the largest share county, city and regional land (7,621 acres), by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and the DNR's public hunting property boundaries.
Data updated October 2026. Harvest: the DNR's deer reports, 2021 to 2025. Land: PAD-US 4.1 and the DNR's public hunting property layer.
Properties open to public hunting (DNR map)National park landState parksOther DNR landCounty, city and regional landLand trusts and other open landLake CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 322,764 acres (504 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer taken, 2025 | 1,523 (630 antlered, 893 antlerless) |
| Public land | 4.4% (14,359 acres) |
| Public hunting properties | 2 (1,453 acres inside Lake County) |
| Towns in and near it | Gary, Merrillville, Hobart, Hebron, Ogden Dunes and Portage |
How many deer are harvested in Lake County?
Hunters took 1,523 deer in Lake County in 2025: 630 antlered and 893 antlerless (59% antlerless).
| Season | Deer taken | Antlered | Antlerless |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,523 | 630 | 893 |
| 2024 | 1,391 | 574 | 817 |
| 2023 | 1,459 | 614 | 845 |
| 2022 | 1,426 | 584 | 842 |
| 2021 | 1,241 | 495 | 746 |
Source: Indiana DNR White-tailed Deer Reports (2021 to 2025 seasons, Table 3-4), Lake County.
How much public land is in Lake County?
14,359 of Lake County's 322,764 acres are public land open to the public (4.4%). The biggest share is county, city and regional land: 7,621 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Lake County |
|---|---|---|
| County, city and regional land | 7,621 | 2.4% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 2,199 | 0.7% |
| National park land | 1,991 | 0.6% |
| Properties open to public hunting (DNR map) | 1,453 | 0.5% |
| Other DNR land | 1,095 | 0.3% |
| All public land open to the public | 14,359 | 4.4% |
Measured by FilledTag inside the county line from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and the DNR's public hunting property boundaries. Hunting rules differ by manager: properties on the DNR's public hunting map are open under the DNR's rules for each; national forest is open; refuges follow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules; Corps of Engineers lake land is open in many places under each project's own rules; state parks hold only special hunts; city and county land sets its own rules.
Properties open to public hunting in Lake County
Properties open to public hunting in Lake County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- LaSalle Fish and Wildlife Area: 1,195 acres
- Hoosier Prairie: 258 acres
How do you get to Lake County?
Highways through it: US 41 (about 59 miles inside), I-65 (about 55 miles inside), I-90 (about 43 miles inside), US 6 (about 33 miles inside) and I-80 (about 33 miles inside). Towns inside: Gary, Merrillville, Hobart, Hammond, Crown Point and Schererville. Nearby: Hebron (on the line), Ogden Dunes (2 miles), Portage (2 miles) and DeMotte (3 miles).
Which counties border Lake County?
Lake County touches 3 other counties. Their latest DNR harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jasper County | 1,519 | 2025 | 2% |
| Newton County | 1,166 | 2025 | 9% |
| Porter County | 794 | 2025 | 5.7% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Lake County in 2025?
1,523: 630 antlered and 893 antlerless (DNR). In 2024: 1,391.
Is there public hunting land in Lake County?
14,359 acres, 4.4% of the county, are public land open to the public by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and the DNR's public hunting property boundaries, the largest share county, city and regional land (7,621 acres). The DNR's map shows 2 properties open to public hunting here.
What is the deer bag limit in Lake County?
Indiana's statewide limit is 1 antlered and 6 antlerless deer; each county has its own antlerless limit within that, on the DNR's county antlerless bag limit list.
Get a Indiana hunt plan when they open
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Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, Indiana included.
Where these numbers come from
- Deer harvest: Indiana DNR White-tailed Deer Reports (2021 to 2025 seasons, Table 3-4).
- Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and the DNR's public hunting property boundaries. DNR properties open to hunting: Indiana DNR properties with public hunting (managed lands layer).
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic county boundaries. Highways and towns: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, places.
FilledTag is not part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Numbers are copied from the DNR and the federal sources above, or measured from their maps; nothing on this page is estimated by FilledTag.