Hunting

For those of you that still have some turkey left in the freezer from the this past spring’s season it’s time to introduce the bird to the grill. Now there are lots of great ways to grill wild turkey, but one of my favorites is the shish-kabob. (Ironically, the term ‘shish-kabob’ has Turkish origins). They are simple, fun to make and extremely delicious. Start by cubing turkey meat into roughly 1 inch pieces. Oftentimes I give the meat an overnight, …

Photo Caption: Sporting clays is a shooting event that has multiple stations and like mini-golf, each station along the course presents a different challenge. Pheasant Bonanza has a 20-station course offering a wide variety of clay targets, including bouncing rabbits, decoying ducks, and flushing quail coveys. Join the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) Missouri River Shootout on Sunday, July 27 at the Pheasant Bonanza Hunt Club and Kennel in Tekamah, Neb. The main sporting clay event is open to all …

My favorite meals have come from the heat of a campfire or the excitement of a duck blind.  Make no mistake, I like most foods, but those that came from the crackle of an open fire or the camaraderie of the duck blind….that taste lingers! The duck blind is a time for special dishes from a more hidden menu.   Dishes you don’t find every day have a solid place in such venues.  I am not going to fill you …

“A man may not care for golf and still be human, but the man who does not like to see, hunt, photograph, or otherwise outwit birds or animals is hardly normal. He is supercivilized and I for one do not know how to deal with him.”  – Aldo Leopold. It’s mid-June and I’m grumpy. There’s yard work to be done, household projects to be completed, weekly errands to be ran, and a variety 0f other tasks that need to be accomplished. Ugh, the rat race gets …

I have a couple of somewhat random things to share with you before I head out the door for the weekend. First of all, you have probably heard me say before that understanding predator/prey dynamics is KEY to finding and catching fish.  That is doubly important for anglers because we not only have to find our quarry, we also have to make them bite!  So, here is a short video that I found.  I never get tired of watching big …

I fully realize our spring turkey season is over, officially closed on the last day of May, and I know most have been done hunting for a long time now.  In this world of “what’s new, what’s next?” no one wants to read about that old news.  But, I have some thoughts rattling around in my head and I need to put them down in writing.  You can read them too if you want. . . . I spent a …

With May 31 being the last day, the end of turkey season is near.  Though our Nebraska spring season is long, the end is always tough to take for us addicted to chasing the gobble – even when it ends successfully.  Here’s how mine ended this past holiday weekend… Saturday morning I rolled out of bed at 4:00 a.m., checked radar and climbed back under the covers when it revealed a large, colorful swath of rain parked itself on top …

After a morel mushroom hunting adventure with a buddy along the Elkhorn River this weekend, I am issuing a final call for harvesting morel mushrooms, at least in the river bottom woodlands here in eastern Nebraska. Head to your woods for morels as soon as you can! They’re there, most likely in good numbers due to the heavy rain event we had this past Sunday. We did find fresh morels. However, some were dry and had brown tops to them. Fungi/mushroom expert Mark Davis, Writer/Photojournalist for the …

It’s now the middle of May. Spring turkey season in Nebraska is entering its final weeks.  I have already spent a good number of hours in a ground blind – mostly with members of my family – and I hope to spend several more in the days to come.  For sheer excitement the portable blinds cannot compete with sitting at the base of a tree as a gobbler closes in, but they do give a person plenty of time to …

The Nebraska Tourism Commission announced this week that it approved a new brand campaign, entitled: “Nebraska Nice.” This campaign emphasizes one of Nebraska’s strongest assets — us, it’s people. However, “Nebraska Nice” has a two-fold meaning.  It’s not only about we-Nebraskan’s being nice to our visitors and to each other, as we are, but it’s also a reference to the “nice moments” that make the best vacations memorable and special.  It’s about that special moment that is talked about for years and years to come. …