questions about hunting (bull)frogs

[forrestdweller]

i'm currently back in korea which is more and more feeling like a second home to me. spring is in full go already and frogs croaking everywhere in the rice paddies and irrigation channnels. several times recently i heard a rather unusual croak and yesterday my guess got confirmed when i saw some HUGE amphibians in a nearby creek: bullfrogs. as they are NOT native and do a lot of damage to wildlife outside their native habitat i'm toying with the idea of getting some of the critters(my korean co-workers/friends told me that they are considered a pest here and nobody bothers if you dispatch them!) for the pot. from what i gather so far the usual method to hunt frogs is at dusk/nighttime with a multi-pronged spear; often using a torch as well. are there any other ways to hunt them- traps for instance? and how do you kill them quick and humanely once you speared them- just cut their throat? and how do you butcher them? and what would be the best way to cook them?

thanks!

[santaman2000]

Here we normally only eat the legs so "butchering is easy; just cut off the legs then peel the skin off the legs like you would with a catfish. They're usually dredged in cormeal (flour will work) with whatever seasoning you like and fried. Here's a link showing the frog gigs you mentioned: www.sbtoutdoors.com/fish_spears.htm The normal size gig here is the 2 inch long one. As for dispatching them, the cat usually does that after you cut the legs off.

[mrcharly]

Are they bullfrogs or 'cane toads'? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toad

The Cane Toads have a highly toxic skin. They are a terrible terrible pest in Australia. Not edible.

[forrestdweller]

The Cane Toads have a highly toxic skin. They are a terrible terrible pest in Australia. Not edible.

i'm 100% sure they bullfrogs!!! i spent enough time in OZ (= my spirit home) and killed enough of them(cane toads; considering the devastating effect they have on the fauna off the Top End you'd likely do the same!!!) with a shovel to know the difference..... . have never tried this of course but heard of someone eating them without ill effect and of folks licking on them to get high(considering what they look like you'd have to be pretty desperate to try THIS....)

[Robbi]

can't you just pick them up and whack them on the head with a priest ?

[forrestdweller]

can't you just pick them up and whack them on the head with a priest ?

[Samon]

can't you just pick them up and whack them on the head with a priest ?

exactly, this is the best method. (a priest is a small weighted club/baton used for hitting animals on the head to kill/finish them off)

try all the tips you can find but I'd try a net and the right time of day. Then bash them on the noggin and take the meaty legs, dump the rest for the wild animals or maybe even fishing bait.

keep us updated on how you get on, and how they taste once you bag a few!

(about the cane toad licking thing, it's not actually how people use their hallucinogenic venom. they excrete it from their parotoid glands and smoke it!)

[santaman2000]

can't you just pick them up and whack them on the head with a priest ?

You might or might not be able to finish one off by hitting it on the head; I really don't know. But if they're anything like the bullfrogs here, then "...just pick them up..." would be about as easy as just picking up a wild fish out of open water. You're just not going to get that close. Samon's idea of a net might work; if you can get within gigging range that should be within range of a net. That said though, gigging is a tried and proven method and sounds as if it's the traditional method there (Korea) as well as here. As for Samon's "the right time of day" they're normally gigged here at night locating them by using headlamps to shine their eyes at the water's edge.

[mrcharly]

i'm 100% sure they bullfrogs!!! i spent enough time in OZ (= my spirit home) and killed enough of them(cane toads; considering the devastating effect they have on the fauna off the Top End you'd likely do the same!!!) with a shovel to know the difference..... . have never tried this of course but heard of someone eating them without ill effect and of folks licking on them to get high(considering what they look like you'd have to be pretty desperate to try THIS....)

Fair enough - wouldn't want you to handle a cane toad.

