Featured

My family and I got back “out west” for a long Thanksgiving weekend and we enjoyed every minute of it.  Yes, we spent a lot of time with family and in feasting, but we managed to slip outdoors a bit too. . . . You probably already have heard me tout the wide variety of hunting and fishing opportunities we have in Nebraska.  We ARE the mixed-bag capital of the world.  I love all of it, all of the hunting, fishing …

With the popularity of the new Hunger Games movie Mockingjay – Part 1 , the sport of archery is on fire and it takes center stage on my Weekly Outdoor Report on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News Thursday night LIVE at 6 p.m. CST during the sportscast. I’ll be highlighting two, free, big public archery events that will be held this this Saturday, December 6th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the new NE Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center in …

This news release went out recently.  If you use any of Nebraska’s waters for any purposes, you need to be aware of this: Invasive Zebra and Quagga Mussels Found in Two South Dakota Reservoirs LINCOLN – On Nov. 14, a single live adult zebra mussel was discovered attached to a boat dock at the Midway boat ramp on the South Dakota side of Lewis and Clark Lake near Yankton, S.D. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) staff inspected 11 …

I hope everyone reading this got to spend some time outdoors this past weekend.  Because it was a great extended-weekend to be out.  I got to see pictures of successful waterfowl hunts, archery deer hunts and even got to add some of my own rooster harvest photos. Due to several reasons (mainly food, football and family) my excursions were pretty short-lived – an hour here, a couple hours there.  I probably spent more time driving than I did walking behind …

The day after Thanksgiving has become known as “Black Friday”.  It is a day when millions of shoppers hit the stores for the opening day of what has become our commercialized, gift-giving, Christmas season.  A day when thousands of soccer moms and urban dads who would never think of going afield to harvest any kind of living creature nevertheless prove that they are instinctively HUNTERS. . . . Think about it.  By the time the rush to the stores has started, folks …

Today is Black Friday, the big shopping day to kick off the holiday season, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday encouraging folks to holiday shop at small businesses, and then Monday is Cyber Monday the largest online shopping day of the year.  I am here at home blogging (before the Husker/Hawkeye football game) while my wife is working at The Nebraska Medical Center and my daughter Emma is still out shopping after pulling an all-nighter going after those tremendous deals on holiday gift items at various stores for the family. Well,  Emma, …

Commissioners Lynn Berggren and Jerrod Burke along with their sons Pat, Kevin, Logan and friends went on a Mixed Bag Quest this fall.  Commissioner Burke documented their experience on Open Fields and Waters land in this article. [ Submitted by Commissioner Jerrod Burke ] We began our mixed bag quest on Wednesday morning, Nov. 12. Commissioner Berggren, my son Logan and I were headed to a cabin at Medicine Creek State Recreation Area to meet up with the national Pheasants …

Like everyone, I absolutely enjoy the time off that I have on holidays.  You can bet that I will spend some time in the field and on the water in the next few days.  Unfortunately, I believe it is easy for us to get caught up in the time off and not really think about the reason for it.  It also seems to me that in our pop culture we go right from the decorations and lights of Halloween directly …

From the moment I witnessed Katniss Everdeen fling that first arrow, I knew we were on to something special.  Archery is cool, and Katniss has made it cooler to millions of young boys and girls who now want to possess the same skills she has.  The good news?  Thanks to  facilities like the Nebraska Outdoor Education Center, now they can! Join us December 6th from 10am – 4pm for Archery on Fire, a free family day of outdoor skills fun. …

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  As I wrote in the blog  My Thanks a couple of years ago it is a chance to spend time with friends and family without the stress of gift buying and giving.  Yet, thanks to the special day falling on a Thursday, many of us receive the gift of time during this week.  Time is  something that will be in short supply once the weekend is over and we find ourselves in the …