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Still waiting for safe ice; I have been digging through my tackle, buying new stuff, sorting, getting gear ready, thinking about a few things. . . . We use a variety of small jigs and “tear drops” for catching panfish through the ice.  Those baits match some of the smaller prey that those panfish eat during the winter.  Naturally, those small baits have small hooks, and those hooks are usually sharp and hook fish easily.  However, do NOT assume that they …

I am going to steal a photo from my nephew’s FaceBook page for this Friday’s blog post.  He got this on one of his trail cameras recently: Obviously it was purely fortuitous that he got that picture, but you can get some really amazing pictures with trail cameras.  Professional wildlife photographers use them too; they may be a little more sophisticated than the versions used by avid deer hunters, but the technology is the same. Yes, trail cams allow us to …

It usually takes some prodding to get me into the holiday spirit. I’m much more inclined to get excited about the arrival of ice for fishing this time of year than the coming of Santa Claus and his reindeer. Thanks to one event this season, though, I moved the needle a little closer to the “St. Nicked” side of the holiday excitement meter from its position at “Scrooged.” My wife and I attended Fort Robinson State Park’s annual Christmas dinner …

Let me slip into my biologist/limnologist hat for this blog post.  No, I do not actually have a biologist/limnologist hat; it is the same as my fishing cap, which by the way, is on my head most of the time. I love to fish year-round, 12 months out of the year I will be on the water.  One of my strategies when the water is cold is to slow down, fish slower.  I have often told anglers that the reason …

CRAWFORD – In order to find success, one hunter this week made the 430-mile journey from Western, Nebraska, to Western Nebraska. Yes, you read that right. Johnny Barta, a big game hunter from Western, Nebraska (the village near Fairbury, not the region), visited the butte country of western Nebraska (the region, not the village) to fill the state’s lone bighorn sheep tag. His hunt ended successfully at noon Tuesday, Dec. 9, when he bagged a trophy ram at Fort Robinson …

[Submitted by Commissioner Mick Jensen] I recently had the opportunity to observe and be a part of a very interesting and fun event in Schuyler. Lonnie kit, founder and CEO of QC Supply in Schuyler, asked that I speak to his employees and families at a very unique event! For the last eight years Lonnie has  hosted a “Hunters After Hour” event on the Thursday before the Saturday deer firearm opener.  He provides a fantastic meal and door prizes. An …

Just a quick reminder to fellow hunters and landowners in or near the Omaha-metro area that a public informational meeting about Nebraska big game  issues will be held tomorrow night, (Wednesday night, Dec. 10th)  at 7 p.m. in the classroom of the west Omaha Scheels Store, 17202 Davenport St.,  in the Village Pointe Shopping Center. NE Game and Parks wildlife biologists will be on hand to explain and take questions on several topics, including deer management, deer damage and depredation permits, antlerless harvest, trophy …

Interested in getting into ice fishing?  Want to know what it takes to get started? We are hosting a “beginning ice fishing” workshop at the Outdoor Education Center in Lincoln this Thursday night, Dec. 11.  The Outdoor Education Center is located just north of Superior Street in north Lincoln, 44th and Superior. This will be a “classroom” workshop, so no, no hands-on ice-fishing this time.  We have some of those workshops coming later this winter, and we ain’t got enough ice …

Sometimes in the business of promoting/providing conservation and outdoor information you don’t fully realize the impact your work can have on a person. Such was the case this year when a friend of mine, Robin Zagurski an artist from Omaha, NE, painted two beautiful scenes from photographs I had taken on a couple of my outdoor adventures here in Nebraska.  I was shocked and flattered, to say the least. Here they are. The first colorful Nebraska scene Robin painted was from a photo I snapped of the …

This is my blog; I try to keep in outdoors related most of the time.  But, you all know what has dominated the talk all around our state this week. . . . I am an University of Nebraska graduate, have a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management, Fish & Wildlife Management Option. More importantly, I am a Nebraskan born and bred.  Nebraskans are proud of who we are, where we live, what our state offers.  We may be small in …