People hunt for almost as many reasons as there are hunters

People hunt for almost as many reasons as there are hunters. For most the reasons are personal, and reflect many aspects of their personalities.

Many years ago, hunting was a mean of providing food for the hunter and family. Back then, hunting for food probably was a primary motivation, although undoubtedly there were other reasons.

Today, there are a some folks who primarily hunt for food, but most folks take to the field in pursuit of game for a wide variety of reasons.

According to HunterSurvey.com, “American sportsmen hail from every walk of life imaginable, and just as they are a diverse crowd, so too are their reasons for participating in hunting. 

“While many portray hunting as an intense effort to get game, the reality is the overall outdoor experience holds much more sway in attracting people to the sport.

  To monitor long term trends, each year HunterSurvey.com inquires about hunters’ motivations. The January 2013 poll found that rather than one key or leading reason that motivated sportsmen to hunt, there are actually many. 

And no single motivator stands completely head and shoulders above the rest. When asked “Why do you like to hunt?, respondents provided the following answers (participants could check all that apply):

  * Like to spend time outdoors, 92%

* Enjoy seeing wildlife, 87%

* Enjoy the peace and quiet of the outdoors, 87%

* Enjoy the challenge, 80%

         * Like to spend time with friends/family who hunt, 74%                                                          

• Like providing food for my family/friends, 70%

• Other, 9%

“This matches recent in-depth National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) research that showed hunters go afield for fun, social and outdoor reasons. From spending time with family and friends outdoors to the peace and solitude of being alone in nature, hunting is much more than taking game,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com. “

Future efforts to increase hunting, or to successfully promote hunting-related products and services, must emphasize fun, social interactions and the total outdoor experience hunting provides.”

  To help continually improve, protect and advance angling and other outdoor recreation, all sportsmen and sportswomen are encouraged to participate in the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and/or AnglerSurvey.com. Each month, participants who complete the survey are entered into a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates to the sporting goods retailer of their choice.

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BUILD A KITE -- Kid’s are invited to bring your parents to the Patoka Lake Visitor Center on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. to build their own one-of-a-kind kite!  

Participants will create their own individual kite using patterns and materials provided.  Once all kites have been constructed, the youngsters and their parents can  join a car caravan to the beach for some high flying fun!  The cost for this program is $5 per kite.

There is an entrance fee of $5 per vehicle ($7 out of state). For more information regarding this program or other interpretive events, call the Visitor Center at812.685.2447.

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KING KAT TOURNEY -- The Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail will hit the waters of the Ohio River at Henderson, Kentucky April 13.  

Tourney officials say this is an opportunity for local catfish anglers from Kentucky and Indiana to compete for cash, prizes and a chance to advance to the Cabela’s King Kat Classic. This year's Cabela's King Kat Classic will be Sept. 26-28 on Kentucky Lake at Camden, TN. 

For more information on fishing the Henderson tourney or other events on the trail, check out the organization’s new website at: www.kingkatusa.com. 

       Henderson has always been a hotspot for the Cabela's King Kat anglers and this could be one of the best events of the year. The last time Cabela's King Kat Tournaments were in Henderson records were set with Dale and Matthew Kerns setting a new Cabela's King Kat Tournament Trail record weighing in 210.9 pounds with only five catfish. 

Since that time the record has been broken again, but with the quality of fish in the Ohio River in the Henderson area, this could very well be the highlight of the year, said King Kat officials.

The tournament weigh-in will be held at the Riverfront Park in Henderson. Tournament hours are 6:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. All anglers must be in weigh-in line by 4 p.m. with a five fish limit per team. To help preserve the sport only live fish will be weighed in and all fish will be released after the tournament.

Planning can improve chances for taking a turkey opening day

Although turkey season is a month away, there is plenty to do prior to opening morning. The better the planning, the better the chances of taking a tom.

Sure, someone can get lucky and take a bird almost by accident, but planning is a key to success. 

One morning when I headed to the woods with my friend Phil Kirby a number of years ago, he accidentally slammed the truck door when we arrived near our planned hunting spot. It caused a tom to gobble, and Phil shot it a couple minutes later. But, that’s a rare exception,

The National Wild Turkey Federation has several suggestions for increasing your chances on opening morning.

