Flora & Fauna

Is it too early to go out and try to find shed deer antlers on my hunting lands? After all, there is snow cover and snow drifts in places. On the other hand, I am hearing rumors of bucks dropping their antlers earlier than normal on the Great Plains. So, when should someone venture to their deer woods and fields in search of those prized shed antlers? Beginning in late December and continuing through April, white-tailed and mule deer shed their antlers for regrowth purposes …

LINCOLN, Neb. – A bull elk tag will be auctioned off by the Nebraska Big Game Society (NBGS) on Thursday, April 12 in Lincoln. The event will be held at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club, 1800 Wilderness Woods Place. Those who wish to bid but cannot attend may call in their bids for free. Call-in bidders must first notify the NBGS by 5 p.m. on April 5 at 402-430-9191 or via email at NBGS11@gmail.com. Only residents are eligible for the tag, …

GERING, Neb. – The groundhog may or may not see its shadow, but the forecast says there is a highly favorable chance for people to learn about another burrowing animal next month. Badger Day will be Saturday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m. at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center south of Gering. Amanda Filipi, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission outdoor education specialist, said that Badger Day was inspired by Groundhog Day – which was actually inspired by Badger Day. To Germans, …

VALENTINE, Neb. – The Nebraska National Forest has opened a road in Cherry County to motor vehicles, improving access to an area of Chat Canyon Wildlife Management Areathat lies south of the Niobrara River. The road is an existing two-track trail through the Samuel L. McKelvie Forest south of Chat Canyon WMA that was previously open to the public for only non-motorized use. It is one-half mile long, providing a link from Forest Service Road 603 to a quarter-mile easement over private …

We absolutely treasure them. We collect them. We investigate their origins. We tell stories of the hunt about them. We give them places of honor on our call lanyards. But, official waterfowl leg bands are more than just coveted collectibles, more than just “priceless jewelry” to hunters. The information the bands possess is vital to the management of these web footed birds. There are even monetary reward bands. Getting a duck or goose with a reward, or “money” band on it is extra special because they …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Make a tax-deductible donation to the Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Fund and help fund projects that benefit the state’s many species. Donations have a big impact, as they are matched with other grants so that $1 donated becomes $4 for aiding wildlife. Projects the fund makes possible include improving at-risk species’ habitat, keeping common species common through prairie restorations and invasive species removal, and preventing future endangered species listings by funding reintroduction projects such as the now-thriving peregrine …

Concealed beneath a grass blind as the sun rises. Camping beneath a star-filled sky on a rocky ridge. Trekking with snowshoes into a forest blanketed by white. Soaring above the buttes while riding shotgun in a Cessna. Stirring up dust with a four-wheel drive on winding backroads. Those are just some of the many ways I witnessed beauty of the western Nebraska with camera in hand during 2017. A look back at the nature images I post to Facebook, Instagram …

As the “12 Days of Christmas” nears, it seems fitting to pay tribute to the gift most often mentioned in the familiar tune of that same name. That, of course, would be the partridge that “my true love sent to me” over and over again. While traveling a dirt road in northern Sheridan County in early December, I encountered the first partridge I have ever seen in the wild. I had heard of the gray partridge (Perdix perdix) residing in …

Unfortunately, it’s the time of year when many hunters start hanging up their gear for the season. Maybe they have already harvested game or are tired of trying to do so. Perhaps they are just not interested in being afield during bitterly cold weather, gale force winds and deep snow. Whatever the case may be, that hunting gear should not be put away! It’s time to bundle up and take advantage of little to no hunting pressure, colder weather, a completed crop harvest, concentrated and …

Rare Eastern spotted skunk found at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge The Decline of the Spotted Skunk Biologists surmise that populations of spotted skunks – like many other species – declined when white settlers moved into the Great Plains and began hunting and trapping them. Their numbers rebounded some in the 1930s and 1940s when the landscape was dotted with small farmsteads that provided good habitat for the species. Spotted skunks, which eat grubs, grasshoppers and small mammals, often lived …