Perry County, Indiana: deer harvest and public hunting land
Perry County covers 386 square miles around Tell City. Hunters took 1,771 deer here in the 2025 season, 837 of them antlered, by the DNR's deer report. That is down 3% from 2024. 26.6% of Perry County is public land open to the public, the largest share properties open to public hunting (DNR map) (63,973 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 forestOther DNR landCounty, city and regional landLand trusts and other open landPerry CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 247,262 acres (386 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer taken, 2025 | 1,771 (837 antlered, 934 antlerless) |
| Public land | 26.6% (65,686 acres) |
| Public hunting properties | 2 (63,973 acres inside Perry County) |
| Towns in and near it | Tell City, Cannelton, Troy, Alton, Birdseye and Ferdinand |
How many deer are harvested in Perry County?
Hunters took 1,771 deer in Perry County in 2025: 837 antlered and 934 antlerless (53% antlerless).
| Season | Deer taken | Antlered | Antlerless |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,771 | 837 | 934 |
| 2024 | 1,831 | 903 | 928 |
| 2023 | 1,701 | 870 | 831 |
| 2022 | 1,602 | 805 | 797 |
| 2021 | 1,513 | 744 | 769 |
Source: Indiana DNR White-tailed Deer Reports (2021 to 2025 seasons, Table 3-4), Perry County.
How much public land is in Perry County?
65,686 of Perry County's 247,262 acres are public land open to the public (26.6%). The biggest share is properties open to public hunting (DNR map): 63,973 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Perry County |
|---|---|---|
| Properties open to public hunting (DNR map) | 63,973 | 25.9% |
| National forest | 1,080 | 0.4% |
| Other DNR land | 326 | 0.1% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 169 | 0.1% |
| County, city and regional land | 138 | 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 65,686 | 26.6% |
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 Perry County
Properties open to public hunting in Perry County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- Hoosier National Forest: 60,260 acres
- Ferdinand State Forest: 3,713 acres
How do you get to Perry County?
Highways through it: I-64 (about 25 miles inside). Towns inside: Tell City, Cannelton, Troy and Leopold. Nearby: Alton (2 miles), Birdseye (4 miles), Ferdinand (4 miles) and Leavenworth (6 miles).
Which counties border Perry County?
Perry County touches 3 other counties. Their latest DNR harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubois County | 2,018 | 2025 | 4.4% |
| Spencer County | 1,217 | 2025 | 3.1% |
| Crawford County | 2,118 | 2025 | 20.2% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Perry County in 2025?
1,771: 837 antlered and 934 antlerless (DNR). In 2024: 1,831.
Is there public hunting land in Perry County?
65,686 acres, 26.6% 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 properties open to public hunting (DNR map) (63,973 acres). The DNR's map shows 2 properties open to public hunting here.
What is the deer bag limit in Perry 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.
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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.
Indiana hunting Dubois County Spencer County Crawford County