Hunting

After a pheasant hunt last winter, I mentioned to my friend, Mace Hack, that we should go to my place and clean the birds. “Oh no, I now hang my birds for a few days before I clean them,” said Mace. “My English brother-in-law turned me on to it. Aged birds are so much better eating.” Though I knew that the choicest beef and venison steaks result from aging, the thought of hanging pheasants with feathers and entrails intact and …

OUTDOOR TIP: Always, and I mean always, take a camera you with you on any outdoor adventure to capture lasting images of the experience. The camera, whether it’s on your iPhone, Smart Phone, or is a small pocket-sized digital camera, or even is a large digital one with a foot-long lens, helps to lock in memories and validate outdoor stories. Here’s my camera, nothing fancy, but it does the job fairly well. I took my camera with me yesterday afternoon to my buddy Steve’s farm in Saunders County, …

Do you know the annual economic impact that outdoor recreation has in Nebraska? Like my Game and Parks cohort, Cara Pesek, I expected the number to be big, but it’s bigger than we both thought — $2.4 billion annually! WOW! Hunting has an $848 million impact annually, fishing has a $324 million impact annually, wildlife viewing has a $722 million impact annually and state parks have a $749 million impact annually. In this state, the great outdoors greatly impacts the Nebraska economy. Okay, all that being …

I love the 20 gauge! I still remember my parents giving me a savage 20 gauge pump for Christmas when I was 10 years old. I spent the evening before the pheasant opener going over each shell, placing them in the vest in hopes they would bring birds down the next day..and they did! For some reason, we are in an age of magnum craze and we sometimes forget about the gauges and calibers that still get it done with …

With reference to my job as a conservation agency public information officer and participating in outdoor activities, I’ve always held myself to this motto: “If you’re gonna talk about it, you darn well better do it or have done it!” It should be noted though, if the truth be told, that I thoroughly enjoy a myriad of outdoor activities here in the Cornhusker State (you regular readers of my blog posts know this!). Time spent outdoors in the field is …

Hello all, Katie Stacey of Game and Parks in Omaha, NE here. It’s been quite some time since I’ve taken over Greg’s blog, but after I told him about my family’s Christmas dinner he told me I needed to share with you as well.                 This year Greg generously gave me several Canada geese he’d harvested just in time for me to be able to prepare them for my family. In order to enjoy this treat to its fullest potential I …

I had the pleasure of taking fourteen year old Kaely Perkins of North Platte (she attends Maywood schools), hunting for her first deer this past firearm season. It all started when I was looking for an irrigation engine at Fairbanks International in North Platte, where Kaely’s Dad, Roger Perkins is a salesman. We started talking about hunting and the next thing we knew a date was set for Kaely to come deer hunting on our farm. This wasn’t Kaely’s first outing …

What happens in the goose hunting blind, stays in the goose hunting blind, right? Nope, wrong! I thought I’d share some of the more fun photos I snapped at our eastern Nebraska Canada goose hunting blind thus far this season. I hope you enjoy the pics (my buddies are going to boot me out of the blind after seeing a couple of these, you realize, and even the dog and the decoys weren’t sparred!). Happy 2014, keep warm!

A new year and a new season. As you’ve probably heard by now, Nebraska’s first two permit holders for mountain lion season in the Pine Ridge were successful Thursday. The season has garnered a lot of attention, being Nebraska’s first. With photography equipment in hand, I accompanied Holden Bruce, the 16-year-old hunter from Franklin, one of the two permit holders. He came to northwest Nebraska with his father, Jeremy, and older brother, Tristan. We set out early New Year’s Day …

Many people I know, perhaps you, think hunting Canada geese over decoys from a heated pit blind is a comfortable, easy thing to do in the out-of-doors. But, I’m here to tell you that it’s not! At least, not with my goose hunting scenario. First there’s the hike in to the blind with gun and associated gear — almost a half-mile in distance. Then, there’s the dozens and dozens of decoys to set out which takes about an hour or so to complete. After that, you get …