Are you feeling stuck inside your house with not much to do? Do you have wild game meat in your freezer? Good. Time to get a little “wild” and cook some! With so many options for cooking cuts of wild game meat, it can sure be difficult for the inexperienced cook to know where to start, right? No matter what the scenario is, any professional chef or wild game processor will tell you there is nothing magical or mystical about …

As avid spring wild turkey hunters, we possess a major advantage over other outdoor enthusiasts: We know what it feels like to be completely isolated, and to be alone, most notably in a turkey hunting blind for hours. As Henry David Thoreau once said: “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” For us hunters, we are used to sitting alone in different blinds quietly for long periods of time with our thoughts, waiting for a moment …

Coronavirus concerns have you pretty much confined to your home. You’re tired of sitting around the house.  Perhaps you have even been a little cabin feverish as of late. Don’t fall into despair. The lawns are greening. The flowers will soon be blooming. And the trees will be budding before you know it. But, let me ask you a question: Did you know you that you may have food growing right under your feet in your yard, lot, garden, acreage …

Though we are in uncharted territory with COVID-19 regarding advisories and mandates, truly there is no better place to gain easy personal solitude or social distancing from the virus than in nature! All state park area grounds are open! They are not closed! They remain open to you for all sorts of outdoor pursuits – Sightseeing, picnicking, running, hiking, biking, camping, wildlife watching, fishing, mushroom hunting, etc. The Cowboy Trail is also open for use. Enjoying time in our state …

There are green shoots of grass growing in the front yard of my Omaha lawn. The sandhill crane migration is nearing its peak in Nebraska’s central Platte River valley. Wild turkeys are entering their breeding phase on our family farm in southeast Nebraska. Oh, and what about the fish that swim where I fish? Hmmm … Are they biting? Spring. It may or may not be here on the calendar just yet, but the time for early spring fishing has …

Nebraska’s popular archery spring wild turkey hunting season is just around the corner It opens on March 25. And, seemingly a growing number of hunters (like myself) have added another piece of legal archery equipment to their repertoire — the modern crossbow. The increasing popularity of crossbows for hunting and harvesting game is even showing up in Game and Parks surveys. Some folks will be quick to let you know that a crossbow or arbalest is a firearm. That is …

*Blogger’s Note: Since I am receiving a lot of requests for corned meat recipes and because Saint Patrick’s Day is just around the bend, I am bringing back my blog about corning beef and wild game. I hope you find it informative and have the time to try one of these delicious recipes. I raise my glass to you and exclaim: “Sláinte!” (slawn-cha), which is an Irish Gaelic term meaning “health.” Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! GW. Saint Patrick’s Day is one …

As a conservation professional, I get sick and tired of people calling snow and Ross’s geese nasty nicknames and saying that they are downright unfit to eat. Look, they are not “sky carp,” “lutefisk with feathers,” “an over-cooked catcher’s mitt,” “rats with white feathers,” or “trash birds.” No, not by a long shot!  Your blogger displays snow geese harvested during a recent Light Goose Conservation Order hunt in south-central Nebraska. Photo by Jim Druliner of Omaha, NE. They are classified …

I am sharing some broadcast news related to Nebraska’s outdoor scene with you this week. Regarding my weekly television appearance about outdoors-related activities and destinations, that can now be seen on Omaha’s ABC news affiliate KETV NewsWatch 7 and www.KETV.com between 8 and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings with popular  TV anchor/host, John Oakey. Called the “Great Outdoors,” this segment represents a fresh, new visual approach to letting you know about various outdoor news items and features around the Omaha-metro …

A wildlife biologist I knew used tell me that to be an effective shed deer antler hunter, you must know white-tailed deer biology and “think like a buck.” I get the biology part, but “think like a buck? Hmmm … Luke Meduna who’s the Big Game Program Manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, responds to that shed antler hunting strategy by saying: “Yes, to be successful, a shed deer antler hunter needs to think like a buck, but …