Past NEBRASKAland Articles by Topic
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Hunting

Wood Lake
The Sportsman's Gateway

Sportsmen began penetrating the Sandhills interior during the 1880s. As agriculture swept westward across Nebraska and neighboring states, formerly abundant game animals grew increasingly scarce, and competition for them more intense. By the 1890s, hunters and anglers were coming in droves to the pristine Sandhills grasslands. The region remained much as it had always been because ranching was infinitely more compatible sustaining native wildlife than farming. The port-of-entry for sportsmen going to the lake country of eastern Cherry County was the village of Wood Lake. Read More>>

History of Grouse Hunting

The history of grouse and grouse hunting in Nebraska could be a fat book with small type and copious footnotes. It is a story of great abundance, exploitation, grudgingly slow legal protection that was usually no more than political lip service, the methodical destruction of grouse habitat, the species’ retreat to the state’s remaining grasslands, and today, ironically, more grouse to hunt than hunters who want to hunt grouse.

LIVE DECOYS
Before There Were Robo Ducks

November 2010 - Live tame ducks make probably the best decoys to be had for mallard and black-duck shooting, but they are such a nuisance to take care of and transport that they are seldom used in the West. It would almost seem as though they took an especial delight in seeing their kindred killed, from the continuous calling and quacking they keep up whenever a flock of wild ones come in sight; and they seldom call in vain, for on the wild ones hearing them they immediately turn and come in. – American Wild-Fowl Shooting by Joseph W. Long, J.B. Ford And Company, 1874.

Turkey Down the Barrel
"The original story idea was to find at least two teenage turkey hunters who were finding some balance between school, friends, sports and the rest of the long list of pre-adult necessities. Read more >>

Hunting the Home Place
The Colburns ranch has been in the family for more than 100 years, and the opening weekend of the firearm deer season is a family tradition and affair.

Deer 101
Despite what you may have been led to believe, deer hunting with a rifle is not that hard. By following these basic steps there's an excellent chance almost anyone could harvest a deer this year, and there's never been a better time to take up deer hunting in this state.

From the Litter to the Field
Purchasing a puppy is just the start of a new dog owner's commitment. From picking to training, each step must be carefully executed to provide the most reliable companion afield.

Capture the Moment
Planning ahead is the key to better photos of hunter and trophy.

Ducks on the Pond--A Mecca for Waterfowlers
Ever present and accessible, farm ponds are an underutilized resource for today's waterfowlers.

Is Your Dog Nebraska Field Ready?
Don't wait until this fall to start your hunting preparations. In order to make this season a success, follow these simple guidelines to get your dogs ready for the upcoming hunting seasons and to minimize any injuries that might occur in the field.

The Deer of DeSoto
An ongoing study of deer at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge has found that while most whitetails are homebodies, the movement of some have revealed surprises about the population.

Beaver Pond Woodies
"Because of their habits they are not easy ducks to procure with the gun. They are not found frequently on lakes in the daytime, though wild rice will seduce them to the water and keep them there. Generally they are out in the fields or among the nuts, and the hunter who wishes to make a bag of them must find their roosting place." --Sandy Griswold, Omaha World-Herald, June 29, 1919

A Hunter's Bargain
For more than 30 years, the Lions Club in Huntely, Nebraska, population 67, has provided season-long hunting access to tens of thousands of acres of private land in Harlan County for a low, low price.

Ranch-style Duck Hunting
Dave Hintz became John Harm's next door neighbor by chance. It was natural they became hunting and fishing buddies. For almost 10 years they have shared blinds, decoy spreads and blustery mornings when ducks drift south from the Dakotas.

The Rooster's Roller Coaster Ride
Veteran hunters have seen pheasant populations tumble, roar back, decline and recover, but with each cycle the peaks are a little lower and the troughs a little deeper. In Nebraska, the history of the ringneck is the history of agriculture.

Hunting in the Round
Hunters faced with hours of solitude in dark, cramped blinds have devised a host of bizarre inventions to fool ducks and geese, but a few of those ingenious ideas, like the round-bale blind built by four hunters from North Platte, warrant a second look.

Focus on Pheasants
As nearly everyone knows, the current pheasant population in the state is quite low probably the lowest it has been since its establishment in Nebraska. Everyone is concerned about this unhappy situation � Game Commission, hunter and conservationist alike. Most hunters long for "the good old days" of numerous pheasants when they could go out and fill their bag limit in a short time. No doubt many wonder if pheasant hunting will keep on getting poorer or whether someday it will be better.

Electronic Collars
While an inept or curel trainer can abuse a hunting dog with a shock collar, today's remote training technology offers real advantages when used wisely. It allows a hunter to sensitively and immediately correct behavior at a distance and to control how far a dog ranges.

Low-Tech Waterfowling
Some might think of waterfowl hunting as an expensive game requiring costly guns, dogs, blinds and ecoys. But it doesn't have to be. There are plenty of low-cost ways to put a duck or goose in the game bag.

Canada Geese--From Bust to Boom
Hunting opportunities have grown as succesful restoration has brought Canada geese back from the brink of extinction. But today's larger resident flocks also have created problems, and changes in goose management are coming.

The Way Hunting Was
The calls of live decoys brought waterfowl to hunters in the 1920s and 1930s, but Jodi McNell recalls the formidable challenges outdoorsmen faced in that era.