LINCOLN – Nebraska pheasant hunting opportunities in 2014 should be on par with last year or slightly better, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s upland game hunting outlook.
The consensus among Game and Parks’ field staff is that habitat conditions have improved across most of the state, providing suitable nesting and brood-rearing habitat for pheasants. However, spring storms seem to have negatively impacted pheasant hatch. Replacement nests for those lost to these early storms might yet compensate for some of the losses.
Pheasant populations are beginning to recover from the drought of 2012-2013. The southwest and Panhandle regions should have the best hunting opportunities. The abundance of pheasants in the southwest should be similar to 2013 but still lower than before the drought. Habitat loss in the eastern part of the state continues to be a concern, particularly east of U.S. Highway 81.
The outlook is based on spring and summer upland game surveys, and conditions reported by biologists. Regional weather events that could impact populations are considered.
Bobwhite quail abundance was higher across the state based on surveys and field observations. Southeast Nebraska, especially Johnson, Pawnee and Richardson counties, should offer the best opportunities for hunting quail, but conditions should be good rangewide.
Abundance of grouse is higher in the Sandhills and central part of the state than in any other region and is higher than 2013 in both regions. Cottontail abundance is higher overall than in 2013, with the highest abundance in the northeast and central parts of the state, where the best hunting opportunities should exist.
To view the full report, visit OutdoorNebraska.org, then click on Hunting, Upland Game, and Forecast.
Tag: Nebraska Game and Parks
Nebraska Game and Parks Issues Pheasant Outlook
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska game officials say pheasant hunting in the state this year should be on a par with last year or slightly better.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s upland game hunting outlook says habitat conditions have improved across most of the state. But spring storms seem to have harmed the pheasant hatch. Pheasant populations are beginning to recover from the drought of 2012-2013.
The commission says bobwhite quail numbers are up across the state, and the number of grouse is higher in the sandhills and central part of the state than in any other region.
To view the full report, go online at OutdoorNebraska.org and click on Hunting, Upland Game, and Forecast.
Dove Hunting Season Just Around Corner
LINCOLN – Dove hunting season begins soon and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has some reminders for those hunters, as well as recommendations for areas to hunt.
Doves may be hunted statewide. The season is Sept. 1-Oct. 30, with daily bag and possession limits of 15 and 30, respectively. Bag limits are for mourning, white-winged and Eurasian collared doves in aggregate.
Nebraska residents 16 years and older and all nonresidents are required to have a valid Nebraska hunting permit, habitat stamp and Harvest Information Program (HIP) number. Register at nehip.com, OutdoorNebraska.org/HIP, at any Game and Parks district office or by phone at 1-877-NEHUNTS. Hunter education certification is required for some hunters.
Dove hunters who find a leg band on a dove should contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banding office at 1-800-327-BAND or report it at reportband.gov. In addition, randomly selected hunters will be asked to save one wing from each dove during the first week of the season and mail the wings postage-free to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sunflower, millet or wheat, which generally provides good dove-hunting opportunities, have been planted at the following wildlife management areas (WMA) across the state. Planting and weather conditions may have reduced seed production in some plots:
North-central – Pine Glen, Thomas Creek, Bobcat, Plum Creek, Calamus Reservoir and Myrtle Hall
Northeast – Oak Valley, Wood Duck, Black Island, George Syas, Don Dworak and Elk Point Bend
Southeast – Branched Oak, Yankee Hill, Little Salt Creek West, Olive Creek, Little Salt Creek, Helmuth, Wildwood, Pawnee, Twin Lakes, Stagecoach, Osage, Kansas Bend, Peru Bottoms, Schilling, Rake’s Creek and Tobacco Island
Southwest – Cedar Valley, Wapiti, Clear Creek, Red Willow, Medicine Creek, Swanson Reservoir and Enders
South-central – Alexandria, Alexandria SW, Flathead, Little Blue, Little Blue East, Rose Creek, Rose Creek West, Arrowhead, Diamond Lake, Divorky Acres, Dry Sandy, Meridian and Sacramento-Wilcox
No fields were planted specifically for doves at Panhandle WMAs, but Buffalo Creek, Bordeaux Creek, Chadron Creek and Cedar Canyon provide good hunting opportunities around ponds or water sites.
