Conservation

Hunters it’s ok to admit “it”. In fact, you should celebrate “it”. A big chunk of the hunting doesn’t involve shooting something and sometimes doesn’t even take place in the field. Some of “it” happens back at the cabin, farmhouse, camp or the local diner when the gun, or bow, are safely put away. In its best form “it” starts before opening morning and runs well after evening shooting hours close. It is our hunting buddies who we plot and …

There has been some “press” recently about a project to improve stream conditions on one of our trout-supporting, cold-water trout habitats in Nebraska.  The first story I saw on it ran in the Scottsbluff StarHerald, Sowbelly Creek Project will Restore Trout Habitat.  My fellow-blogger here at the Game & Parks Commission, Justin Haag, recently posted about the project, Sowbelly on the Rise (you gotta look at Justin’s blog, he included some great photographs!), and here was the Games & Parks Commission official …

My NEBRASKAland magazine duties are a little different than other types of journalism I’ve experienced during my career. With the bulk of the content for our magazine’s print edition being created a year in advance and stories going to press far ahead of each edition’s designated month, it doesn’t leave much room for “last-minute” changes. We all know conditions in Nebraska are susceptible to the whims of Mother Nature. For instance, a photo spread I produced titled “A Short Fall,” …

The effects of torrential spring flooding has dampened activity at Harrison’s Coffee Park for months, but thanks to a cooperative effort between local, state and federal officials there’s been a lot of movement at the remote attraction in Sioux County in recent days. Before long, trout anglers will be among those bringing the action. Major clean-up efforts at the park, located along Sowbelly Creek in the heart of the Pine Ridge in Sioux County, began last week when Fuller Construction …

I am a bird hunter. Shaped by my experiences.  A product of my surroundings.  As I was growing up the opening of bird season was a grand celebration that rivaled any holiday gathering or football game.  Family reunited, old friends came back and you even had a chance of running into an orange-vested celebrity or two.  In fact, as a hunter you kinda felt like a celebrity with all the welcome signs and hunter breakfasts. Read a couple (or more) …

Just in time for Halloween, I have to tell you about a fish, a “scary” fish. . . . As I have mentioned in a couple of blog posts in recent weeks, our Nebraska paddlefish snagging season is in “full swing” during the month of October (a little World Series lingo there).  We have had a new state record paddlefish caught during this year’s season, Stop the Presses, BIG FISH!, and recently I have shared some other interesting paddlefish news items, …

One of the most rewarding experiences for me has been making time to take my own kids out hunting. I have worked hard to pass along that great Nebraska hunting heritage and to instill in them an interest in hunting with an appreciation for nature. Consequently, today all of them enjoy various hunts here in the Cornhusker State. Having four kids ages 27, 23, 21 and 18, I know what it is like to usher in, nurture and train young hunters. …

The air is crisp and cold. Hardwood trees stand motionless and silent — faint brush strokes against the slowly lightening predawn sky. Small sounds begin to carve the creek bottom. A raucous calamity of crows can be heard in the distance. An assertive blue jay appears on a limb. Two fox squirrels squabble amid the leaves on the woodland floor. In the grass beyond the trees, a rooster pheasant cackles; greeting the first full rays of the sun. Suddenly, and …

About 250 Boy Scouts of the Longs Peak Council will gather at Chadron State Park this weekend to plant trees in areas burned by the 2012 wildfire that entered the popular northwestern Nebraska tourism attraction and burned much of its ponderosa pine forest and surrounding areas. The public is invited to assist in the planting of 3,000 trees in the park Saturday morning. Participants will begin planting trees after an education session at 8 a.m. and are expected to finish …

Halloween draws attention to them! Movies like Arachnophobia also draw attention to them. Looking back in history, they have been revered in hundreds of myths, stories, folk tales and art pieces all over the world. The mere thought of them can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck! And, walking into one of their webs this time of year makes a person absolutely freak out! Eeeeeekkkk! Spiders, they are creepy. They are members of the Phylum Arthropoda, the Class Arachnida and the Order …