How To

Commissioners’ Corner – Dr. Mark Pinkerton What a great day! I recently spent the day fishing and learning about one of the state’s newest fishing spots.   As a newly appointed Commissioner back around 2002 I toured the Lake Wanahoo construction site before any dirt had been moved. All I can say is WOW, what a change. I am impressed. The lake is amazing. From breakwater structures to trees that provide great fish habitat the lake is very well thought out …

I have been hunting turkeys for over 30 springs now.  That may or may not mean that I have learned anything about spring turkey hunting.  You will have to decide that.  I do know that I have some ideas about what I would consider to be critical equipment, “must haves”, for every spring turkey hunter.  Let me show you a picture of my Tom from last year, four of those 5 important pieces of equipment are included in this picture. …

If you know anything about fishing in Nebraska, it’s that you are usually not very far from a sandpit of some sort. For miles and miles along the Platte River valley, there are sandpits that were formed during the building of the interstate. There are also private pits that a lot of times are adjacent to these public waters. Add in various other man made pits, and you’ve got quite a selection. Here, we’ll discuss a few general tactics when …

Ok, first I have a confession. I was only able to spend Friday morning in the turkey woods. The holiday weekend took me out of the state to spend time with family.  However, my brother spent three straight days chasing gobblers this weekend in eastern Nebraska and reported identical experiences to my lone endeavor – we are smack dab in the middle of the peak breeding phase.  Now this may sound like a good thing, but it can be the …

The turkeys are gobbling and I am not in the office much.  I do however have time to tell you some stories about recent success. . . . My family and I spent some time “back home” over Easter weekend.  We did all the family activities, and then spent as much time as possible in the field with the birds.  I am not going to tell you that we punched a bunch of tags, but my son Daniel did take …

For no good reason, I hate doing dishes when I’m camping. Well, to be honest, I hate doing them when I’m home, too. But since I go camping to relax, it’s usually cereal or rolls or something else cold to start the day. That all changed at a Cub Scout campout a few years ago, when I learned how to cook an omelet with no cleanup required: Just boil it in a Ziploc bag. Yes, I know, I was late …

Every year about this time I warn you that I mostly blog about fish and fishing except when those beautiful, big, Tom turkeys are gobbling.  That time is NOW.  I will still be on the water when I get a chance, but there is so much to do in Nebraska’s great outdoors in the coming weeks, so you will have to forgive me if my one-track fishing mind is a little distracted.  Do not worry, I will continue to share …

If you manage it, they will thrive! “ “We don’t always understand that you cannot plant wildlife habitat and let it go, it needs to be managed,” says Eric Zach, Agricultural Program Manager here at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “A landowner must set the stage for better years regarding upland game bird nesting and brood-rearing cover,” he adds. Well put, Eric, well put! With that information in mind, we travel to our Wagner family farm in southeast Nebraska …

Here we sit on the Monday after the opening of the 2014 Nebraska Spring Turkey Shotgun opener. For a majority of our gobbler-chasers this was the official kick-off to our obsession.  What a wild weather-ride it was, too, in much of the state.  A beautiful and very warm Saturday followed by a Sunday that…well…wasn’t.  I welcome and look forward to hearing your turkey-observations from this past weekend as I share my own from the timber’s edge. Family Weekend.  The opening …

Harvesting a wild turkey in the springtime is quite an accomplishment in the Nebraska hunting scene! When that gobbler, jake or bearded hen is down, there’s the high five with your hunting partner in the blind, along with an immediate cancelling of the tag on your turkey permit, plus the various photo ops with your bird, of course. After all of that takes place, the work begins on establishing the best-tasting wild turkey possible at the dinner table. Here are six steps to follow to a succulent spring turkey. Prompt …