What can I say? I kinda like her. She was a little roughened up last year and she has a sketchy history, but she still looks great. Considering that my wife is probably reading this, I’d better explain. I’m talking about Crow Butte – a true jewel of the Pine Ridge and an object of my affection. One of our jobs as members of the magazine staff is to produce pretty photographs – it’s an exciting but intimidating task when …

The opportunity to get up close with Nebraska’s wildlife is a key incentive that attracted me to this job. Ordinarily, for me, bringing the wildlife closer is a feat aided by the use of a long telephoto lens. Last week, however, I got close enough to the live version of Nebraska’s largest big game animal that I didn’t need any magnification to get a good look. Todd Nordeen of Alliance, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission district wildlife manager, invited me …

I have a lot of ice fishing gear. I’ll admit it, I’m a junkie. Too many hours have been spent perusing catalogs and the Internet for the latest and greatest tools to get fish from one side of the ice to the other. Whether my purchases have resulted in more success can be debated. If I had to name the most valuable piece of equipment in my arsenal, it wouldn’t be the portable shanty, gas drill or electronic fishfinder that …

Getting my feet on the ground has always been important to me. Many of my most enjoyable experiences begin by stretching my legs over Nebraska’s magnificent landscape, whether I’m hiking the trails of Chadron State Park, launching my kayak for an afternoon of fishing at Carter P. Johnson Lake, flushing a rooster pheasant in Sheridan County, or wedging sand between my toes at Bridgeport State Recreation Area. Last week, however, I worked at getting my feet on the ground in …