How To

The fall season is here and the holidays are just around corner.  Don’t let the chill in the air keep you from cooking outdoors.  From cooler temperatures and colorful leaves, fall is an excellent time to cook outdoors and here’s why: Enjoy the warmth No sweat, preparing a meal over hot coals or wood logs is more comfortable in cooler weather. Also as the days get shorter, the warmth of the fire’s glow is simply relaxing. No Bugs The cooler …

One thing every angler needs is a good net man!  Unfortunately, many do not take that responsibility seriously. You know what they say, “Can’t find good help anymore”. This fall has been beautiful and there are still lots of fish to be caught, including many for which you will need a net!  Hope you and your net-person get to practice your fishing, and netting, skills this weekend! “Fish On!”

One of my favorite themes about fishing in Nebraska is the variety of species and fishing opportunities our great state offers.  There are around a hundred species of fish swimming in Nebraska waters.  More than half of those hundred species are minnows of some kind and a variety of other small fish that typically are not caught on hook and line.  That is unless you are “micro-fishing”.  Micro-fishing?????  What in the world is “micro-fishing”?  Watch this and you will get …

Your adrenaline is still pumping.  You are a deer hunter, and you have just harvested a very nice white-tailed buck, or perhaps a gorgeous doe. Now, you have the opportunity to capture the moment for all of your friends, family and others to see. With due diligence, you can ensure the special moment is preserved in a quality harvest photo! Many of you will soon be highlighting the harvest of a big game hunter you know in Nebraska with their …

Yes I did.  I joined the thousands of bird hunters that took to the field the past couple of days to chase the cackle-birds and bobwhites that filled my dreams and thoughts in the days and nights leading up to that special October Saturday.  This won’t surprise anyone that has read any of my past preseason bird blogs (Rooster! Rooster!). Once again I had a great weekend, too.  As you’ve likely read or heard the numbers for both ring-necked pheasants …

Always something neat happening in the world of wildlife research.  Hunters oftentimes play an important role in the process, too.   Pheasant hunters have the chance to take part in some current University of Nebraska – Lincoln research going on this bird season.  hershy How we hunt:      A study of pheasant and hunter movements in Southwest Nebraska On a clear, chilly morning this past October, the distant cackle of pheasants greeted hunters arriving at CRP fields, signaling the return …

Pheasant and quail hunters take to the fields this Saturday (10/29) with the opener of the 2016/17 “bird season”.  Jeff and Hershy talk with Upland Habitat and Access Program Manager John Laux for some Outdoor Nation-insider information on early season strategies for success. Laux will also shed some light on the many facets of the Berggren Plan for Pheasant – which is Nebraska’s Mega-Plan for improving Pheasant Hunting in the state.  Become part of the Outdoor Nation by joining the …

I had some meetings to attend “out west” a couple of weeks ago.  That gave me a chance to re-visit some places I do not get to nearly enough.  Fall is one of the prettiest times to be there.  I had to stop and catch my breath when I finally saw the end of the road. The view was just as pretty looking back from whence I had just come. Here is one of the cathedrals I visited. And looking …

Every season there is something going on if you are a fisheries biologist.  I would not say that there is any “down time”.  However, I would say that spring and then fall it is particularly busy.  Right now, Nebraska’s fisheries biologists are on the water sampling fish populations on a variety of waters across the state. Nebraska’s fisheries biologists conduct what we call “standard surveys”.  Those are fish population surveys that are carried out according to standardized, scientific methods in …

For most upland game bird hunters, taking to the field provides a lot more than just the act of shooting at birds.  It’s a great opportunity for exercise, stress relief, camaraderie and simply enjoying this time of year.  Nebraska Game and Parks encourages all those going afield to remember the basic safety rules of hunting, such as always keeping your gun pointed in a safe direction, treating every firearm as if it’s loaded, keeping your finger off of the trigger …