INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A southern Indiana judge has thrown out the state's ban on enclosed deer hunting farms.
WIBC-FM and The Indianapolis Star report Harrison Circuit Judge John Evans ruled the Indiana Department of Natural Resources didn't have the authority in ban the deer farms when its former director, Kyle Hupfer, issued an emergency order doing so in 2005.
Evans issued a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement of the DNR order. A preliminary injunction had barred it while the case was pending.
Plaintiff Rodney Bruce the Whitetail Bluff deer farm in Corydon says the ruling “is like taking the handcuffs off“ because it will allow him to compete with similar operations in other states.
A message seeking comment was left with a DNR spokesman.