The season for gratitude and reflection is upon us. Thanksgiving week is when we remind our families, friends and close associates how much they mean to us and express our sincere appreciation for what positive things we have been given in life. While you are considering what you are thankful for, don’t forget nature. During the nine days of the recent firearm deer hunting season here in Cornhusker State, I selected a dozen key elements to be extremely grateful for …

Nebraska’s most popular hunt is the 9-day firearm deer season (Nov. 14 through Nov. 22). This is one of the absolute best times of year to be outside and participate in it with the deer breeding period called “rut” happening. My lovely wife of well over 30 years, Polly Wagner, says that everything comes to a grinding halt in the Wagner family with the “rifle deer season.” It’s a terrific event, though. For many of us in the hunting lifestyle, …

The deer harvested by a hunter prompted celebration but other hunters on social media certainly did not think so. You see, it was a smaller, younger white-tailed buck. It was a beautiful animal and a great photo of the proud hunter and his deer. I was one of the initial people to “like” the post on Facebook. However, it did not take long for the naysayers to chastise and ridicule the individual for shooting a basket-racked buck. Seriously? A trophy …

You are a deer hunter and you’re mentoring a new, young hunter in the field. The young deer hunter has just successfully shot their first deer. Congratulations! Knuckle bumps and high fives! Now, the opportunity is there for you to photographically capture the moment with the young hunter and their deer for all your friends and family members to see and to upload a pic to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s website for the Take ‘Em Hunting challenge and …

Someone once said: “Deer hunting is a lot about nothing.” “Nothing,” really? In my view, that statement is so far from the truth. It is the time of year for archery deer hunters and soon, firearm deer hunters, to be on their stands or in their blinds all day long, up to 12 hours. During his time off, Nebraska Conservation Officer Rich Berggren of Waterloo allows a photo to be taken before he enters his muzzleloader deer hunting season blind in …

Hunting public lands. It can be a real challenge. Why? In a state like Nebraska the overwhelming majority of our total land acreage is privately owned (97%) with only a small percentage of it open to the public (3%). However, Nebraska’s array of public lands offer a wide variety of opportunities for hunting different game species. And there is some good news. John Laux, Upland Habitat and Access Program Manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Wildlife Division, points …

It’s a magical time of year, really. As daylight wanes, the temperature begins to drop, frost appears on the pumpkin, leaves turn color and start toppling to the ground, and experienced bowhunters know the deer rut or breeding period is beginning. Buck rubs on trees and scrapes on the ground are apparent. A buck rub on an eastern cedar tree in rural Sarpy County, NE. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Deer movement is picking up and the …

It’s the month for pumpkin-spiced everything. It’s the month for Halloween decorations and candy galore. It’s the month when campfires are prevalent in the rings of state parks and recreation areas. It’s the month for the crop harvest in Nebraska. And, it’s the month when leaves turn color here in the Cornhusker State. Eastern cottonwood tree leaves beginning to turn their pretty yellow color along the Platte River in southern Sarpy County, NE. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks …

If you are a white-tailed deer hunter, you are going to see them. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually. I am referring to wild turkeys. Even mule deer hunters will see flocks of wild turkeys in farm or ranch yards, patches of woods, creek bottoms and shelterbelts. The question for you, the Nebraska deer hunter, remains: Have you purchased a fall wild turkey hunting permit? If the answer is no then why have you not bought that permit yet? …

The days are getting shorter. The morning air is becoming crisper. Nature’s color show is just starting. The forest floor is beginning to be saturated with early autumn leaf matter as well as something else — nuts! Freshly fallen black walnuts on the forest floor along a creek bottom in southeastern Nebraska woodlands. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. One of the reasons to take a long walk in the woods during autumn is to gather some delicious, …