Patoka Sportsman 9-3-22

Patoka Sportsman 9-3 & 9-4-22

Faith Baptist church in Loogootee will host a Hunter Ed. Class on Friday September 16 from 6-9:30 PM and Saturday, September 17 from 8-4. ICO’s and volunteer instructors will teach safe firearm use, hunter ethics, conservation management, game identification, archery, tree stand safety and much more.  It’s sponsored by West Boggs Park and Faith Baptist church.  For more information and online registration go to Indiana Hunter Education dot com, pass it on Indiana dot com or contact Kendrick Fuhrman or Tony Mann at 812-837-9536.

Registration is open for Patoka Lake’s Full Moon 5K, which will be on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. The race is 3.1 miles and will be run on roadways, a well-maintained gravel path, and a paved bike trail lit by moonlight and tiki torches. All proceeds from this event will go to support Patoka’s educational ambassador birds of prey. Early registration is $25, which includes a race T-shirt, and can be completed at fullmoon5K.itsyourrace.com.
For more information or to sponsor this event, contact race director Dana Reckelhoff at 812-685-2447 or by email at [email protected].

Bring your kayak for a tour upstream of Patoka Lake beginning from King’s Bridge Boat Ramp on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. Bald eagles, beaver, and other wildlife can be seen along the two-hour journey to Grimes Lake Marsh. Plan to arrive by 9:45 a.m. to sign in and get your boat in the water so the trip can leave promptly at 10 a.m. Bring refreshments, life vests, sunscreen, binoculars, and cameras. Non-motorized boat launch permits are required and will be sold at the event for $5. Permits can also be purchased at the Patoka Lake office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. For more information regarding this program or other interpretive events, please call the Nature Center at 812-685-2447.

The Patoka Lake Watershed Steering Committee will host its annual Patoka Lake Clean Up Day on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 8 a.m. at the Patoka Lake Corps of Engineers office, 4512 N. Cuzco Road, Dubois. Participants of all ages and abilities can sign up on location and will be assigned an area to pick up trash and recycling. At 11 a.m., all volunteers will return to the dam for a free fish fry, door prizes, and goodie bags. Each year volunteers pick up more than 2,000 pounds of trash and recycling during this event. All supplies are provided. Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes, and long pants. Service and youth groups are asked to register in advance by emailing Dana Reckelhoff at [email protected]. For more information, call the Patoka Lake Nature Center at 812-685-2447 or check the Patoka Lake Watershed Steering Committee Facebook page for updates.

On Sept. 24 celebrate National Hunting & Fishing Day, which honors the sportsmen and women whose recreational activities have positively impacted fish and wildlife conservation.
Want to celebrate the day out by the water? Sept. 24 is also the last Free Fishing Day of 2022. On Free Fishing Days, Indiana residents can fish Indiana’s public waters without a fishing license or trout/salmon stamp. As fall begins in Indiana, invite your friends and family to join you outdoors and spend time together.

Are you ready to hunt and simultaneously help fight hunger? Indiana hunters are encouraged to donate their harvested deer to the Sportsman’s Benevolence Fund to support hungry Hoosiers during the upcoming seasons.

The Sportsman’s Benevolence Fund provides grants to Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry, Dubois County Sportsmen Club, and Hunters and Farmers Feeding the Hungry to pay for processing fees when hunters donate legally harvested deer to the program.

The steps to participate are simple:

1. Enjoy a deer hunting experience.
2. Harvest your deer.
3. Drop off your field-dressed deer at a local participating processor.
4. Processing fees are paid for by the Sportsman's Benevolence Fund.
5. The processor will create healthy venison burger to distribute to food banks.

The Hunters for the Hungry program administered by the Dubois County Sportsmen’s Club also receives funding from the Sportsman’s Benevolence Fund to pay for deer processing locally.  You can take your legally harvested deer to either Sanders Processing in Celestine or Cannelburg Processing. These processors will start taking deer at the beginning of Archery season on October 1.

