Buying a hunting license early is generally a wise idea, but it’s essential for those who have yet to buy a license and want to hunt upland game species such as pheasant, quail and rabbit this weekend.

The portion of the DNR website dnr.IN.gov through which licenses are purchased will be down for emergency repair from 2 a.m. Saturday to 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday. During this time, license purchases will NOT be available online or at any license retailer.

Deer hunters can also save themselves time today and avoid the last-minute rush by purchasing their firearms season license. The deer firearms season starts Nov. 17.

The CheckIN Game system also is unavailable this weekend. In order to check game, hunters will need to visit a check station.

A station list can be found at eregulations.com/indiana/hunting/check-stations/. The check station list will be available online throughout the weekend, as will most general content on the DNR website.