Flora & Fauna

Brrrr! It’s been so cold outside! Temperatures have been running far below normal as evidenced this past week by the large thermometer I have in our backyard. Off and on, I continue to suffer from cabin fever! How about you? From my vantage point in eastern Nebraska, we’re kind of in between seasons in the state’s outdoor scene, too. As a sportsman, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of snow and Ross’s geese for light goose conservation order hunting here in eastern Nebraska and open water fishing for various …

BASSETT – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission placed tracking collars on three elk near Bassett in north-central Nebraska on Tuesday, the latest installment of a multi-year effort to use real-time location data to determine populations, make harvest recommendations and monitor herd health. Game and Parks contracted a helicopter wildlife capture crew to catch the elk and equip them with GPS tracking collars and ear tags. In addition, samples were taken from the three cows to obtain health and genetic …

The spring migration has begun when the unique and primeval call of the sandhill crane is heard; it is one that captures our attention and curiosity. Standing four-foot tall these prehistoric birds travel through Nebraska as part of their migration from summering areas in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico to their nesting areas in the upper United States, Canada and as far North as Siberia. In the Central Flyway, Nebraska is one of the few places left for the 500,000-plus …

The calendar has rolled around again, and it is that time of year–Yep, time for the skunks to mate. Why else would Valentine’s Day be scheduled for this time of year? Afterall, the greatest lover of all time was a skunk, Pepe LePew! By the way, the old Looney Tunes were and still are the greatest cartoons of all time.  I still watch them. . . and laugh! You should also know that some of the most irresistible perfumes use skunk …

I want to take a trip back to the trap line for this blog post; actually not my trap line, but my nephew’s.  A few weeks ago I was out west for a weekend and had a little time to check out some of the fur my nephew had caught this trapping season, his first.  What he really wanted to show off was one of the raccoons he trapped, something rather unusual. There are several hundred thousand raccoons taken in …

I know what you’re thinking. No, this is not going to be a blog about the memorable snow storms I’ve experienced growing up in the Cornhusker State. Nope. This is a going to be blog post about the memorable times I had last year hunting snow and Ross’s geese during Nebraska’s Light Conservation Order hunting period here in Nebraska. I can favorably recall each and every experience! I saw huge flocks of light geese. I watched superb dog work. I was fortunate to harvest …

Tomorrow (1/31) marks the final day of the upland bird season in Nebraska for this season.  As mentioned in years past (Last Day 2014; End of Season 2013) I do my best to hunt it.  The reasons are many but it simply boils down to the fact that I want to be there. The day will start too early.  The walking may be too wet or slippery thanks to a front moving through tonight. But it will all end too …

A quick update on our newest hobby – trapping raccoon (A New Addiction Returns).  We hit the second weekend of this new endeavor with lots of enthusiasm and hope.  We had learned a good deal from our first go with it and looked to put this gained knowledge to work.  Armed with twice as many traps (six) we hit the dry creek bottom we had previously. The results were that we learned even more with this second session.  First of …

CHADRON — In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Nebraska reintroduced wild turkeys from other states to its landscape after the big birds had been extirpated decades earlier during the nation’s westward expansion. The reintroduction was so successful that turkeys have again become common border-to-border and Nebraska is now able to return the favor to another state. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission led an effort this week to trap wild turkeys on a ranch near Whiteclay in northern Sheridan …

In my college days I tagged along with a couple of good friends, Scot & Deven, as they worked their trap lines and worked nuisance animal control jobs.  Not only was this a chance to be outdoors with my buddies, it gave me an appreciation for the time and effort they put into the process.  They truly loved the challenge of out-thinking the critters they were after.  It definitely was not the money that kept them interested.  At the time …