How To

As I pointed out in a 2012 Blog,  tomorrow (10/25) marks the beginning of a new year for many upland bird hunters.  And according to the 2014 Upland Game Outlook we can expect to do a bit better than last year, especially with quail.  I hope this an upward trend that continues for some time – suitable habitat and weather being the limiting factors – and know I am not alone. I am a bird hunter, with a slight bias …

Let me give you an update on some of what I have been up to lately. . . . I was once again honored to participate in our annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BO-W) workshop held at the 4-H camp in Halsey.  I was the instructor for our basic fishing and bow-fishing classes and one of the instructors for our on-pond fishing session.  Let me give you an idea of my schedule for that weekend, what I did, and show some pictures. …

It happens just about every year.  The ducks that are around have been around for a while and they seem to have it all figured out.  They not only avoid your decoys, many disappear during shooting hours and those that stick around land on the wrong side of the pond. Some call it the October Lull.  But all of us wildfowlers grumble bad words as we watch our lonely dekes bobbing in the water. We try our best to derive …

Our family fishing events have been very popular and successful.  All of those events have been held during the summer in recent years until now!  We are hosting some fall family fishing events specifically highlighting the fall put & take trout fishing opportunities around the state. The rainbow trout that have been stocked in those waters mentioned above are almost always willing to bite, and it is a great time to be in Nebraska’s outdoors.  Grab the kids and GO …

You can see the October 2014 issue of NEBRSAKAland on-line right now! Again you will find that issue packed, in fact it is so packed that it is 74 pages long! As the cover shows there is a special section on waterfowl hunting, and I want to point out a story about the “Trout in the Classroom” program. And a story on preparing and eating crawfish, and a memorable Nebraska elk hunt, lots of excellent pictures and a whole lot …

We hunters are continually in search of tips and secrets that will help out in the pursuit of our prey.  We read articles, watch videos, talk to biologists and listen to experienced hunters.  There are many great sources of good information.  There is also a lot of misinformation out there.  Some are Old Hunter Tales, others are often repeated myths and a few simply outright lies. I have several people to thank for getting me into duck hunting.  Rhett was …

Well, it rained again here in Lincoln last night–A LOT.  Pretty sure these tips are going to be relevant for a lot of waters in Nebraska in the next few days. . . . First of all, high and rising water tends to move fish towards the banks, up into newly flooded habitat.  In some cases the fish will move right to the water’s edge even though that edge might now be a lot farther up the bank. With heavy …

Fall flowers are in full bloom in the wild places and in our gardens, the cicadas have ceased their droning in the trees while late nectaring bumble bees and butterflies are still active on fall favorites like asters, tall sedums and goldenrods. Not too far around the corner are much cooler temperatures and late fall garden clean up. After a frost there will be leaves to rake, grasses and perennials to cut back and downed limbs to pick up left …

Youth-only waterfowl seasons are nothing new.  They have been around for about a decade and a half.  I took part almost religiously for the first half of their existence, thanks largely to my involvement with the local Ducks Unlimited chapter and my excitement for being in the marsh.  Though, my interest in the special event has not waned, my fall work obligations have all but kept me from taking part.  Not this year.  This year will be different…in more than …

I’m hearing from a few reservoirs around the state that the fall pattern is starting to show itself. Slabs and blade baits are producing some fish once in a while, and it’ll only improve. Big Mac remains slow from what I’ve heard from numerous friends. A blade bait did produce a 63 pound flathead for my friends at Sherman Reservoir last week, though. What a blast that had to be! Elwood is still a bit behind, it seems. We looked …