Registration for the 2022 Put/Take Pheasant Hunts opens Sept. 14 at 7 a.m. ET. The hunts are from Nov.19-27, beginning the Saturday before Thanksgiving and continuing through the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Registration costs $30 per slot and is first-come, first-served. Once the daily hunter quota is reached, the area becomes unavailable. Hunters should print their registration confirmation sheet and bring it with them on the day of their hunts. The bag limit is two pheasants per person each day.

The Fish & Wildlife areas participating are Atterbury, Glendale, J.E. Roush Lake, Pigeon River, Tri County, Willow Slough, and Winamac. To find out more, please contact the property that you are interested in hunting. If you missed the deadline for earlier reserved hunt opportunities, don't worry – there are more. You can apply for additional reserved hunt opportunities online. The online method is the only way to apply for the hunts. No late entries will be accepted. Applicants must possess a hunting license that is valid for the hunt for which they apply.

National Public Lands Day is Saturday, Sept. 24. During that weekend Hoosiers can celebrate by supporting their favorite DNR property by doing volunteer work or simply visiting.

National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort involving public lands. DNR properties will have a variety of programs for visitors to volunteer or see volunteers in action. On Sunday, Sept. 25, Indiana State Parks, Indiana State Forests, and State Recreation Areas will offer free admission where entrance fees are normally charged. Events include hikes, pioneer activities, crafts, fishing programs, live bird shows, volunteer activities, and more. For a complete list of programs, see calendar.dnr.IN.gov. For more information on National Public Lands Day, see https://www.neefusa.org/npld

The Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife recently completed annual striped bass and hybrid striped bass stockings. More than 30,000 striped bass were added to two of southern Indiana’s largest public lakes, Brookville and Cecil M. Harden. In addition, more than 247,000 hybrid striped bass were added to 10 public lakes throughout the state. Patoka Lake located in Dubois, Crawford, and Orange had 54,000 hybrids stocked. Hybrid striped bass production at East Fork Fish Hatchery exceeded the annual request for 2022. Surplus fish were stocked in Monroe, Hardy, Shadyside, and Patoka lakes. Fish were stocked as fingerlings, averaged 1.5 inches in length, and should reach a catchable size of 14 inches in 2024.

Deer reduction zones provide hunters opportunities to harvest deer in defined urban areas and along portions of Indiana highways in addition to the harvests allowed by statewide bag limits. Want to participate? Check out the DNR our map to find a reduction zone near you. Remember: There’s a statewide bag limit of 10 for deer harvested in reduction zones during the reduction zone season. To fulfill the earn-a-buck requirement for the reduction zone season, a hunter must harvest a doe before harvesting a buck, both of which must be counted toward the reduction zone bag limit when checking in the deer. To count deer toward the reduction zone season bag limit, hunters will need one of the following licenses: deer reduction zone license, resident youth hunt/trap, lifetime comprehensive hunting, or lifetime comprehensive hunting/fishing license. Archery equipment and crossbows can be used in deer reduction zones starting Sept. 15. Please note: Areas located within deer reduction zones are not necessarily open to hunting. Hunters will need to either obtain permission to hunt private property located within reduction zones or contact public property management to clarify if the property allows hunting or has certain restrictions.

In the late summer and early fall, landowners and habitat managers often conduct prescribed fires in grassland areas in order to help support their habitats. Prescribed fire can help increase seed-to-soil contact for new prairie grass and wildflower plantings. Depending on the timing, prescribed fire can also have different effects on established grasslands. Late-season burns can control densities of warm-season grass and encroaching trees and shrubs and can also maintain a greater diversity of wildflowers for pollinators and wildlife, such as small mammals, turkey, Northern bobwhite quail, hummingbirds, bees, and songbirds. Prescribed fire is one of many tools used by people to establish and enhance habitats; however, a certain level of knowledge and skill must be obtained before attempting a prescribed fire. Learn more about prescribed fires and contact your local district wildlife biologist if you’re interested in conducting a prescribed fire on your property.

A new one-day fur buyer’s license is now available for $25. The sale of legally harvested furbearing mammals or untanned hides of furbearing mammals can be made to licensed fur buyers only. Applications can be found under Permits and Commercial Licenses at wildlife.IN.gov, or you can call 317-232-4102 for more information.