[forrestdweller]

Fair enough - wouldn't want you to handle a cane toad.

i HEARD -as already mentioned-of some hardcore survival "freak" who cooked them after skinning them but would definitely NOT reccomend it!!! there's a reason why they have such devastating effect on the oztralian fauna... .+the poison from the glands can spray rather high when you dispatch the critters with a toadsmasher(=shovel)... .

will be busy for the next days(+ have some trouble logging myself into the forum recently...) so it might take a some time before i can take off for a hunt (and post the results)... . already started to make a five-pronged spear with bamboo shaft today(similar to the ones used on the torres strait islands and many other places for fishing) and plan to make some arrows, too- providing i can get the right type of bamboo for the shafts... .

[forrestdweller]

just finished making my spear- first one i made in nearly six years... . be aware, frogs!

[born2roam]

i HEARD -as already mentioned-of some hardcore survival "freak" who cooked them after skinning them but would definitely NOT reccomend it!!! there's a reason why they have such devastating effect on the oztralian fauna... .+the poison from the glands can spray rather high when you dispatch the critters with a toadsmasher(=shovel)... .
... .

Have 'dispatched' some cane toads while in Oz and they indeed have a devastating effect on the fauna over there BUT..... some bird species apparently learned to catch the toad, flip it over and rip open the belly to avoid the poisonous glands on the back. So while definitely NOT my choice of food you can easily and safely eat them with a bit of work .....

Good luck with the bull frogs, a lot better I reckon ....

Grtz Johan

[forrestdweller]

no success yet first my headtorch's rechargeable batteries die on me and then the irrigation channel's water level got raised about 2 1/2 feet- making walking along a bit tricky- and now the frogs seem to play hide-and-seek with me ... .

[320ccc]

oldtimers would wrap red flannel on a hook, dangle it in front of the frog and dinner was hooked.

i tied frog flies for my kids. weighted #12-4 barbless or debarbed hooks wrapped with red hackle (you can use whatever color you want but we all know frogs prefer bright red...right?).
attached it to a 10 pound+ mono line.
either used a fishing rod, pole or stick.
the weight lets you control where the fly goes if it's windy (now i use large gold beads).
the lack of a barb let's you release the frog more easily (more often than not a bullfrog will be hooked in its tongue).

my oldest boy used a tiny red and white bobber (float) with a hook dangling for the first hundred or so he took.

a lot of folks still use a frog gig (spear).

one of the neighbors used a .22 or a air rifle (scary stuff, that).

both boys tormented a legion of frogs and caught a surprising number of them.

good luck and have fun!

just a note...frogs will let you get fairly close if you move slowly and not directly at them (like most critters).
sometimes all you will see is their eyes above the water. they can still be taken.

time of day isn't as big a deal as is made out.
i have been fishing three or four days a week for a couple of months now.
i've shared the bank with frogs, muskrats and turtles all the way up to lunch time ( i usualyl start around 5am).

the bullfrogs just keep getting bigger and louder as the summer goes on.

[spandit]

The Cambodians eat a lot of frog's legs - in a tempura style batter. I find the idea of eating invasive species very tempting. Could start with signal crayfish with a knotweed garnish, followed by frog's legs and trumpet vine, followed by rabbit pie!

[dump of the stig]

Hunted them in Laos with a 3 pronged spear and a torch with the local lads (not bullfrogs so lets just call them big jungle frogs)
great fun! 2 of you slowly moving down a stream, spears at the ready picking out there eyes with a torch.
Quit selective as you can see the size of the frog before you poke it. The local lads where keen on just selecting the
big ones as they used these beats every time they passed through. Method of dispatch was the heavy blunt side of a machete
or "parang" on the head, seemed to do the job. We ate every thing bare the head, guts and skin (as far as im aware all frogs
have to be skinned as they all contain some level of toxin, some more than others, either way you dont want it in your system)
very delicate chicken flavour, gota watch the bones, great roasted over hot coals on a bamboo skewer. I love frogs so this is
testament to how a mixture of boredom, Mekong whiskey, feeling peckish and peer pressure can turn you into a blood thirsty frog slayer.