Bullfrog season is upon us

[Tajue17]

Ha ha,, its bullfrogs everyone! so I have my nephew who is growing up in projects and needs what I got when I was growing up in the poor section of Boston and that's a taste of the woods its the way out that I got in 1976 when my father first took me for pheasants and let me bring my binoculars and army outfit,, it worked though because here I am 36yrs later.  

so I'm off for 2 weeks this month right when Bullfrog season opens, and honestly I haven't hunted bullfrogs in about 25yrs since me and another city friend spent a weekend at a uncles house out in the country we brought BB guns and that's the first time I ate frogs legs which where pretty dang good.

so this time I have my canoe, and I have some kids bows. but wanted to see if anyone hunted and ate these things and can let me know some tricks with a bow,,,,,,, do I need a fishing arrow or can I use a regular arrow? figured bring a small spin cast  rod and run the line from that to the wood arrow.

[Izzy]

Shoot them in shallow water when possible and try to stick them to the bottom or a bank. Grab them and grab them tightly while securing them. They have one helluva nervous system and can jump and escape with a big ol arrow hole through them.

           Ive always fried them with butter a bit of garlic and cayenne. Never deep fry anything at home but Ive seen pics os deep fried frogs legs and they sure enough looked delightful. Good luck and have the time of your lives with your nephew.

[2fletch]

As a kid we shot bullfrogs with slingshots, bb gun, pellet gun, and bows. As Izzy said shoot them in shallow water or on the bank. We used wood target arrows to pin them down but then you had to hurry to the arrow or they would work themselves off the fletch end of the arrow.

Frog hunting as a kid was high adventure. My favorite way to hunt them is to wade along the bank with one other guy. One holds the light and the other takes the shot. You can do it solo but it's pretty tricky holding the light and the bow.

My most succesful frog hunt was almost my last. Little brother and I got caught on the wrong side of the lake with a storm coming in. The quickest way across was to swim the lake. That would be simple normally but this time I had a burlap bag tied to my belt with 45-50 big bullfrogs and a pellet gun to keep out of the water. It took forever to get across that lake and I swear the frogs were swimming in the other direction. It was a relief to finally reach shore, get on the (homemade) motorbike with my little brother and 50#s of frogs to head 7 miles in a serious thunderstorm with lots of thunder, wind, and rain  to home in Evansville, In. They were some of the best eating of anything that I can remember.  

Tajue17, go for it, and good luck.

[Chester Thompson]

Great job taking a young man on with you.

[Tajue17]

this is cool and awesome stories its fun just reading this stuff but I almost thought I'd get laughed at here if I mentioned hunting bullfrogs..... I work in Cambridge, Mass you know the land of Harvard Yahd they hate hunters as it is let alone hunting bullfrogs,, I think they'd all die here if I said that too loud ha ha..

okay but sounds good I'm not set up with bowfishing gear so i was hoping I could do this with regular tackle.

one thing I forgot is do I pull the skin off the legs before grilling (inside foil w butter, garlic, dab of hotsauce) or does it come off after its cooked?

[Duncan]

Brings back memories of frogging in my uncles homemade cypress punt with a car battery and a headlight rigged up with a handle also homemade. We were gigging back then as none of us had taken to the bow yet. My Dad and his brothers knew every pond and borrow pit within 10 miles of the house and frogging was as much a rite of summer to us as BBQ and tater salad and sweet tea is to other folks. BTW if you are successful and score on some frogs you do know they have to be skinned? Just for giggles soak the skinned legs in a bowl of cool water and sprinkle some salt on them and watch them kick their last. Saute with butter and season to taste.

[Sixby]

When I was a kid in Missouri I would walk around the farm ponds and purposely scare the frogs into the pond. Then wait until they came up and shoot them . I honestly rarely missed, Evidently did not know better. Then I had the pleasure of swimming out to pick them up.
God bless, Steve

[dnovo]

I haven't done this for several years now, But we hunted frogs every year with our bows. Best way I found is to wade a few feet out from the bank(or in a small boat/canoe) to get in front of them as they usually sit facing the water. We used our longbows with wood arrows with blunts. The blunts are much better than field points as they would really whack them and stun them. We used 357 casings slid on old woodies or the red bludgen plastic blunts. We would do this at least 8 or 10 times a summer when season would open.  Good luck and have lots of fun