By JACKIE TAYLOR | August 26, 2026

Froggin’

Well, I’m full of comments concerning the onslaught of Muslim takeover in our nation, the dismantling of women’s sports in the Women’s NBA, and more; but I’m going to talk about getting out into nature.

Saturday night was a Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) Frog Gigging event held at Perry Reservoir on one of the marshes that surrounds the lake.

I got there early, as I was one of five instructors (saying that loosely) that were on hand to assist 10, turned out nine, women who signed up for the event. One woman lives in Arkansas and traveled to Perry Lake with her friend to learn how to catch frogs.

We got there for a 6 p.m. start time; my game warden friend from Atchison ran the program that pulled together frog anatomy, biology of the marsh, game handling and more. The group was taught how to process the game – making a slit in the skin horizontally around the top of the neck, then using catfish skinning pliers, pull the skin off the frog – essentially de-pantsing the critter.

Since dark wasn’t until 9ish, the group was treated to frog legs that were harvested earlier in the week giving us each a chance to taste fresh frog legs. 

The fun part of BOW is you never know who is going to join from across the state – or closer. As I was standing in the parking lot with the other instructors, a car pulled in, a woman got out and walked toward us – and, amazingly, it was my neighbor as a crow flies. It’s a small world is an understatement.

So dark approached and everyone got into their chest waders, shorts, tennis shoes, etc. in preparation for hunting frogs.

We were warned there would be snakes, most likely just water snakes, but leave them alone, they’ll leave us alone. I’m not a snake fan, but I’m less of a spider fan.

I’d purchased hip waders for the event; when I got them on and looked at the marsh, I felt like if I got water in them, I’d be carrying a pool around each leg. So, I put my walking shoes on, double-tied the laces, and prepared to enter the water.

I paired up with my neighbor and once it was dark enough, we headed down one vegetative shore and scored right off. I had chosen to hand-grab my bull frogs, not use a net or gigging pole. My aim was not good the last time I frogged and our lead instructor said she just grabs the frogs. Sounded good to me and it was a good decision.

Both of us got two bullfrogs right off and began working our way down the dike.

What was the hardest part of that area was the thousands of white spiders that had woven webs across millions of cattails that eked into the water. Walk a bit, wipe off webs and repeat. So far, with walking shoes, pants and a headlamp – it was great. 

We harvested several frogs; wiped away tons of spiders and moved around a couple of water snakes that had swum their way into our hunting area. Mind over matter people! The Machiavellian theory says the end justifies the means – wipe spiders away and slosh on.

One concern one of the instructors had was the depth of the silt and mud. We found out. It wasn’t too bad until you’d walk into a muskrat hole or something on the bottom – but slowly feeling our way down the shoreline was the best method.

We crossed the dike to a vegetative inlet and hit the honey hole of bull frogs. They’re funny because they shine white in a flash light; they get the ‘deer in the headlight’ look and are blinded allowing a hunter to grab them. 

Both my friend and I were able to limit out, eight frogs each, and end the night in a bit more than an hour. Mud tried to suck one of my shoes off; it didn’t win, but the black, stinky pond muck was terrible to clean off. It actually stained the t-shirt I was wearing – crazy stuff.

Anyway, I had country “surf” of frog legs for supper the other night – what a cool bounty from a pond that duck hunters use in the winter.

Get out there and try a new thing – women, check out Becoming an Outdoors Woman; it’s fun and teaches lots of new skills to anyone wanting to get out into nature.