Other WMAs throughout the state can provide good dove hunting opportunities, depending on local conditions. Contact the nearest Game and Parks office for area-specific information.
Eurasian collared doves may be harvested Oct. 31-Aug. 31. The daily bag and possession limits are 15 and 30, respectively.
Game and Parks, UNL to Survey Hunters About Public Land Use in Nebraska
LINCOLN – This fall the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Nebraska will begin a three-year survey of hunters who use public lands in Nebraska.
Beginning Sept. 1, hunters at wildlife management areas or private lands enrolled in the Open Fields and Waters program may be approached by UNL researchers or Game and Park staff, who will ask a series of questions about their hunting experiences. Game and Parks will use insights gained from the surveys to improve opportunities and access on existing public hunting lands, as well as to help guide future land purchases. Hunters’ participation in the survey is voluntary, but they are encouraged to share their experiences and opinions.
“Hunters are important conservation partners, and we want to ensure that they have ample hunting opportunities in Nebraska,” said Karie Decker, assistant wildlife division administrator for Game and Parks. “Learning more about how hunters use and perceive public lands is a critical component of making sure our hunters have quality places to hunt.”
The research is funded by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Restoration Grant administered by Game and Parks. More information on the project is available at FishHunt.unl.edu.
Archery Deer Season Opens Earlier in 2014
LINCOLN – Archery deer hunting season opens Sept. 1 in Nebraska.
The early opener was requested by archery hunters to allow hunting of deer when bucks are still in velvet. Opening day had been Sept. 15 for the past 35 years.
“For those who don’t mind hunting what could be warm days, with lots of leafy vegetation, this is a good time to be out in the woods, when hunter numbers can be expected to be low,” said Kit Hams, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s big game program manager.
The archery deer season runs through Dec. 31. Archery permits are valid statewide, with restrictions, and unlimited in number. The permit bag limit is one deer of any kind. To purchase permits or view the 2014 Big Game Guide, visit OutdoorNebraska.org.
Meat Processors for Hunters Helping the Hungry
LINCOLN – Twenty-one meat processors will participate in the 2014 Hunters Helping the Hungry program. Administered by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Hunters Helping the Hungry provides ground venison to Nebraskans in need.
Deer hunters may donate deer at any contracted Hunters Helping the Hungry processor beginning with the start of the archery season on Sept. 1, 2014. The most up-to-date list of processors accepting deer for the program will be available at OutdoorNebraska.org/HHH.
Participating meat processors include Amherst – Belschner Custom Meats Inc.; Bayard – Bayard Processing; Bridgeport – KDK Meats LLC; Broken Bow – Broken Bow Pack; Elwood – SteakMaster Inc.; Franklin – Franklin Locker; Humphrey – Country Butcher; Johnson – Pelican’s Meat Processing; Lindsay – Melcher’s Locker; North Bend – Bob’s Custom Meats LLC; North Platte – Kelley’s Custom Pack LLC; Oakland – Oakland Processing; Omaha – B. I. G. Meats Inc., Stoysich House of Sausage; Orleans – Harlan County Meat Processors; Oxford – Oxford Locker Inc.; Panama – Panama Locker; Ralston – Van Fleet Meats; Table Rock – Den’s Country Meats; Ulysses – The Butchery; Wahoo – Wahoo Locker.
Founded in 2012, Hunters Helping the Hungry is allows hunters to donate deer at participating processors. The deer is processed into ground venison, which is then distributed to food pantries and soup kitchens. The processing is paid for entirely by donations. Learn more about this unique program at OutdoorNebraska.org/HHH or contact Teresa Lombard at 402-471-5430 or [email protected].
Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners Open Entire State to Teal Hunting
LINCOLN – All of Nebraska will be open for teal hunting in 2014. The Nebraska Game and Parks Board of Commissioners adopted changes to teal and youth waterfowl hunting seasons at their meeting July 11 at Niobrara State Park (SP).
The commissioners created new zone boundaries. The High Plains Zone encompasses the western half of the state and the Low Plains Zone the eastern half. Previously, teal hunting was generally restricted to the southern half of the state.
The 2014 season dates for teal hunting are Sept. 6-21 in the Low Plains Zone andSept. 6-14 in the High Plains Zone.