Indiana’s turkey season opens April 24 and runs through May 12. The opening youth weekend is April 20-21.

“The first step towards enjoying a successful spring hunt is to find a place to hunt,” according to NWTF. “Your state or provincial wildlife agency can help you identify public hunting land.

“If you plan to hunt private land, make sure you get the landowner's permission before hunting or scouting.

Wherever you decide to hunt, make the most of your time afield by spending time before your season opens learning the lay of the land and where the birds like to be.

“Once you pinpoint were the birds roost and where they head during the day to feed, plan a strategy that puts you along their travel routes”

Prior to the opener, the Turkey Federation recommends heading to the range to test your shotgun to make sure you're shooting a tight, dense pattern. “Learning how to accurately judge number of yards, and making sure your turkey load performs well at different distances can mean the difference in bagging a bird and watching one sail off into the woods.

“Practice calling. Communicating with a wild turkey to work it to the gun is a thrilling experience. Today's market offers a variety of calls — everything from mouth calls to box calls to pot and peg calls and more.”

Calling takes practice. If you aren’t experienced with mouth calls, a box call may be the easiest to learn in a short amount of time. Slate calls also can be learned rather quickly, but it takes time to perfect any of them. But, then a truck door slamming sometimes can excite a tom in mating season.

Turkey hunting can be quite physical. It’s important for the hunter to be ready. Often turkey hunting in this part of the country requires considerable walking up and down hills, if a turkey isn’t spotted early morning.

“Hunters spend months and sometimes years planning their dream trips, all the while never thinking about the physical excursions the hunt might require. Poor fitness and undiagnosed health problems can combine into a disaster. 

The NWTF goes so far as to recommend visiting your doctor to ensure you're healthy enough for the trip, and then start training. 

“Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, and is often required when pursuing wild turkeys.”

When I used to hunt in Missouri with my friend Carl Hunter, we not only walked into the woods well before daylight, must hunts would involve considerable walking up and down the Lake of the Ozarks terrain, if we didn’t attract a bird early. Carl had retired as a track coach, and it felt as though my tongue was dragging the ground by midmorning.

 Exercise, planning and proper equipment preparation can help make it your best ever.

Spring may be approaching, but time remains for sauger fishing below dams

There’s still time to try your fishing luck for sauger and walleye. But, if you decide to try your luck, don’t wait too long or it will be a wait until next year.

Sauger and walleye gather below river dams during winter before they spawn, but once the water begins to warm in April, they disperse. They still are in the river, but catching them is another issue. You may catch one of two if you work at it, and the walleye are more likely to hit later than the sauger.

Sauger are cousins to the walleye, and generally run a bit smaller. Both are members of the Percidae (perch) family. Walleye sometime are called walleye pike, but they are not pike, they are perch.

Sauger and walleye are difficult to tell apart. Walleye have a black splotch on their first dorsal fins. Their coloration is dark green on the back and their yellowish sides have faint markings. Sauger usually are darker and have brown saddlelike markings across their back and sides. Even with info, it can be tough to tell them apart.

The Ohio River has become well-known for its winter sauger fishing below its dams. In Kentucky, sauger also gather below dams on the Mississippi, Kentucky, lower Green, and lower Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. 

Walleye can be found in six central and eastern Kentucky Lakes, including Green River, Cumberland, Laurel, Carr Fork Lake, Nolin River Lake, and Paintsville.

These lake walleye  populations have been developed by stockings and management over the years. Some of the fish escape through dam spillways into the streams below and during winter, many of these walleye gather below the dams, creating a good fishery.

The walleye fishing below the Green River dam south of Campbellsville and the Cumberland dam are two of the fish spots to try your luck.

Sauger will be found near the bottom. They will look up and dart for a jig or minnow. They often are found along walls below dams. A jig or minnow worked just a foot or so off the bottom often works. The bite usually is a tap-tap-tap bite rather than a hard strike.

The limit is six sauger or walleye, and both are equally good eating. There is a limit of six combined sauger, walleye and hybrids, and also a 15 inch size minimum on Kentucky walleye, but none on sauger, which can make identification important. In Indiana, the walleye size limit is 14. However, the main stem of the Ohio River has a 10 fish limit and no size limit. The state regs apply anytime an angler is out of the main steam into tributaries.

