ESPN Hunting

If you've been aching to go green, literally and figuratively, gig a few bullfrogs this summer. Although bullfrogs don't pose as big a nuisance to global harmony as, say, snakehead fish, the loquacious amphibians have begun to wear out their welcomes in some locales.

The main problem is that bullfrogs will eat just about anything that they can stuff into their mouths — bugs, fish other frogs and juvenile birds, rodents, snakes and turtles — and their link in the food chain is beginning to grow a bit more than what ecologists would like to see. In Arizona, for example, bullfrogs are considered pests and much money is spent annually to eradicate them.

Bullfrogs are the uber survivors of the amphibian set. Their main predators are snakes, which most folks are fonder of killing than rats, as well as alligators, the nymphs of various aquatic insects, fish, raccoons, minks, otters and any other bullfrog that's bigger than they.

Curiously, there are certain North American newts whose skin secretions are deadly to bullfrogs. This is one of those examples where the theory of evolution seems to fall flat on its face. There is no wiggle room for gradually modified behavior here; when the frog gulps down one of the newts, it just dies and doesn't have the opportunity to think twice about it the next time.

Apparently bullfrogs are one of the few amphibians — and it is a huge family — to be invulnerable to chytridiomycosis, the fungal disease that is wiping out frog populations around the globe. Likewise, bullfrogs aren't exhibiting some of the side effects of water pollution as their lesser cousins do, including growing more than four legs or just going belly-up.

"I haven't read or heard anything to indicate that there is a dramatic reduction in the number of bullfrogs in the country for any reason," says Kelly Irwin, herpetologist for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "Of course, nobody's doing any major studies on trends in bullfrog populations, but as far as I know, they're doing OK."

In the absence of predators, bullfrogs proliferate quickly. During mating, a female might lay up to 20,000 eggs enclosed in a gelatinous sheath. Take away the ensuing tadpoles eaten by dragonfly nymphs, baby bass, fellow tadpoles and bullfrogs, and only a relatively few of the offspring will survive.

All else being equal, that's usually enough to depopulate a pond of anything smaller than a bullfrog. The survivors, in turn, produce more tadpoles to eat.

Bullfrogs once were found only in that portion of North American east of the Rocky Mountains. They were exported to California around the turn of the last century, and then began to spread as far north as southern Canada.

Now the amphibians aren't wanted in the western states, if only because their gluttony has resulted in the names of several lesser frogs, including leopard frogs, to be added to the list of threatened or endangered species.

Bullfrogs are also suspected to be chytridiomycosis carriers, though not susceptible to it, which suggests that they also might infect the cousins that they don't eat.

Like coon hunting and fox running, frog-gigging has waned in importance in this age of Game Boy and Dancing With the Stars, but it's still a summer staple in those areas of the country where doing something is regarded as a better activity than simply watching someone else do something. And fried frog legs are a reward worth a couple of hours of lost TV time.

In a state with a designated season, opening night can be quite exciting and often is preceded by strategy sessions among various groups of participants. As soon as it gets dark enough for a bright flashlight to rob a bullfrog of its night vision, hunters start making their rounds.

The smartest giggers first check the "public" places where others are likely to be, and as the night progresses, they move to the ponds or creeks where only they have access.

Typically, a person with a high-powered light accompanies a gigger with a 3- to 5-pronged gig mounted on an 8- to 12-foot bamboo pole. Once a bullfrog is detected, the spotter keeps the beam on the stunned amphibian while the gigger slowly moves up and strikes.

The quarry is pinned to the ground, removed from the prongs and then deposited in a sturdy tote sack. If the bullfrog is sitting in or on a patch of moss out in the water, the gigger has to use a snapping, jabbing motion to impale the frog.

Gigging is the true meat hunter's course. In many states, frogs can be shot with a rifle or pellet gun, or with archery equipment, or even caught by hand or with a net. Though seemingly sporting, shooting a frog with a rifle or bow frequently results in a miss and subsequent cursing. And even a frog shot through the head with a .22 is apt to go skittering into the water and out of reach before it can be retrieved.