Commissioners also set the youth waterfowl season in each of four zones for theSaturday and Sunday immediately preceding the start of the regular duck and merganser season.
The season dates for the regular duck and merganser season, as well as other waterfowl, will be determined at the commissioners’ Aug. 29 meeting in Grand Island.
In other business, the commissioners:
– Set new prices for several nonresident permits: deer, $214; statewide buck only deer, $535; season choice antlerless only deer, $60; special antlerless only deer, $60; landowner deer, $107; turkey, $95; and landowner turkey, $47.50. The corresponding resident permit prices will remain the same.
– Added language for the eligibility of fall youth turkey hunters to match the requirements for spring youth turkey hunters. Youth must be age 15 and under, except youth age 16 may hunt on youth fall turkey permits provided they are age 15 both when they apply and on the opening day of the season.
– Passed a regulation to ban the possession or use of explosive or incendiary targets while target shooting on wildlife management areas.
The lottery drawings for the two Super Tag multi-species permits also were held at the meeting. Kay Wagner of Petersburg, Neb., won the single-entry Super Tag permit while Jennifer Simons of Atlantic, Iowa, won the multiple-entry Super Tag permit. On July 9, Game and Parks electronically drew the winners of the Combo multi-species permits. Bryce Hanson of Lincoln won the resident permit and Christie Berg of Logan, Kan., won the nonresident Combo permits.
The Super Tag and Combo permits are valid in 2014 and 2015. The Super Tag bag limit is one elk, one antelope, one deer and two turkeys. The Combo bag limit is one antelope, one deer and two turkeys. The permits are valid in open seasons with appropriate weapons.
There were 920 entries in the Super Tag single-entry lottery ($25 application fee). In the Super Tag multiple-entry lottery, 807 people submitted 1,581 applications at $10 each (1,117 resident and 464 nonresident applications). Thirty people applied 10 or more times in the multiple-entry lottery.
There were 359 entries for the resident Combo permit and 217 for the nonresident Combo permit. Each entry had a $10 fee.
Niobrara SP superintendent Mark Rettig and office clerk Connie Kemp received enterprise awards for their youth outreach efforts through the park’s annual Outdoor Educational Rendezvous. This year’s event was held in May.
Game and Parks Accepting Grant Applications for Outdoor Projects
LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is accepting grant applications for parks, pools and other outdoor recreation facilities.
The grants are funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a program administered by the National Park Service for outdoor recreation projects. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, baseball fields, soccer fields, swimming pools, picnicking facilities, playgrounds, park acquisition and development, shelter houses and related support facilities. All projects must encourage outdoor recreation. Project sponsors must be political subdivisions. LWCF provides reimbursable matching grants for up to 50 percent of the project costs.
Nebraska has received $484,258 from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the LWCF for 2015 and more than $45 million since 1965.
The LWCF was established by Congress in 1964 to ensure access to outdoor recreation resources for present and future generations and to provide money to governments to purchase land, water and wetlands to benefit all. The primary source of revenue for the LWCF is from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Contact Craig Wacker at 402-471-5424 or [email protected] to request an application form, instructions and additional information. Grant applications must be submitted by Oct 1. Information and applications also are available athttp://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/
Family Fishing Event at Merritt Reservoir on July 26
LINCOLN – A family fishing event, hosted by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Nebraska Walleye Association (NWA), is scheduled for July 26 at Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area.
This event, scheduled for 4-7 p.m. at Bead’s Landing, is free for all families. Park entry and fishing permits are required.
Anyone can come and learn to fish, as loaner equipment and bait will be available. Staff from Game and Parks as well as the NWA will be on hand to assist anglers.
Participants may come early and watch the weigh-ins for two fishing tournaments held that day: the state high school fishing tournament at 1:15 p.m. and an NWA tournament at 2 p.m.
Merritt Reservoir is located 28 miles south of Valentine in Cherry County. Contact Larry Pape for details at [email protected].
Nebraska Youth Waterfowl Regulations May Change
NIOBRARA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will consider changes to youth waterfowl and early teal season regulations at the commission’s meeting in Niobrara.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Friday at the Niobrara State Park group lodge, 89261 522 Ave.
The commissioners also will consider increasing the cost of some nonresident deer and turkey permits and passing a regulation that would ban the possession or use of explosive or incendiary targets while target shooting in wildlife management areas.