Nebraskaland Magazine

That’s right, I’ll be covering a unique topic this week on my Omaha-based Channel 6 Outdoor Report — Fun golfing opportunities in and near various Nebraska state park lands. I’ll be doing this live with Channel 6 Sports Director Ross Jernstrom at Omaha Country Club during the U.S. Senior Open Championship. Here’s a fella swingin’ away on the golf driving range at Mahoney State Park near Ashland, NE. Miniature golf is fun at Mahoney, too! Find out more by tuning …

We are half way through 2013 already.  I have a few state record applications that have accumulated on my desk, time to tell you about them. Let me start with a couple of European rudd caught from Box Butte Reservoir.  Rudd are an exotic species that are closely related to our native golden shiners.  Rudd were spread across the country a few years back as many bait shops sold them.  We have a healthy population of those baitfish in Box …

Quick blog post to let you know that just yesterday at Lake Halleck in Papillion, 130  really nice 2 to 5 pound channel catfish (see pic below) were stocked from the Game and Parks Commission’s North Platte Fish Hatchery. The fish are just in time for Family Fishing Night which runs from 6-8 p.m. this Thursday evening at the lake! Hope to see you and your family out there! Let’s try to catch some of these beauties! Special thanks to …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The access permit application period for Gifford Point Wildlife Management Area (WMA) deer hunters is July 15-Aug. 15. As many as 200 permits will be issued. Hunters must have at least one of the following valid deer permits to be eligible for an access permit: statewide archery, whitetail statewide buck, muzzleloader, youth or antlerless only Season Choice Wahoo. The access permit allows the holder to take deer with archery equipment from Sept. 15 to Jan. 18 and …

LINCOLN, Neb. – Get an introduction to rifle shooting from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on July 13 at Platte River State Park near Louisville. This First Shots workshop will be held from 9-11 a.m. at the Roger G. Sykes Outdoor Heritage Education Complex. The free workshop is open to the first 20 people ages 11 and up who register at http://www.register-ed.com/events/view/32689. A park entry permit is required. First Shots is a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

There are a bunch of “reality” shows on TV now that feature outdoors-folks doing a variety of wild and crazy things.  Some of those shows are, well, a little too much for me and I question their authenticity (I know it is TV, it is not necessarily “reality”).  Others have what seem to me to be plain ole folks, just like most Nebraskans I know, and I like them a lot better.  Although I will always tell you to get …

As this Independence Day Weekend of 2013 draws to a close, I got to thinking just how much fun spending time in the outdoors really is in summer and how cool the memories are! So, what I’ve decided to do with this blog post, is to share some of our Wagner family photos  (memories) from the weekend spent with my in-laws at their place on Kuesters Lake just east of Grand Island, NE. Here’s a photo of my wife Polly …

LINCOLN, Neb. – A workshop for women to learn or hone shotgunning skills is scheduled for July 13 at Fort Kearney Shooting Sports Complex at 115th and Poole Ave., Kearney. This Beyond Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program will include trap, skeet, 5-stand and sporting clays. The workshop, for women age 16 and older, costs $40 and includes a meal following an afternoon of shooting. Contact Julia Plugge at 402-471-6009 or julia.plugge@nebraska.gov to obtain a registration form or download one at http://www.outdoornebraska.ne.gov/Education/Programs/bow/bow.asp.

LINCOLN, Neb. – The two male and one female peregrine falcons raised at the Nebraska Capitol this year now have an enduring connection to the state where they were hatched and raised. Two contestants submitted the winning entry in the Name the Chick Contest. The names Meadowlark, Goldenrod and Cottonwood were chosen. The names were suggested because they are Nebraska’s state bird, state flower and state tree, respectively. Jeanne Hibbert of Sprague and Willie Braun of Lincoln submitted the winning …

As already noted by others, one of the juvenile falcons got up close and personal with our camera.  The video below captures what you may have missed.