How To

LINCOLN, Neb. – Keep your kids active and having fun during winter break at the Arctic Archery Day Camp in Lincoln Dec. 28-29. Held at the Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Center, the camp features archery, air rifle, ancient spear throwing, games, art projects, crafts, and learning about winter wildlife. Kids never tire of range time here, and our experienced outdoor education professionals provide the structure and safety they need to learn new skills and have fun at the …

I am always up on a soap-box promoting the diversity of fish & wildlife, hunting and fishing opportunities we have in Nebraska.  With no closed season for fishing and long hunting seasons for a variety of species, it is very possible, and double the fun, to combine the activities!  Fall is one of the best times to do that. Hunting, fishing, trapping, I love them all and often feel like I have so much to do and so little time.  …

Do  you really need water, pumps, pit blinds, lots of expensive decoys and to be part of a high-priced hunting lease to successfully hunt Canada geese in Nebraska? No, not necessarily. Field hunting for Canada geese is a ton of fun and can be very effective! It’s also much cheaper, easier and quicker than trying to establish a goose hunting spread with a boat blind on a pond, lake, reservoir or river. Waterfowl hunters establish a field spread for Canada goose hunting in a harvested corn field in …

Got a couple of updates on Aquatic Habitat/Angler Access/Renovation projects.  As a matter of fact, I blogged about both of these back in September, Some News Items, September 2017. Merritt Reservoir As noted the boat ramp/angler access project at Merritt Reservoir was long-awaited and postponed for a year or two because of high water levels.  Now, I will NEVER complain about high water in any of our irrigaiton reservoirs, but in this case it did delay the new boat ramp …

Back in June I told you about drunk crayfish, And Now, Even Our Crayfish are Drunk. Well, the unthinkable has happened again!  Check out this headline! Scientest Gave Fish Marijuana to See If It Would Make Them Relax Go ahead, follow the link, read the story.  I ain’t making this stuff up! Wow, I am afraid these kinds of research projects give us pointy-headed biologists bad reputations.  Seems as though all we can think about is getting crayfish drunk and …

I have never fished for steelhead.  Someday?  Maybe, but not yet. However, as a pointy-headed fisheries biologist, I will tell you that rainbow trout and steelhead are the same fish, Oncorhynchus mykiss, a steelhead ain’t nothing more than a rainbow trout that migrates to the sea.  That line of distinction becomes even more blurred when one considers that inland rainbow trout have been documented to have the same migratory behavior.  In fact, some of the inland rainbows most famous for …

Long range forecasting of the weather is filled with uncertainty, so I will not pretend to know how soon it is going to start getting cold.  The calendar is soon to read “December” and chances are there is some cold weather in our future, but how soon we will have enough ice for ice-fishing is anyone’s guess.  In Nebraska “normal” is the average of the extremes, and I have been on the ice as early as Thanksgiving.  However, most years …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Learn the basics of ice fishing or pick up a few new tips at three free Family Ice Fishing clinics in January. On Jan. 6, the Nebraska Fish and Game Association will host a classroom clinic at Yanney Heritage Park’s Environmental Resource Center in Kearney from 5 – 9 p.m. This clinic will feature presentations by some of Nebraska’s top ice fishermen. An on-ice clinic will be held Jan. 7 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at …

Nebraska has added more opportunities for deer hunters to vary their hunting styles. This gives hunters the chance to choose different forms of harvest to enhance their seasons or to challenge their skills or even both. I respect and admire the ones who want to take things one step further. Hunting with primitive weapons takes practice, patience and brings you close and personal to your quarry. Here are a few hunters who did just that: Garret Tramp has been following …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The following is a listing of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission events and important dates in December. Get more event details at Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov. Visit OutdoorNebraska.org for a list of hunter education classes and boating safety classes. Dec. 1 – Bobcat hunting and trapping season opens Dec. 1-3, 8-10, 15-17, 22-23 – Christmas at the Mansion, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park (SHP), Nebraska City Dec. 1-31 – Cow elk hunting season, private and public land Dec. 1-31 – …