ERG's Flyover Census 

Every year since 2010, the Beverly Shores Environmental Restoration Group has commissioned a flyover census of the deer population in Beverly Shores. At one time, the town of Beverly Shores appropriated funds to support the census, but with the town's difficult financial situation, the cost falls to ERG.

The highest numbers in the Beverly Shores island before the culls and hunting started were 140 in 2001, 121 in 2002, and 166 in 2003. The census figures show that hunting and culls have reduced this operpopulation significantly. The deer taken now are much larger than the emaciated animals found during the period of dramatic over-population.

The flyover census is taken before the spring birthing season so the number underestimate the year's deer count by some amount. The chart below shows that even the understated numbers from the census consistently exceed the upper-bound target for deer numbers in Beverly Shores. ERG aims for a deer population of 15 per square mile, the target maximum for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Beverly Shores itself is about one square mile, but with its surrounding area, the census covers roughly two square miles. Thus the target deer population density, 15/mi2 yields a maximum target population of 30 animals.

The numbers graphed are shown in the following table:

Since 2002, the Environmental Restoration Group (ERG) has contracted an aerial deer count in Beverly Shores, including the area not only within the square mile of the town proper, but in the National Park land to the west, east and south of the town. (Prior to 2002, a group of residents funded the aerial count.)  In 2000, the highest deer count showed a total of 412 deer in and around Beverly Shores.  Damage to the landscape was extreme, the health of the deer population and the dune ecology was poor, and the frequency of deer/vehicle collisions was high. Since 2000, the deer population has been gradually reduced through annual bow and arrow deer hunts and/or culls. This year’s count, taken on February 10, 2023, showed a total of 54 deer within and around Beverly Shores. Below is a photo of the deer distribution taken in early February this year. The red dots each represent a deer.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Final White Tailed Deer Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement from April 2012 identifies a number of biological studies demonstrating that the ideal deer population density for the dune ecology, including the plants, birds and insects of the region, is about 10 to 15 deer per square mile. Though this number has never been achieved in Beverly Shores, anyone who lived in Beverly Shores prior to 2003 can testify to the severe damage to vegetation in the area at this time and the improvement that has taken place since then. 

Since about 2012, the Indiana Dunes National Park (IDNP) has conducted a deer cull. In each of the past two years, 150 deer have been harvested from within the boundaries of the entire National Park. In February 2023, included in that count of 150, 11 deer were harvested from the west side of the town island and 10 deer from the east side of the town island.

Periodically the Indiana Dunes State Park (IDSP) holds a deer hunt. During the most recent hunt, in the fall of 2021, 30 deer were harvested from the State Park. The efforts of the IDNP, IDSP, and the ERG’s own deer hunts and culls, have kept the deer population below the extreme levels found around the turn of the last century.

The regular deer hunting season in Indiana runs only from October 1 to January 7. The “Deer Reduction Zone” bow and arrow hunting season runs from September 15 to January 31 each year. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, a deer reduction zones (DRZ) is a target area with a high deer populations and high human density or use, resulting in concerns about the local ecology, deer-vehicle collisions, and personal property damage. Beverly Shores falls in a DRZ. A bow and arrow hunt conducted in Beverly Shores in a few isolated properties this past season (2022/2023) resulted in the harvest of 7 deer: 3 on the east end of town and 4 in the west.