In The Wild

Imagine taking a bucket of stirred-up hornets and throwing them in front of a hunter. That’s what it’s like when a flight of blue-winged teal suddenly swarms in over a decoy set. – Wade Bourne, Colin Moore, Outdoor Life Magazine. On the waterfowl hunting front, Nebraska’s early teal hunting season has drawn to a close in the Low Plains zone. I wanted to share some photos of my very first early season teal duck hunt this past week in that zone. Yes, it …

Don’t miss Executive Chef Gene Cammarota of Omaha, NE on this week’s edition of The Great Outdoor Radio Show I host! Gene is a chef with a dynamic personality and is well known in professional cooking circles. He is also an instructor at Iowa Western Community College’s Culinary Arts Program and hosts his own cooking show called “What’s Cookin’?” from 10-11 a.m. CST on Omaha radio station 1180 AM. Gene will take your questions LIVE about wild game and outdoor …

Award-winning  taxidermists Mike and Greg Dinges of Dinges Taxidermy in Omaha, NE are my very special guests on this week’s edition of The Great Outdoor Radio Show I host.  The guys will be offering tips for those of us who enjoy hunting on appropriate game care in the field for mounts as well as a plethora of other helpful, useful advice regarding taxidermy work. The Great Outdoor Radio Show airs Saturday morning from 9-10 a.m. CST on Omaha’s KOZN Radio 1620 AM “The Zone.” You’re welcome to join the …

I’ll be covering key messages for Nebraska’s popular archery deer hunting season opener on my WOWT 6 News 6 Outdoor Report this week. The season is well underway, it opened Sept. 1!  One of the messages I’ll be relaying to fellow deer hunters this season is the importance of wearing a tree stand safety harness. My friends at Outdoor Life magazine say it’s vital to be an educated “smart dummy” and use a safety harness if you’re going to be hunting from an elevated …

You’ve been sitting there quietly enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of nature while waiting for the wild game specie you’re hunting to appear. Then the moment comes when the sky is full of color as the top of the sun’s disc first breaks the plane of the horizon in the morning, or when the top of the sun’s disc sinks below the horizon in the evening. You marvel at the color in the sky while the  stresses of life leave you. The draw of sunrises and …

Nebraska’s early teal duck hunting season opener occupies center stage on my Weekly TV Outdoor Report airing LIVE Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CST on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News during the sportscast. Fast-flying teal, such as these blue-winged teal pictured below, present a real challenge to the Nebraska waterfowl hunter! Proper waterfowl identification is critical during the special season because only teal are legal. This is especially crucial in the experimental early teal hunting season area of northern Nebraska where the harvest of hunters will be closely monitored and …

This blog was originally posted on August 31, 2009 but it has been updated with new information.  I like to dabble with dove decoys. That’s really all I do, it seems. Bagging doves for the grill during Nebraska’s popular dove hunting season (which opens on Sept. 1) is, well, just a bonus actually. Normally, I run out of shells before even getting close to reaching my daily bag limit during the season. I get those erratic, fast-flying doves close enough for shots, but connecting …

Tomorrow morning I’ll be bound for our brand new Nebraska Game and Parks Commission exhibit at the NE State Fair in Grand Island’s Fonner Park. I can’t wait to work it all day! Our free exhibit area is bigger and better than ever! Called the Nebraska Outdoor Encounter it encompasses over 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space in the Nebraska Building and features unique displays and interactive activities designed to get people outdoors. Take a look at a few photos of it snapped by fellow Game …

With the kick off of football season around Nebraska (high school and college), on my WOWT 6 News outdoors segment I’ll be encouraging you to leave a little early for your game and tailgate in one of many Nebraska’s many state park lands. For those traveling from Omaha to Lincoln via Highway 6 for the Husker game Saturday afternoon, I’ll be telling you to leave a bit early and stop at this quiet, quaint state recreation area to grill some …

We’re deep into our Nebraska summer and that means one thing regarding wild edibles — tasty, ripe plums! Have you checked your rural wild plum thickets yet? You should. The deep hues of purples, red and yellows are now apparent on the wild plum trees growing on my buddy’s farm in eastern Nebraska long the Elkhorn River. Look closely. You’ll know when the wild plums are ready for harvest because their flesh will be firm, but somewhat soft when pinched and they’ll almost drop from the thicket with the barest touch or …