By JOHN CLANTON Multimedia Producer on May 8, 2013, at 4:15 PM Updated on 5/08 at 4:22 PM
Hunter Emigh takes aim at a gar from 20-something feet above the water on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. He and a friend, Jacob Tyler, are hunting longnose gar and paddlefish. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
They're holding bright green compound bows in the parking lot. Can't ignore that. I've heard of bowfishing, but these guys plan to fish from the pedestrian bridge 20-something feet above the water. The bent up cans attached to the bows hold the string, so they can retrieve the arrow and the fish.
My second question: Is this legal?
We stand above the water, the fish are easy to spot too. Swimming on the down river side of the dam. Safe, I figure, we're way too high up.
But Hunter Emigh spears a gar on his third shot of the day and reels it in. Jacob Tyler seems to pull up a fish on every other shot. "It's the adrenaline rush" they both agree. When you can make a shot from this distance.
There are tournaments, the sport is growing around Oklahoma and in Tulsa. Jacob says he used to fish with a pole, but about two years ago he tried bowfishing. Says he hasn't touched a pole since.
He and Emigh try to coordinate days off so they can get out to the pedestrian bridge in Tulsa at least once a week, sometimes more.
There was one paddlefish, but Longnose Gar is the target of the day. There are 4 types of gar that are native to Oklahoma. The Alligator Gar is the only one that is protected by a daily catch limit of one. The gar swimming below us are a non-game species, but they've gotten more popular as more bowhunters look for targets.
People often wade in the water with their bows, or shoot from boats, but as Tyler says, if you can get one from the pedestrian bridge "you can get them anywhere."
A longnose gar is speared by Hunter Emigh in the Arkansas River below the pedestrian bride in Tulsa on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Jacob Tyler poses with a paddlefish he caught in the Arkansas River in Tulsa on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Tyler fished with a pole until two years ago when he started using a bow. Now, he says, "I haven't touched a pole since." JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Hunter Emigh fires his bow, tied to an orange string, into the Arkansas River in Tulsa on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Emigh has been bow fishing for about a year. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
