In The Wild

The holiday season is upon us and the arrival of 2024 is just around the bend. The holiday period with the new year beckoning gives us a segue to pause and reset, recharge and re-focus our energies. In all sincerity, this season coupled with the new year allows us to curb our bad habits, improve ourselves, change our outlook on life to a positive one and see how we can make a difference. As avid outdoors-persons, this time of year …

I treasure my time spent alone in nature or in a rural setting, especially this time of year in Nebraska. If I don’t get some alone time in the great outdoors, I end up getting a little restless, grumpy and cabin fever-like (just ask my wife, Polly). Alone time is essential with the hustle and bustle of the season and all that is happening in this world. Sure, it is safer and more fun to share your outdoor adventures with …

It is the late period for deer hunting now and things can sure get tougher. In fact, things can even get tougher than they were during the regular firearm deer hunting season. After all, the rigors of the rut are pretty much over. But don’t put away your gear! Hear me out. I want to use a football analogy that many of you who hunt deer will understand when it comes to the late-season. For a football team, it is …

The holiday season is upon us and it’s filled with many hunting traditions as family and friends get together, especially in waterfowl hunting blinds. For most of us, hunting is about much more than a successful harvest. It’s about spending time afield bonding with family and friends, watching the sunrise over a river wetland on a crisp morning or watching the sunset from a harvested cornfield on a warm, windy, brisk evening, plus having exciting stories to tell when you …

I know it sounds cliché, but I’ll be the first to admit it. As a hardcore outdoor enthusiast, finding a holiday gift for me is a difficult task. In fact, whether you hunt, trap, fish, boat, kayak, camp, backpack, hike, bike or watch wildlife, I bet you are also in the hard-to-buy-for category. Am I right? We are a picky lot, aren’t we? We are a detailed bunch. We know what we need and desire to have. And what the …

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 about Nebraska’s outdoor scene. During the nine days of the recent firearm deer hunting season here in Cornhusker State, I selected thirteen key elements to be very  …

The morning air is crisp and cold. The stalks of corn stubble and hardwood trees along the river bottom stand as stalwarts; motionless and silent. The scene offers a picturesque postcard setting against the slowly lightening predawn sky. An emerging mid-November sunrise on a firearm deer hunt along the Elkhorn River in southeastern Nebraska. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission The sounds of wildlife awakening for the day can now be heard along the river bottom. A raucous calamity of crows is off in the distance. Two fox squirrels …

As Nebraska’s largest hunt by participation – the firearm deer hunting season – comes into view from Nov. 11-19, visions of antlers and venison tenderloins can make the mind wander a bit. So before you take to your stand or blind, please read over these deer hunting safety tips and regulation reminders to keep yourself focused, safe, ethical and within the rules. With 44 years at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and as a rural land manager and longtime …

One would think in this age of cell phone and digital cameras that it would be pretty easy for hunters to get a good quality photo of them with their harvested deer. But, think again. Whether it is the excitement of the moment or the rush to get the animal field dressed, many hunters just flat out fail to successfully capture the cool hunting images of the day. The opportunity is there though for you to properly document the moment …

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 season is underway. 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 …