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We’ve been dreaming about this weekend for sometime.  But none of our visions contained weather like what’s being forecasted for Nebraska’s opening weekend of shotgun spring turkey season.  Being a hardy lot we Nebraskans still have intentions of heading out to fill a tag or two.  Here’s how… Snow Unless it comes in blizzard proportions, or is mixed with the conditions listed below, a little snow barely registers for turkeys who are focused on love right now.  Strategies need to …

With Saturday being the opening of Nebraska’s spring turkey season – shotgun edition –  I ask this one simple question.  “What happens when you are just too good at calling turkeys?” This video answers that very question.  It shows the struggle of some turkey hunting greats who are at the top of their game. Have a great, safe turkey hunting weekend. hershy

If you travel far at all on many of our dirt roads, you have a good chance of a seeing one or more sharp-tailed grouse – that is, if you can pick them out with their brown, black and buff camouflaged bodies. Sharptails, popular game birds in Nebraska, are at home on much our landscape, enjoying a mix of open grassland with some trees and shrubs. This is certainly the time of year that grouse are most fun to watch. …

We still call them ‘slate-calls’ though the surface of many of these turkey calls nowadays are glass, aluminum or some other material.  And again this spring, thousands of gobblers in Nebraska will give testament to their effectiveness – when in the right hands. The beauty of the slate-call is first and foremost that they produce some of the truest turkey talk a hunter can make. Sometimes sounding even better than the real deal. Secondly, they are the model of versatility.  …

Nebraska’s popular archery spring wild turkey hunting season is in full swing, and seemingly a growing number of hunters have added another piece of legal archery equipment to their repertoire  — the modern crossbow. The word — crossbow — can stir up a very heated debate in conventional bow hunting circles. Consider that a similar debate also took place when the compound bow was first introduced into the hunting scene many years ago. Some folks will be quick to let you know that a crossbow or arbalest is …

This weekend should be an interesting one for turkey hunters.   Warm Saturday and then some disagreeable weather for Sunday.   You have to love spring turkey hunting!   No matter, grab your turkey calls and head to the woods as things may start heating up soon! Over the years, I have come to be very fond of certain turkey calls.   From mouth calls, slates, wing bone yelpers, to box calls, I have and still do use them all.   But it seems each …

Nebraska’s spring wild turkey hunting is tough to beat. It really is. Trust me, I know from many years of firsthand experience hunting throughout the state! And, I continue to hunt wild turkeys in the springtime from the Missouri River bottom woodlands of Washington County all the way to Platte River bottom woodlands of Dawson County. We Nebraskans as well as our nonresident visitors have plenty of reasons,15 at least, to enjoy the state and take to the woods to call in a bearded bird this year. An adult …

As the saying goes “Roosted ain’t Roasted” but following this plan should tilt the opening days odds in your favor.  You’ve got the gobblers located and even know the spot you want to start your season from.  Let’s make sure things go smoothly from here. Pop the Blind Early If you will be working out of a ground blind for an early morning hunt get it set out and ready the day before. Ideally in the early afternoon.  This avoids …

We’ve come along way in bow hunting for spring gobblers.  Used to be you would hit the woods using the same methods as the shotgun hunters. Hoping you had enough camouflage or distraction that the gobbler would let you get to full at the moment of truth.  Your broadhead was simply whatever you used on deer last fall. Trouble is that deer and turkeys are quite different.  A broadhead that works well for securing venison steaks isn’t necessarily much good …

When I received the call from my co-worker, Justin Haag, about coming to the Panhandle to take photos of the bighorn sheep capture, I was more than ecstatic. I had always wanted to see how this process takes place and get close to the sheep. Along with that, who doesn’t want to travel to one of the most beautiful areas of Nebraska, the wildcat Hills and Pine Ridge. Not knowing what to expect, I went out to watch the crew …