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RARE TOURNEY -- Kentucky is hosting a rare--if not unique--commercial fishing tournament March 12-13 at Kentucky and Barkley lakes in an effort to attract commercial anglers to catch Asian carp.

These Asian carp have made their way into streams throughout Kentucky and Indiana and are depriving game fish of food. The Asian carp species of concern include bighead carp, silver carp and black carp. These fish were brought to the U. S. by fish farmers, escaped into the Mississippi and are spreading throughout the Midwest.

Not only are these fish impacting the habitat of game fish, they have injured boaters and anglers as the jump into the air and hit people in passing boats.

The carp have very little commercial value and are not susceptible to being caught with bait on a hook. Netting is the most effective way to harvest large number of the fish.

The tournament is being held midweek to avoid conflict with recreational anglers and in mid-March so that fish can be removed before they have a chance to spawn.

Five teams that bring in the highest poundage of Asian carp will split $20,000 with the top prize being $10,000.

Hopefully, some process can be used to remove more of the troublesome fish.

With the arrival of March, spring is just around the corner, well almost

When early March rolls around I think spring. Admittedly, I get a bit over anxious. I’m thinking warm breezes, morel mushrooms and crappie. 

Last year, essentially, we had no winter. At least very little really cold, bad stuff. But this year, most folks have had enough. So as February comes to an end and March appears on the calendar, spring is on many people’s mind.

Sometimes the reality is snow and ice, or other nasty weather. It is not unusual to find the ground covered with some of the heaviest snows of the winter in March. The good news is the white stuff usually doesn’t stick around very long.

Weather Channel statistics show the average daily high temperature in southern Indiana during March is 55 with a nighttime low of 35. That is reason for optimism as that is about 10 degrees warmer than the February numbers. And the second half of the month statistically, the high temperatures should be well into the 60’s.

There’s an old saying, “If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb,” or if March comes in like a lamb (nice weather), it will go out like a lion (bad). I don’t know that anyone has researched the accuracy of the saying, but stats show the end of the month is warmer than the start.

How March 2013 will begin is yet to be determined. I don’t remember all of the bad March storms in recent years or whether or not the months started as lambs or lions. However, there have been a number storms that have found there way between those longer and warmer days I look forward to March. Being a month of significant weather change, most anything can happen during March, and frequently does.

At the end of the month in 1987 (March 30) a heavy snow blanketed most of the Ohio River Valley, and a year later, a two-inch glaze of ice covered much of the same area.

In 1990 on March 10, a warm front produced a number of storms, including damaging 65 mile per hour winds in Kentucky, and back on March 21, 1952, a series of tornados killed 343 people, including a number in the Bluegrass state.

It also was during March in 1913 and 1936 when rains and melting snow caused significant river flooding throughout the Ohio River valley.

Hopefully, this year we will have uneventful March weather. Shortly, the crocus will appear and not far behind will be the daffodil. Those hardy, beautiful yellow flowers first bloom on the south side of the hill at my home and are a pleasant reminder that spring is at hand. The morel mushrooms can’t be far behind. I’ve found morels as early as the last week in March, but it usually is the second week in April before they appear in sizable numbers.

Who originated the old saying about March and the lion and lamb, no one seems to know. But whether or not the weather comes in like a lamb or lion, we almost are assured of a bit more winter weather, but Mother Nature will start sneaking in a few warmer days. The crocus and other early spring flowers will begin to pop up, and there might even be a few early black morels peak through the leaves.

Hurry spring!

Rattlesnakes dropped by DNR from helicopters; nope, it didn't happen

Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently posted on its website, a list of several myths related to the department and the outdoors, and followed with the facts.

The myths were part of a feature written by Michelle Cain, a DNR wildlife information specialist. Two in particular caught my attention, since I have heard them repeated so many times, especially in southern Indiana.

One I heard frequently in the area in and around the Hoosier National Forest in Perry County was that “the DNR released rattlesnakes to control turkey populations.” And, I’m sure no matter what the DNR says, this legend will continue. Numerous people will always believe it is true.

