(Editor’s note: Jack Spaulding is temporarily not authoring this column, as he is recovering from illness. We expect him to be back on the job sometime in the coming weeks; in the meantime, this column will be a collation of outdoors, hunting, fishing and related briefs that are in line with Jack’s usual slate of topics.)

 

Alligator gar aren’t normally found in Indiana waters, but a bowfisherman harvested one June 1 in the White River in southwestern Indiana. The rare fish, which was taken legally, measured 63 inches and 55 pounds when examined by Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologists. It is the first alligator gar verified by state biologists in recent history. Indiana is at the northern edge of the historic range of alligator gar, so the species is rarely encountered here.

DNR fisheries biologists have sampled Indiana’s large rivers extensively for the last 30 years with no alligator gar being collected. Gar species commonly found in Indiana waters are shortnose, longnose and spotted gar.

The fisherman, identified as Jake Jackson, met all Indiana fishing rules and regulations. He plans to have the gar fully mounted once it is returned by the DNR.

“In Indiana, we currently have no regulations on take of alligator gar,” said Brian Schoenung, fisheries chief for the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife. “One alligator gar found in Indiana waters does  not create a management need. However, our biologists will be sampling heavily in the area this fish was discovered to determine if any other alligator gar are present.”

Bowfishing is increasingly popular in Indiana and is legal all year for Asian carp, bowfin, buffalo, common carp, gar, shad, and suckers from rivers, streams and lakes or ponds. A fishing license is required.

“Bowfishing is a great sport that requires skill, specialized equipment, and can help use invasive species,” Schoenung said. “Our staff puts on several bowfishing workshops a year to introduce new anglers to the sport.”

Alligator gar were once persecuted and vilified as killers of game fish, but biologists and conservationists now recognize the unique role the species plays as a top level predator. Many states have taken interest in restoring alligator gar populations. To augment stockings, some states have  implemented protective regulations. A restoration program is not being explored it this time in Indiana.

“Should we find a viable population of alligator gar or as we see more of this species stocked in neighboring  states moving into Indiana, we maylook to institute management action to regulate take,” Schoenung said. “Such regulations would ensure the protection of alligator gar, while allowing other common species to be harvested.” This fish has likely traveled north from Kentucky, the DNR reported.

“It looks like it’s one of our fish,” said Stephanie Brandt, a biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife. The clues were a microwire tag embedded in the fish and the absence of a pit tag some other states use in in combination with microwires. “By process of elimination and close proximity to our waters, that’s what it looks like,” Brandt said.

From the fish’s size – 63 inches long and 55 pounds – she said it likely was a 10-year-old fish released in 2009 or 2010. Kentucky has a partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to restore alligator gar, starting with fry acquired from the Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery in Mississippi and reared at Kentucky hatcheries before they are released into areas with suitable habitat. According to Ken Schultz’s Fishing Encyclopedia, an alligator gar is described as having a long, cylindrical body covered with heavy, diamondshaped scales. Two characteristics that distinguish alligator gar from all other gar species is a broad, flat head and two rows of teeth in the upper jaw.

Schultz writes that alligator gar spawn in the spring and early summer in shallow bays and that a female can produce as many as 77,000 eggs at once. Purdue, DNR will offer invasive species workshops Cliff Sadof, Purdue University professor of entomology and Purdue Extension pest management specialist, and Carrie Tauscher, state community and urban forester at the DNR, will lead three workshops on invasive forest pests that pose a threat to Indiana’s urban and rural forests. Each workshop will include presentations on the biology, signs and symptoms and management of invasive forest pests.

Participants will also learn about technology used by citizen scientists to report these pests across the state. There will be time for participants to ask questions. Light refreshments will be provided.

Gardeners, professional foresters and anyone interested in learning more  about Indiana forest pests – including the emerald ash borer, hemlock wooly adelgid and the Asian Longhorned Beetle - are encouraged to register.

The workshops are free and open to all ages. Pesticide applicator CCHs, ISA CEUs, and SAF CFEs will be available. The workshop schedule:

•July 11, 6-8 p.m. at the Purdue

Extension-Monroe County office, Bloomington.

•July 12, 6-8 p.m. at the Purdue Extension-Dearborn County office, Aurora.

•July 13, 6-8 p.m. at the Brown County

Fairgrounds, Nashville. Space is limited, so early registration

is encouraged. To sign up, go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/FPSOP2017

 

Ohio hunters checked more than 21,000 wild turkeys

 

Ohio hunters checked a total of 21,015 wild turkeys during the combined 2017 spring wild turkey south zone hunting season; northeast zone hunting season; and the youth wild turkey hunting season, April 22-May 28, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

In 2016, hunters checked a total of 17,793 wild turkeys. Hunters checked 19,095 birds during the 2017 wild turkey south zone and northeast zone hunting seasons compared to 16,229 birds in 2016. Youth hunters checked 1,920 birds during the 2017 youth season compared to 1,564 in 2016.

Ohio’s 2017 spring wild turkey season was open from Monday, April 24, to Sunday, May 21, in the south zone and from Monday, May 1, to Sunday, May 28, in the northeast zone. The youth seasom was April 22-23. Hunters can view the 2017 spring turkey season zone map and harvest regulations at wildohio.gov Wild turkeys were extirpated in Ohio by 1904 and were reintroduced in the 1950s by the ODNR Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s first modern day wild turkey season opened in 1966 in nine counties, and hunters checked 12 birds.

The wild turkey harvest topped 1,000 for the first time in 1984. Spring turkey hunting opened statewide in 2000, and Ohio hunters checked more than 20,000 wild turkeys for the first time that year. 

 

ODNR: Report wild turkey and ruffed grouse sightings The ODNR is asking the public to participate in surveying wild turkeys and ruffed grouse by reporting sightings of these two species.

Every year, the ODNR Division of Wildlife conducts a turkey and grouse brood survey to estimate population growth. The brood survey relies on the public to report observations of all wild turkeys and ruffed grouse seen during May, June, July and August. Wildlife watchers and hunters can report observations at the new Wildlife Species Sighting webpage at wildohio.gov/reportwildlife Information submitted to the brood survey helps to predict population changes and helps guide the state’s hunting regulations.

More than 7,000 turkeys were reported during the 2016 survey timeframe, with an average of 3.6 young turkeys (poults) per adult hen turkey. This average was higher than the long-term average of 2.5 poults per adult hen.

Information is available from past wild turkey or ruffed grouse observations online under the Forest Species Overview webpage at wildohio.gov

 

Biologists began tracking summer observations of wild turkeys in 1962. Ruffed grouse were added to the survey in 1999.