Indiana DNR proposes higher bobcat quota, new hunting methods for 2026
Indiana could raise its bobcat quota to 400 and add gun and archery methods, a shift that would touch hunters and landowners across 40 southern counties.
Bobcat hunters in southern Indiana could soon get more legal tools and a bigger harvest cap, while wildlife advocates warn the change could push the species too far. Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources is proposing to raise the statewide bobcat quota from 250 to 400, a 60% increase, and to allow hunters to take bobcats with bow and arrow, crossbow, shotgun, handgun, rifle, muzzleloading long gun or handgun, and certain air guns.
The proposal would still keep trapping tightly controlled. Legal trapping methods would remain cage traps, permitted foothold traps, and snare traps fitted with a relaxing snare lock. The rule would apply in 40 southern Indiana counties with high-quality bobcat habitat, and the public comment deadline is May 19, 2026.
If approved, the 2026 season would run from Nov. 8 through Jan. 31 unless the quota is reached first. That matters because Indiana’s first legal bobcat harvest since 1969 ended early on Dec. 6, 2025, after trappers reached the 250-cat limit. The 2025 season allowed only trapping, kept the bag limit at one bobcat per trapper, and allowed bobcats and legally acquired parts to be sold.
The state says the change is meant to match a growing bobcat population in the southern counties open to harvest, cut down on vehicle collisions and property damage, and respond to requests from hunters and landowners for more opportunities and more permits tied to bobcats killing livestock. For rural property owners, that could mean more options when bobcats show up near barns, fences and wooded edges. For hunters, it would open the season beyond traps alone.
The debate is not starting from scratch. The first rule drew more than 3,000 public comments, most of them negative. Animal welfare advocates have already criticized the new proposal, warning that a larger quota could push bobcats toward extinction in Indiana. DNR officials counter that bobcats have rebounded since the species was listed as endangered in 1969 and removed from Indiana’s endangered list in 2005.
The bobcat rules were mandated by the Indiana General Assembly in SEA 241-2024, which required the DNR to have harvest regulations in place by July 1, 2025. With another season and a broader rule now on the table, the decision will shape how quickly bobcats can be hunted, how complaints from landowners are handled, and how aggressively Indiana manages a species that has returned from the brink once before.
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