According to Cain, “This myth has been circulating for many years and it is untrue. The idea is that the rattlesnakes would eat the turkey eggs. However, rattlesnakes rarely eat eggs and are not effective in controlling the turkey population. 

“It has been said that these snakes were dropped from helicopters…..All I have to say about this is, if we have a DNR helicopter readily available…I’d love to ride in it. The Indiana DNR has never released rattlesnakes into the wild (although we have tagged some snakes and released them back to the same location). In fact, most rattlesnake species in our state are species of special concern or endangered.”

The DNR has acknowledged in the past that some study of the snakes has been done, but no releases other than releasing a captured snake back into its natural habitat.

For more than a half century, I’ve heard rumors of mountain lions, panthers and other big cats in the state. A related myth says the DNR released cougars/mountain lions into the wild to control the deer herd.

Cain writes that the DNR has never released any big cats and would never do so without public input. 

“Although, one cougar has been confirmed in Indiana, it is believed to have escaped from a licensed owner. The chances of you seeing a mountain lion in Indiana are virtually nonexistent,” adds Cain.

“The DNR annually receives reports of mountain lion sightings around the state, but typically the evidence points to a housecat, dog, bobcat, or coyote,” according to Cain.

More and more large cat sightings are being reported in the midwest. Numerous confirmed sightings are being reported in Missouri, and a reader from central Kentucky recently emailed me information about unconfirmed sightings there.

Bobcats probably do contribute to a number of big cat reports. The population seems to be growing and both Indiana and Kentucky are studying these cats, which are double or more the size of a large housecat, but certainly smaller than a mountain lion.

One myth Cain didn’t mention is that of a “Bigfoot” roaming the area of Lake Monroe, Brown County or the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Maybe Bigfoot didn’t care for our cold winters and decided to head to milder climates.

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DNR INTERNS SOUGHT -- The DNR is looking to recruit 38 volunteers to work on trails this summer at four state parks for the Indiana Heritage Corps (IHC) program. 

IHC is an AmeriCorps program administered through the DNR Division of State Parks & Reservoirs. 

IHC volunteers receive onsite housing, a living allowance of $340 per month, an education stipend ($1,468 before taxes) and hands-on experience, as well as a chance to earn college internship credit and live at a state park. 

The state parks that will have IHC are Pokagon (in Angola), Fort Harrison (in Indianapolis), Brown County (in Nashville), and O’Bannon Woods (in Corydon). IHC members will clean, restore, and construct 25 cumulative miles of trail in the four parks. 

IHC candidates should be at least 17 years old, U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, be able to pass a strict FBI background check, and be able to make a three-and-a-half-month commitment (Monday–Friday, May 13–Aug. 16) to the program. 

Interested and qualified candidates should email a résumé and cover letter toIndianaheritagecorps@dnr.IN.gov. More information is at dnr.IN.gov/parklake/7252.htm.

Big cat columns always draw lots of reader interest

People long have heard and told stories of big cats, call them mountain lions, cougars, panthers or whatever one calls them. To many people they are very real.

A recent column I wrote about the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife’s effort to study bobcats and their habits, prompted an interesting email from a reader, John Blevins, who lives near Bardstown.

     “I enjoyed  the article on bobcats, have you ever thought of doing an article on big cat sightings in Kentucky?”, wrote John.

I’ve written several columns in the past about big cat sightings, including a confirmed mountain lion sighting in Indiana. There also have been a number of recent confirmed sightings in Missouri as big cats seem to be expanding their range. 

Mention big cats and it prompts stories.

John Blevin’s big cat experiences relate back a half century, and to current time. Here in part is whatthe relates:

“I had never heard a panther scream but the old timers where I lived, who still remember when panthers were still there.. They said they sound just like a woman screaming,” said John.

“I live out in the woods, and my wife and I just got back in around 10:30 p.m. sometime in November 2011.  We parked the car and got out.  As we did, I never heard such an awful scream in my life and I have spent a long time in the woods and never heard anything even remotely like it.

“It did sound just like a woman screaming.  My hair was standing up, I was glad to get in the house.  OK call me crazy, but me and my wife both heard it. 

