Staff report
Bloomington, Indiana – November 17, 2023
Griffy Lake Nature Preserve, located at 3400 N. Headley Rd., is set to suspend public access for scheduled deer hunts on November 18-19 and December 2-3. The closure will begin at 11 p.m. the Friday before each hunt and will extend until 5 a.m. the following Monday.
These hunts are exclusively designated for participants who successfully applied and were selected to partake. The general public will not have access to the nature preserve during these specified hunting periods.
The primary objective behind these annual deer hunts is to curtail deer browse pressure on understory plants and young trees within the preserve. By reducing the deer population, the preserve aims to facilitate the recovery of various plant species and ensure their sustained growth.
Since 2017, the Parks and Recreation department has actively managed the deer population at Griffy Lake through sharpshoots or organized hunts. Detailed deer harvest data and findings from plant height studies are accessible online at bloomington.in.gov/boards/deertaskforce/griffy-lake.
For updated information regarding the closure or future events, individuals are encouraged to monitor the City of Bloomington, IN – Parks and Recreation’s Facebook page or reach out to the Parks and Recreation office at 812-349-3700.
