Indiana Otters

Checked in an otter tonight and seen Indiana has reached its quota of 600 . I think this is the first year they have done it.

Thats too bad Dave 1957

Still got to check it in they give you a 48 hour grace time.

We hit 600 the first year, took till March 10, only 5 days left but we made it.

This warm winter kept the ice off the lakes, rivers and streams. Made it easier to trap otter and hit an early quota. I got both mine back in late Nov.

Indiana sure has lots of great otter habitat north of Indi .I just love them endless ditches small enough to block off with a couple 330s and some brush and just full of fish and crawdads

The otter situation in Indiana is getting out of control - the 600 limit is no where near close to what needs to be removed yearly . I would like to know the reasoning why the DNR brought them back - they are a very destructive animal. Around here most of the smaller bodies of water and waterways that had good numbers of game fish have no fish of any kind left. Places I used to see lots of mussels, frogs, softshell turtles and crayfish have been barren for several years now. Indiana's waterway systems are not large enough to sustain a large otter population and still keep a healthy fish/crustacean/mussel/amphibian population. This otter thing is like introducing wolves to Indiana - protecting them till the numbers were large then allowing a season of so many to be caught .

The southern part of the state is definitely full of them. IMO the limit should be increased to 3-5, even if it’s only in select counties. Before the otter season was opened I avoided beaver trapping in some areas because there was so much otter sign. I don’t know how many times I’d be making sets and here comes a group of otter. Usually was 2-5 but had a group of 7 pass me one day. The 2 main swamps Dad and I trap have major runs leading to them from the rivers. We typically set them heavy for beaver and otter. On multiple occasions we’d double up on otter and have beaver in the other traps. What happens if all 7 of those otter use that run? We fill our 4 tags and have to turn in 3.

I didn’t trap Indiana this year due to having a baby and not being able to do my usual 10 day trip. 2 seasons ago I set out my multi species line and got 75 sets out the first day. First check first trap and 50 lb beaver. Next 2 traps had 2 otter, tagged out in the first 10 minutes of my 10 day trip. There’s definitely no shortage in my area.

I’ve got a feeling if the bobcat season doesn’t come soon, they’re going to become a major issue as well

I wonder how much information the DNR biologist have taken from these 600 carcasses., the last 3 years . It seems like a lot of unnecessary nonsense to check them in.

Spent yesterday afternoon with Geriann Albers, Indianas furbearer biologist. She was checking our muskrats for year 3 of her muskrat study. We talked a lot about otter. This years otter carcasses will be sent for inspection and the results wont get back to her until next year. She explained there is only one outfit that does this kind of study. All I can say now is there will be some changes in the future as far as otter quotas, rules, etc. Next season however will be the same as this year. The Indiana State Trappers Association is working closely with her so be patient we have one more year to go. There are a lot of hoops to jump thru when you take a specie off the endangered specie list such as Indians otters. She definitely is a friend of Indiana trappers

I know, my daughter would really like to keep an otter skull to finish off her collection of furbearer skull. Boy, that sounded weird.

One thing I have noticed is that there are very few muskrats in the connected waterways, especially the past 8-10 years. I would say that this is some overall issue, but the other thing I’ve noticed is that isolated ponds and marshes have gone from just a few rats here and there to now being full of rats. I suspect this is a direct result of otters running the connected waterways and killing the muskrats, but not finding the isolated smaller potholes and marshes as often.
The current limit is less than ten per county in open counties. It really is not even enough to make a significant impact on the population.
Another important factor is that otters do not keep exclusive territories. Although family groups will quarrel, it is just by chance encounters, not because they are defending a home territory from other otters. This, along with almost complete lack of natural predators, has the effect of allowing otters to overpopulate easily.
I am on the water controlling beavers every day, all year long, and there is no question in my mind that here in northeast Indiana we have hit overpopulation. Any of the counties in the lakes belt could easily sustain a much higher harvest, and in my opinion it would benefit the ecosystem to remove at least 3 times the current quota.

Oh, and I no longer set to avoid otters while doing NWCO work in IN. I just set whatever I feel will be the most effective for beaver, and if an otter awaits I turn it in to the DNR...

Yhats the only thing you can do!!! Avoidance techniques

My hats off to you lip 1 for all your doing for trappers, It takes a lot of patience to work with bureaucracy …… It will take them 2 years to find out what we already know

My guess is most all get slam dunked into the dumpster once the DNR gets a hold of them. When they don't take the advice from the local trappers and/or locals who actually know the real numbers, it becomes more of a job security scheme/initiative.

I posed that question with a bit of sarcasm... Some ( in the know) reported that the freezers went out last year and so they couldn't collect any data. So yes Saskquatch, they're in the dumpster

Well said.

I really enjoyed the Hoosier Trapper Outdoors podcast with her. She really knows her stuff.