  “A few nights later my son brought a friend home that lives in Louisville, and I told the story to them. The friend, who I do not know, said "Oh, yeah, me and my dad were walking in Bernheim Forrest a couple of weeks ago and one stepped out on the path, stopped and stared at us for a few moments.”

Blevins said there were plenty of wild land where he

grew up in southern Kentucky along the border with Tennessee.

“People who live out in the boonies and work the woods  have been reporting sightings of big cats(Black Panthers) for years.  Most people scoffed at their stories.

        “I saw one myself when I was about 10 years old.  I was playing in a small creek about dark , I came up the creek where a big boulder had fallen in it. When I raised ny head, I was face to face with a black panther probably not 10 feet away.  

“When our eyes met it spat at me.  I probably did exactly the wrong thing and ran away as fast as I could. Of course no one believed me because I was just a kid.  

“Fast forward 50 years, my grown son and I were hunting on the back side of the same mountain where I had seen the panther as a kid.  We had met for lunch on the ridge that ran up to the top of the mountain and big rock outcroppings.  My son was facing towards the top of the ridge, and I was facing the opposite way.  

“Suddenly, he points past me and says "What's that?"  I turned and saw a big panther making great strides toward us.  I turned and cocked my gun and I have never seen anything move so fast in my life, it was just a black blur. This was at noon about 50 yards away in open forest.”

      Another incident involved another son. “He called me from Frankfort and said he was jogging when he saw seven deer cross the road. He didn’t think anything about it until this big black cat came out on the path and stopped and stared at him.  

“He has a border collie, and he said it was bigger than that.  He said he felt really vulnerable and started looking around for a stick or rocks to use as a weapon.  He is a believer now...We live about 40 miles from where my son said that he saw the panther.

      “I know the experts say that the panthers have been gone for 100 years but many of the experts have never been off a paved road.”

Kentucky study tracks bobcats, populations, and their habits

Few people ever see a Kentucky bobcat. However, it may be surprising to many folks that annually, more than 2,000 of the animals are harvested by hunting and trapping.

Now KDFWR biologists hope a study at the Green River wildlife area will lead to additional information about these wary furbearers.

Bobcats are found from border to border and are gray to brown in coloration. They are about twice the size of a domestic cat and adult males are usually from 14-40 pounds. Their stubby tail leads to their name, bobcat.

       In the January edition of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, Steven Dobey wrote a piece about research taking place to learn more about the elusive creatures in the Bluegrass state.

According to Dobey, Kentucky wildlife biologists have been trapping these elusive cats to learn more about its population demographics and movement patterns.  

“Historically, bobcats have been a much sought-after furbearer in the Commonwealth and this trend continues today.  

“The most recent five-year average indicates that Kentucky’s statewide bobcat harvest averages 2,096 annually for hunters and trappers, with considerable variation in harvest from year to year.  

“Of particular interest is the trend that approximately 25 percent of bobcats harvested by gun since 2007 took place during a nine-day window when the modern gun season for deer was open statewide. 

“Ultimately, concerns for excessive harvest led to current research efforts to learn more about this furbearing species that is so iconic to Kentucky. 

“During the summer of 2012, Wildlife Division personnel implemented a systematic survey of Green River Lake WMA (GRLWMA) using remote cameras to document presence (and) absence of bobcats and identify occupancy patterns. Trapping efforts began in earnest this past October with a goal of equipping as many cats as possible with GPS-enabled radio collars. 

“In doing so, the Furbearer Program will obtain valuable data concerning habitat use, movement patterns, and survival.  Ultimately, data collected from study animals will provide valuable insight to the habitat requirements of bobcats and factors that influence survival rates. More so, these research efforts will greatly assist in the development of future harvest strategies as interest in this important furbearing species continues to grow. 

“Through mid-January, trapping efforts by project researchers have resulted in the capture of 14 (nine male, five female) bobcats. 

“Trapping efforts will continue through winter in an attempt to increase our sample size of radio collared cats on the study area of GRLWMA and some surrounding properties. “

Indiana DNR biologists also are studying bobcats. Several years ago, one cat that was captured, tagged, and released, made its way from central Indiana down to the Ohio River and somehow crossed the river. It was hit by a vehicle on Highway 60 in Breckenridge County.