LINCOLN, Neb. – Enjoy a day of fun activities along the Missouri River at the 6th Annual Outdoor Adventure on Saturday, April 29, at Indian Cave State Park. Activities include a mushroom hunt contest, fish fry, hayrack rides, archery, kayaking, youth horseback rides, and demonstrations of a cider press and Dutch oven cooking. There will also be a Half-Price Youth Lifetime Permit drawing and a Raptor Recovery program. Runners can take part in the 1-mile Morel Mile and 5K Mushroom …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Enjoy locally-made bacon and beer at the inaugural Bacon and Beer Feed at Fort Atkinson State Historical Park on April 29. Tickets include an appetizer and three courses of bacon dishes made using heritage-breed pork cured and smoked by Cure Cooking of Fort Calhoun. Too Far North, also of Fort Calhoun, will have local beers available for purchase to pair with each course.  Tickets are $30 for adults and kids ages 12 and older, and $18 for …

LINCOLN, Neb. – While boating season still is months away, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission suggests that now is the time to take a boater safety course. A list of boating safety classes is available at boatsafenebraska.org. The list includes six-hour classroom courses and three-hour home-study review and test courses. More classes will be added to the list during the year. Persons born after Dec. 31, 1985, who operate a motorboat or personal watercraft in Nebraska, must have successfully …

LINCOLN, Neb. – A sick deer in Lancaster County tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease, in early March. This is the first known case of CWD in Lancaster County.  CWD is a degenerative disease that attacks the brain of an infected deer or elk, eventually causing emaciation, listlessness and death. It is generally thought that CWD is transmitted from animal to animal through the exchange of bodily fluids, but other modes of transmission may exist. …

LINCOLN – A bull elk tag will be auctioned off at the Nebraska Big Game Society (NBGS) banquet Thursday, April 13 in Lincoln. The banquet will be held at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club, 1800 Wilderness Woods Place. Those who wish to bid but cannot attend may call in their bids for free. Call-in bidders must first notify the NBGS by 5 p.m. on April 7 at 402-430-9191 or via email at NBGS11@gmail.com. Only residents are eligible for the tag, which …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will consider proposed dates for the 2017-18 waterfowl seasons during a March 17 meeting in Grand Island. The meeting will take place at the Full Circle Venue and Conference Center at Boarders Inn and Suites, 3333 Ramada Road, and is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. During the meeting, the Commission will consider recommendations for waterfowl seasons including opening the early teal season on the Saturday after Labor Day – approximately …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Pheasants in a portion of central Nebraska will be fitted with leg bands and radio collars this spring as part of a new study to understand pheasant ecology in that region. Starting this month, researchers from the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will put bands and collars on pheasants in the Central Pheasant Opportunity Area (POA). The Central POA is one of the …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is stocking catchable-size rainbow trout in city ponds and lakes across the state in March to enhance spring fishing opportunities. Fishing for stocked rainbow trout is an excellent way for families to introduce young and new anglers to fishing as simple equipment and baits can be used. The trout lake (Lake No. 5) at Two Rivers State Recreation Area (SRA) near Waterloo will open for fishing March 11. It has been …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Mormon Island State Recreation Area near Doniphan is temporarily closed. An ice jam on the Platte River led to flooding in parts of the recreation area. Nebraska Game and Parks officials on Friday made the decision to close the area until further notice. Officials expect that the flooding will subside as the ice jam breaks up. -30-

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reminds hunters that the regular light goose waterfowl season lasts through Feb. 12, while the light goose conservation order runs from Feb. 13-April 5.  During the light goose waterfowl season, hunters may not use electronic calls or unplugged shotguns. The daily bag limit during the light goose waterfowl season is 50. Shooting hours are from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.  During the light goose conservation order, electronic calls and unplugged …