NGPC News

LINCOLN, Neb. – Busy schedules around the holidays can make it easy to forget to purchase Nebraska Game and Parks Commission permits for the new year. Nov. 1 is the time to start buying 2020 annual hunting, fishing, fur harvest and park permits. While buying a permit for yourself, consider purchasing one as a holiday gift for a friend or family member. These permits are valid Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2020. Age and residency restrictions apply to some permits. Stamps also …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Enjoy browsing through beautiful handcrafted art or begin your Christmas shopping early at the River Valley Artisans and Craft Market Nov. 2-3 at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park. This event is a showcase for handmade items of various kinds. Vendors will show wood kitchenware, wood furniture, wood plaques, goat milk soap, handmade lotions and bath bombs, mixed media art, oil paintings, beef jerky, tea samples, glass art, metal art, sewing crafts, purses, mittens, scarves, jewelry and handmade …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is seeking input on potential changes to duck zone and goose unit boundaries for the 2021-2022 hunting seasons. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) allows changes to duck zone boundaries every five years, and Game and Parks has paired this with dark (Canada) goose unit boundary changes. Duck zones and goose units provide an opportunity to coordinate duck and goose migration patterns and hunter preferences with hunting season dates for …

LINCOLN, Neb. – A 9-year-old novice shooter from Broken Bow is the first youth to complete a Nebraska Duck Slam. Cooper Loughran may be a beginning shooter, but he has been hanging out in the blind with his dad, Matt, since he was an infant. “As a dad, hunting is about teaching him things I didn’t know at 9 years old,” Matt Loughran said. “I love helping him and guiding him through his hunting career. He’s asking lots of questions, …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Deer are more active this time of the fall. Crops are being harvested and deer breeding season is in full swing. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has suggestions to help drivers avoid deer-vehicle accidents and lessen the risk of injury or vehicle damage. — During the breeding season, bucks become more active searching for does with which to breed. Bucks are bolder, less wary and more susceptible to collisions with vehicles. Deer movement peaks each day …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Youth are invited to enter the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Kayak Kid Essay Competition for the chance to win an outdoors prize package. The contest requires a handwritten 250-word essay expressing why growing up in the outdoors is important. Entries must include a photo of the essay writer at one of the southwest region parks or reservoirs, including Johnson Lake, Elwood Reservoir, Gallagher Canyon Reservoir, Lake Maloney, Sutherland Reservoir, Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park and …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Youth ages 15 and younger are encouraged to participate in the statewide youth pheasant, quail and partridge season on Oct. 19-20. The Take ’Em Hunting Challenge encourages hunters to take a pledge to introduce someone new to hunting, and this season provides an excellent opportunity to mentor new hunters. Rooster pheasants will be released on 14 wildlife management areas (WMA) before the 2019 youth season. Special youth hunts will be held only on these WMAs. These special …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Help preserve the monarch butterfly by planting milkweed. Free milkweed pods are available through the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission while supplies last. The milkweed pods, seeding instructions and monarch educational information will be available while supplies last at Game and Parks’ Northeast District Office, 2201 N. 13th St. in Norfolk. Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch. This means monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed and milkweed is the only plant monarch caterpillars will eat. …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Joseph Hart is the first hunter to complete the inaugural Nebraska Duck Slam. “I think this is cool,” said the 21-year-old electrician from Bellevue. “I love to go duck hunting with my dad. We just hunt. We go after what is available.” The Nebraska Duck Slam challenges hunters to harvest a teal (blue-winged or green-winged) of either sex, as well as drakes of three other species: an American wigeon, a mallard and a northern pintail. All ducks …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Wheat and milo stubble left tall after harvest provides habitat for wildlife from late summer through winter. These fields that are open to public hunting access are detailed in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s 2019-2020 Stubble Access Guide. Tall, undisturbed stubble has been shown to provide multiple benefits to pheasants, quail and other wildlife. Many of these fields include pockets containing dense cover that are unable to be farmed and often are underutilized by hunters. Tall …