Tri-State Outdoor News

The Indiana DNR now offers hunters a handy online guide to public hunting areas. The DNR’s new Where to Hunt interactive Web map is at: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3199.htm

Click on the map link and zoom to properties or counties, search by game species, turn on aerial photos, or zoom in and out. Property boundaries on the Where to Hunt map are approximate and hunters should verify boundaries before hunting. Safety zones or no hunting zones may also exist within property boundaries. Click on each property icon for details and contact information.

DNR Where to Fish Finder: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/12816.htm

Purchase a sport license online: http://www.in.gov/ai/appfiles/dnr-license/index.html

The busy summer is over and what better time to start enjoying Charlestown State Park. There are no gate fees during the winter months and plenty of nature and wildlife to still enjoy. We will be offering guided winter hikes once a month through the season. For those who have not been hiking lately we will be starting with our shorter trails and work our way up so there is not a better time to start that exercise we kept putting off because it was too hot. All hikes begin at 1:00 pm at the trailheads.

December 13, Trail 5; Jan. 17, Trail 3; Feb. 21, Trail 1; March 21, Trail 6; April 18, Trail 4.

There are no fees at this time. The Park is located on Hwy 62 in Charlestown, just twenty minutes from I-65. For more information call 812-256-5600.

New finds of the emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive forest insect that kills ash trees, has now been found in the Hoosier National Forest in Monroe County. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) entomologists discovered the pest in the Hardin Ridge Recreation Area located in Polk Township. The HNF infestation was detected through the joint DNR/ U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) survey. Although the survey used purple panel traps, this site was detected in a girdled ash trap tree.

The DNR, with assistance from the U.S. Forest Service, will conduct additional surveys around the site to determine the extent of the infestation. Infested trees will be cut down and the wood burned. Removal of the material still emaining will occur between the start of winter and April 15, when the EAB are under the tree bark.
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One might assume that the lousy economy has put most all RV owners park their rigs and put travel plans on the shelf.

However, for many like Kathy McClane of Robinson, IL, that’s not the case. Many RVers are planning winter vacations and already making plans for next year. Some have planned to travel with their RVs to visit family or friends during the holiday seasons. And with gas prices lower (hopefully, they will stay down) the travel outlook for next year is brighter than might have been anticipated.

Kathy has been traveling with her dogs, Gigi and Noah for four years. And while a surgery and gas prices curtailed a planned trip to California this summer, the economy didn’t cause her to change plans for the winter. More »

This installment almost wrote itself in response to an e-mail that I received after the release of the November issue. As a writer, I love getting feedback and responses about the topics that I write about and would be taking about anyway.

The e-mail was from Tony Lance, vice president of the Redbird Management group. His reason for contacting me was in reference to something I had said in my last article. In that column I talked about me living in between Redbird Off-Road Area in near Dugger and Interlake near Lynville and how I would prefer to go to Interlake because “the size of the property was 10 times larger.” I stand corrected! In the past couple of years, Redbird has doubled its size with about the same acreage still waiting in reserves (that the state already owns). What I was reporting was old news. The last time I made the trip to Redbird a few years ago, I was not overly impressed with what was offered to me – an ATV guy. Redbird has had the reputation of only being a Jeep and Truck playground. As Tony explained, most if not all of the volunteer work that was being done on trail development was due to the Jeep community but over the last couple of years a lot of work has gone into designing more ATV and single-track trails. More »

Editor’s note: The following was written by Dru Hunsinger who is inflected with Multiple Sclerosis. Once an avid hunter, Dru has reached a point where he can no longer hunt. With the aid of a special computer, Hunsinger has taken to putting his memories down on paper.

It was a cloudy, gray, cold day with a temperature of about 35 degrees . The wind was blowing at 20 mph and coming from the northwest. It was the second to the last day of muzzleloader season for deer. I had taken a doe with the crossbow earlier in the season and another doe during the shotgun season. I was hoping to bag the big buck that was running with a herd of seven does where I live in Shelby County.

Here, the woods are few and far between. The local farmers have cleared most of the woodlots except for some small ones here and there. When I talk to the old timers they tell me even before their time and as far back as the 1800’s a lot of the forests were gone. What would I give for the old days? More »

It’s cold now and your local deer herd has no doubt seen tremendous hunting pressure during the regular firearm, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put a notch in your deer tag yet this season. If you have the fortitude to tough it out during the late muzzle loader and/or archery seasons, success can still be yours if you concentrate on food sources.

In the first few days after the rut, bucks tend to hunker down and rest for a few days, moving very little. But once they get their legs back under them, they know that if they are going to survive the winter, they have to strap the feedbag on in order to gain back as much of the weight as they can that they lost during the rigors of the rut.

But late season food sources are not only good places to hunt for bucks but does visit them routinely too. The deer become more predictable during the late season, regularly visiting food sources each evening. More »

Habitat and wildlife management are essential to keep nature in balance and both are included topics in the Indiana Hunter Education Program. Conservation officers and volunteer hunters instruct the course. The volunteer instructors receive their training through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division. South Region Hunter Education Coordinator Tim Beck explained that with only 200 conservation officers to instruct the classes needed for Indiana’s 92 counties the program couldn’t be done without the approximately 900 volunteer instructors from across the state. “The volunteer hunters are our main source. I mean they are the lifeblood of the program,” said Beck. “We are very grateful for these people.”

The program graduates about 18,000 hunters a year in Indiana. Hunter Education is offered in many schools including ones in Dubois, Gibson, Posey and Warrick Counties. According to Beck, all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and countries overseas recognize their program. More »

The key to great venison jerky is always the marinate. Otherwise, all you have dried meat. And what fun is that. The easiest way to make jerky is with a food dehydrator. I suggest you get one if you don’t have one. Drying the jerky in the oven on low heat with the door propped open is a bit of a pain. So get the food dehydrator and read the directions. Don’t over-dry your jerky… it’s just no good if it gets too brittle.

Here is a handful of great recipes for getting the spices right. Remember, if you think you should change something, it’s your recipe, change it anyway you like it. Now Enjoy your jerky. More »

Like every kid, I have a Christmas Wish List too. Unfortunately, these aren’t the type of things the Jolly ol’ Elf can’t bring. But you sure could.

I guess the first thing on my Christmas list would be funding for the Patoka National Wildlife Refuge in Pike and Gibson counties. The Patoka Refuge has been the neglected step-child of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for far too long. While other refuges have found bundles of cheer to brighten their days (read regular funding for land acquisition), the Patoka Refuge has seen little.

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