Like snakes, bullfrogs are slow to get the message that they're dead until several minutes have elapsed, another indication of how tough these amphibians are. No doubt they will be one of the creatures that will inherit the earth, or at least that part of it adjacent to anything that resembles fresh water.

Imagine a post-apocalyptic world where cockroaches rule on land, mosquitoes in the air, and the deep bass barrooom, barrooom, barrooom of bullfrogs proclaims their dominance of the water's edge. Bet on bullfrogs to outlast the others.

If you hang out with giggers much, you'll hear the inevitable whining about how there don't seem to be as many bullfrogs now as they're used to be in the good old days. Actually, such complaints can be spot-on. Probably any dearth of bullfrogs from one year to the next is caused by overharvest or because the frogging season is being opened too early, or a combination of both factors.

As deer managers in northern states learned long ago, if whitetails don't have the opportunity to reproduce, the herd contracts. Their answer was to limit hunting during the rut. Bullfrogs are like deer in that respect; if mom gets gigged before pop can court her, one result is fewer frogs next year. Most states take into account frog-breeding season that extends from mid-March through May, depending on latitude.

Below is a list of season dates and/or regulations in states where frog gigging is still a popular summer sport. Some states such as Florida and South Carolina allow frog gigging or hunting, but it's pretty much a wide-open deal as long as certain equipment limitations are observed.

As for the following list of the states, be advised that regulations vary widely and one should check the rules in his state regarding whether hunting or fishing licenses are required and what constitutes legal equipment. In Illinois, for example, it's illegal to use guns or nets, but OK to use pitchforks. Good luck with that:

Arkansas: April 15-Dec. 31. Gig or archery equipment okay. The daily limit is 18.

Kentucky: May 15-Oct. 31. Rifles of .22 caliber or smaller are legal, but a hunting license is required for firearms or archery equipment. Otherwise, a fishing license is required. The none-to-noon creel limit is 15.

Illinois: June 15-Aug. 31. The daily limit is 8.

Indiana: June 15-April 30, 2010. The daily limit is 25.

Kansas: July 1-Oct. 1. Eight is the daily limit.

Louisiana: Except for tadpole-making season in April and May, it's legal to hunt frogs year-round.

Mississippi: April 1-Sept. 30, with a 25-frog daily limit. A hunting or fishing license is required, depending on the equipment used.

Missouri: June 30-Oct. 31. Archery equipment, .22s, gigs, nets — whatever. The daily limit is 8.

Nebraska: Aug. 15-Oct. 31. Catch frogs by hand, with a net or by hook-and-line only. Eight is the daily limit.

New Jersey: Jan. 1-March 31 and July 1-Dec. 31. Yes, the tradition of gigging frogs during the Christmas holiday, or Frogfest, is HUGE in the Garden State — just kidding, really. We don't know why frog-hunting is allowed in the dead of winter in New Jersey considering that, for survival's sake, any bullfrogs are buried about 3 feet under the nearest mud. If you choose to hunt in the summer months, be advised that the daily limit is 15. A fishing license is required.

New York: June 15-Sept. 30. A fishing or small game hunting license is required, depending on equipment. There is no bag limit. Firearms aren't legal.

North Carolina: No closed season, but the daily limit is 24.

Ohio: June 12, 2009-April 30, 2010. Longbows are legal, but all other shooting equipment is out. The daily limit is 10.

Oklahoma: The daily limit is 15 during the year-round season. If you use small-caliber rifles, you'll need a hunting license; otherwise, a fishing license will do.

Pennsylvania: July 1-Oct. 31. No firearms allowed; the daily limit is 10.

Tennessee: The season is open year-round except on state or federal refuges. On TWRA lands, the season is July 1-Oct. 31. The daily limit is 20. Firearms aren't allowed on public lands, but okay elsewhere with a hunting license.

Texas: No closed season and no limit, but a license is required.

Virginia: Open year-round, with a daily bag of 15 frogs. On private land, .22s can be used.

West Virginia: July 13-July 31 (midnight). The daily limit is 10.