Hunting

CHADRON, Nebraska — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has new data for a cat that triggers a lot of discussion, yet is rarely seen. It’s the puma, the cougar, or as most people call it, the mountain lion. Sam Wilson, the furbearer and carnivore program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, reported updates for the states’ management of the species during the agency’s May 8 commissioners meeting. The report included a new population figure for the Pine …

Servings: 8 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes Ingredients: Rabbit Stock – 2 carrots, halved – 2 ribs of celery, halved – 1 bunch of thyme – 1 onion, halved – Cooking oil – 2 pounds of whole rabbit – About 8 cups of water Stew and Dumplings – 1 small onion, chopped – 2 carrots, chopped – 2 ribs of celery, chopped – Cooking oil – 1 bay leaf – 4 sprigs of fresh …

Let me share with you another one of my son’s adventures.  So far this spring, his adventures have been more notable than mine. . . . I once sat down in a lawn chair on a lake shore, looked down between my feet, and there laid a perfect arrowhead!  All the arrowheads I have found have been found “accidentally”, usually while fishing.  Oh sure, I have intentionally looked for arrowheads, but, never found any doing that.  “Skunked”. I proclaim no …

One reason Nebraska claims to have the nation’s best turkey hunting is its variety of subspecies of the big bird. Bryce Gerlach, a forester for the National Wild Turkey Federation and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission who is an avid hunter, said the Cornhusker State is special because three of the four subspecies of the federation’s popular Grand Slam reside within Nebraska’s borders. Once extirpated from Nebraska, the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a conservation success story here and throughout …

*BLOGGER’S NOTE: The National Wild Turkey Federation calls it: The Great Jake Debate. And, it  has surfaced again. It is the continual debate regarding whether or not to shoot a jake (a juvenile or nearly one-year old  male wild turkey) during a spring wild turkey hunting season, if legal. In Nebraska, it is allowable to shoot jakes during the spring turkey season. But let me tell you there is much misinformation floating around hunting circles about this ongoing discussion. In …

From what I am hearing and seeing, Nebraskans are doing a pretty good job of this! https://youtu.be/VSN_L2uqugI And that is a great thing!  Just make sure you do it a rod’s length apart! Have I ever mentioned that I prefer longer rods? Have a great weekend.  Stay safe.

If you have followed my blog for a year or three, you know this time of year I am distracted.  Distracted by gobbling turkeys.  Yep, I am pretty much all fishing, all the time, but when the turkeys are gobbling, I am gone. I love everything about wild turkeys.  They are beautiful birds and provide hours of entertainment every spring.  I love just watching their interactions and antics.  They are a challenge to hunt, and when taken they are great …

Have you ever left a deer mount outside for too long and now the antlers are chalky and bleached? All you need to restore them is dish soap, a paintbrush, wood stain and fine steel wool. If the antlers are chalky and porous you will also need two-part molding compound and fine sandpaper. Start by cleaning the antlers with soap and water and allow them to dry. Wrap the skull in paper to protect it during restoration. When the skull …

It is the primary reason I hunt wild turkeys in the spring. It invokes such strong feelings of excitement that it escapes words. It is a crazy sound in nature, really, perhaps even a bit comical. The sound, made by a wild bird and denoting spring, is actually a loud, shrill, descending, gurgling, throaty jumble of chords that lasts about 1-2 seconds. This is the gobble of a male wild turkey. Gil-obble-obble-obble. For those of us who enjoy being outdoors …

When I am in the office, which has not been much lately, at the bottom of the stairs is a mount of two Tom turkeys fighting.  I love that mount, love that I walk by it at least a couple times every day.  It reminds me of a story. . . . My sister married a guy from Pennsylvania.  Rick loves to hunt, still does, but at the time had been unsuccessful hunting turkeys in the spring.  Of course our …