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NEBRASKAland Magazine

Published by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission since 1926, NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to an engaging mix of outstanding photography and informative writing, highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parks, wildlife, history and people.

She Goes Outdoors Podcast: Last-Minute Gift Ideas

Still looking for the perfect gift for the special outdoor enthusiast in your life? Or need to burn money or a gift card on yourself? Your favorite SGO hosts list their top gift ideas. Also, hear what the SGO Facebook followers want from Santa! She Goes Outdoors Podcast · Last Minute Gift Ideas About She Goes Outdoors: Join a team of all-female hosts from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa to learn a little, laugh a lot and get inspired to get …

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Animal Communication

Secret messages in the natural world By Amber Schiltz, Education Assistant Division Administrator  Communication is how living creatures, including humans and other animals, share information. As humans, we share information with one another in many obvious ways, such as talking, texting or writing. We also communicate through less obvious ways, through music, body language, signals, pictures, other artwork and more. As social creatures, communication is one of our strong suites as a species. But did you know that other animals …

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Hunting Season Habitat Management

By Jeff Kurrus and Gerry Steinauer You can’t hunt every day of the hunting season, although some wives claim some years we try. To keep you occupied on the days you don’t hunt, the following are a few ideas for hunting season habitat management. Maintaining Treeless Grasslands Game birds, such as pheasants, quail and prairie grouse, prefer open, treeless grasslands. One simple, sure-fire fall or winter management practice to improve game bird habitat is cutting eastern red-cedars, from saplings to …

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Elk Creek Curling

Story and photos by Jeff Kurrus There is a long list of ways to raise money. In the outdoor world, it’s often banquets, auctions or raffles. Others host fishing tournaments, shoots or competitions like one-box hunts. One Johnson County resident, however, came up with an entirely different plan to raise money to support his community. Arlen Beethe, with the support of the Elk Creek Men’s Club, had a thought: Why not introduce a 16th century game made popular in Europe, …

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You Can Hike Anytime

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist For many hikers, spring or fall is the prime time to be out in nature. But the truth is, anytime is a good time to be outside — even in the winter! As the days get shorter and the weather gets more iffy, it’s easy to lose motivation to get outside. While hunkering down in front of a TV might seem like the more attractive thing to do, know that hiking in the winter …

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Invitations to Nature

“Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable. I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours. Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds, until the foxes …

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Look Out for Birds’ Nests!

A few common birds’ nests in Nebraska By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist I’m sure all of us have seen a bird’s nest before. It’s normally a conglomeration of sticks, mud, twine, leaves and sometimes trash, like wrappers or old fishing line. Whatever the material it’s constructed from, a bird’s nest is truly an amazing feat of engineering. Imagine your own home: It’s strong enough to weather a storm, it’s waterproof, it protects you from the cold and the heat, …

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Nebraska’s Civil War Flags

By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska As we’ve just celebrated another Veterans Day, here are three flags belonging to the first soldiers to formally represent Nebraska in the U.S. Army. Nebraska Territory had only about 9,000 men of military age when the Civil War began, but it sent more than 3,000 of them into the Union armies. The First Nebraska Infantry Regiment fought in two major battles in 1862, playing a crucial role at the Battle of Fort Donelson and …

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The Hibernation Checklist

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist I’m sure some of us can think of nothing better to do in the winter than sleeping through the entire thing. Being able to avoid the cold and early darkness in the warmth and comfort of bed sounds just about perfect. Well, some animals do sleep all winter, but it’s much different than what we’d imagine for ourselves. Hibernation takes a lot of preparation, and it’s an often-misunderstood behavior in animals. There are very …

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Plus the Trout

By Jeff Kurrus Fall stockings of put-and-take rainbow trout draw anglers out of the house for a holiday season meal, but where this autumn ritual gets really interesting are those lakes where top-notch fisheries already exist. There, you’ll have no idea what’s fighting on the other end of the line. Lakes Grove Lake — The trophy northern pike in this northeastern Nebraska lake near Royal are just as excited about fall trout stockings as anglers, and as they put on …

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