Nebraskaland Magazine

I hope you’re enjoying those Thanksgiving leftovers and getting ready to cheer on the Huskers against the Hawkeyes on the gridiron! Hey, just a reminder that Scheels fishing expert Mike Platt will be joining me tomorrow on Saturday morning’s Great Outdoor Radio Show to talk about ice fishing and holiday gift ideas for the outdoor enthusiast in your family. Here’s Mike on the ice doing what he loves best – catching fish! Mike will also be covering what to get for …

The cold weather has settled in and with it comes Bald Eagles.  Away from reliable winter eagle viewing spots such as Lake Ogallala during the depths of winter, eagle viewing is generally best in Nebraska when large reservoirs and rivers are transitioning from open water to ice and vice versa.   Bald Eagle numbers increase as birds that breed to the north of us are migrating through our state.  Open water “holes” amid the sheet of ice attract and concentrate …

I don’t get nearly as excited as I used to about deer season. Once upon a time, I hunted all day, every day, though the 9 days of rifle season, hoping to find a trophy buck. In recent seasons, my hunts have lasted a few days. The main goal now is to put a little meat in the freezer. It’s not that I’m too old to hunt that hard, although some will grin as they tell me I am. Life …

LINCOLN – Total firearm deer harvest for the nine-day 2013 November firearm season was 36,882, a 21 percent decline from 2012. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission eliminated approximately 87,000 permits and bonus tags in 2013 in response to the epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) outbreak of 2012. A significant reduction in harvest was expected. Harvest totals by Game and Parks district are: Northeast, 9,290; Northwest, 5,705; Southeast, 7,457; and Southwest, 14,430. Details of harvest by sex, species and unit are …

Before I head out the door for the Thanksgiving holiday, let me share some thoughts with you. . . . The holiday feast we are going to celebrate this week is one that is uniquely American.  I will not bore you with all the old stories we learned in school, but it is our history, from the pilgrims to Presidents Washington, Lincoln and FDR this has been designated as a special day set aside for the celebration of harvest and …

To me the week of thanksgiving means chasing pheasant.  And by this time of the season pheasants have become wily critters that make a living…well…staying alive.  In fact, it doesn’t take very long after opening day shots are fired for the roosters to begin to use some crafty ways of dodging the hunter – both two and four-legged.  This holds even more true in years when fewer young pheasants are on the landscape.  This is when a it’s time to …

Two years ago, about this time of year, I had an juvenile Rufous Hummingbird visiting my backyard feeder.  Late November and Nebraska are not the best combination for a hummingbird.  Once this little bird started to struggle and the outlook for its survival over the winter became dim, it was deposited at the Henry Doorly Zoo.  Here, the bird found refuge at the butterfly pavilion. Last week, I was back at the Henry Doorly Zoo.  I inquired whether the little …

I’ll be encouraging you and your family  to take a hike in a state park and work off some of that leftover turkey near the Omaha-metro area on the Thanksgiving Edition of The Weekly Outdoor Report on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News LIVE Thursday on the station’s 6 p.m. (CST) newscast during the sports segment with Greg Ortiz. You could hike up to this scenic vista located at what state park land? Any guesses? Here’s another hint for you. Figured it …

Though the weather has turned colder now, the fishing action has remained hot. The water temperatures have varied anywhere from 41 to 46 in the areas we’ve been fishing, but the fish have yet to slow down. At the Tri County canal system, the saugers are gathered in somewhat predictable areas and definitely stocking up for winter. We found them in water from 12 to 30 foot deep. With the water temps down to 41 degrees, it’s safe to say …