About Outdoor Indiana
Outdoor Indiana, the state's premier magazine, delivers the wonders of the Hoosier outdoors to subscribers' homes and offices in 48 pages of vibrant color. For the best of state parks, lakes, wildlife, forests, trails, hunting, fishing, wildflowers and outdoorsy people, plus inside information from DNR experts, subscribe for $15 per year or $28 for two years. Follow the magazine staff on Facebook.
Tyson Opdycke of Fremont fishes Little Otter Lake in Steuben County before sunset. Opdycke’s sit-on-top kayak can be a stand-up kayak under calm conditions. Photo by John Maxwell.
Featured Stories
- From the Director
ONE MILLION TREES
DNR Director Dan Bortner
Next time you’re exploring Indiana’s outdoors, look up, and consider the history of the trees around you.
They’re likely there because Hoosiers before us took the time to help them grow.
As the pioneers settled here, they cleared much of the forest to farm and build. In 1901, our now-DNR Division of Forestry formed to reverse that trend and grow more trees. Today, thanks to the work of professional foresters and private landowners, 4.8 million acres of forestland now span our state.
Five years ago, in his State of the State Address, Gov. Holcomb tasked DNR with planting one million trees across our public lands. That directive became a mission for us, and we quickly went to work leading one of the largest tree-planting initiatives in Indiana history. DNR staff planted trees alongside volunteers at state forests, parks, fish & wildlife areas, and nature preserves across nearly every corner of the state.
This Arbor Day, we reached the million-tree milestone, with Gov. Holcomb planting a cucumber magnolia on the Statehouse lawn.
He said, “With one million more trees now dotting Indiana’s landscape, we can preserve this love for our great outdoors for future generations of Hoosiers and continue Indiana’s important legacy of conservation.”
These new trees will outlast us and provide a legacy that those who follow us can enjoy. So next time you’re out in the woods, look up—and thank our ancestors for growing healthy forests, just as those folks will one day thank us for our gift.
- Music's in the Air
When you think concerts, consider state parks
By Scott Roberts, OI staff
Scott Greeson and Vickie Maris perform inside the barn at The Farm at Prophetstown State Park with band members Greg Brassie on bass and Mark Boyd on mandolin. (Brent Drinkut photos)
As Scott Greeson, his wife Vickie Maris, and a couple of members of their band performed their country music set in a 1920s barn at The Farm at Prophetstown inside Prophetstown State Park, the structure’s wooden boards reverberated with the sounds of guitar and vocals.
At times the audio was accented by the crow of a rooster or the mooing of a cow. About 25 fans swayed and nodded their heads to the beat on a warm July afternoon last year.Lee Goudy, The Farm’s executive director, was pleased.
“Look at the audience,” Goudy said. “No one’s on their phone, kids are playing outside, everyone’s just enjoying themselves and their families.”
After the concert, Tom and Cheryl Harris of nearby Lebanon, who were staying in the state park’s campground, said the performance was one of the best parts of their visit.
“The ambience was amazing here on The Farm, and it was a great concert,” Cheryl said. “We’d definitely recommend seeing them again.”
Throughout the summer and early fall, similar experiences are available at many other state parks across Indiana, combining great music with natural surroundings. Concerts are performed in similar older structures, in more modern facilities like a 1,000-plus-seat amphitheatre, and even on fossil beds more than 300 million years old.
To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.
- Fishing, Up Close
Following these tips can make a kayak an angler's paradise
By Phil Bloom
DNR fisheries biologist Andy Bueltmann caught these crappie at Huntingburg Lake in Dubois County from his inexpensive sit-inside kayak.
The allure of fishing from a kayak boils down to one factor—simplicity.
Well, as simple as you want to make it.
Kayaks come in a variety of models—sit-in, sit-on, paddled, pedaled, or motorized.
You can buy a basic kayak for a few hundred bucks or spend as much as $6,000 for one specifically designed for fishing.
“Basically, any kayak works,” said Andy Bueltmann, a DNR fisheries biologist stationed in southwest Indiana. “It just depends on how you want to fish and how much you want to invest.”
Even the most expensive kayak setup pales in comparison to a top-of-the-line motorized fishing boat like the one advertised in the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Fishing Catalog at just shy of $114,000, which doesn’t include the cost of a truck capable of pulling the 2,400 pounds of boat, trailer, and 350 horsepower V-10 motor.
“Kayaks are so much easier to haul around,” Bueltmann said. “You just throw them in your truck, or if you have a car, you just strap it to the top of the roof.
“Obviously, it’s paddle power or pedal power or even an electric trolling motor with a kayak, and with a boat, most times you are going to be using gas.”
Although kayaks didn’t originate as fishing vessels, they have become increasingly popular for that purpose and many other watersport activities.
To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.
Reader Photos
Each issue, Outdoor Indiana staff will select reader submitted photos to feature in the magazine. If you would like the chance to be featured, please submit your photo, along with your name and phone number to:
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Printing and distribution costs for Outdoor Indiana magazine have increased. One way we’re offsetting these costs is through the Friends of Outdoor Indiana Group administered through the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation. Donations to our friends group helps keep our subscription price low and ensures we’ll be around to bring you the best of Indiana’s outdoors for years to come. Donate at the INRF website and include “Friends of Outdoor Indiana” in the “In Honor Of/In Memory Of” line.
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