Volume 88, Issue 8, 2010
October 2010
- Identifier:
- nela.2010_088_08
- Title:
- Volume 88, Issue 8, 2010
- Issue Name:
- October 2010
- Date Issued:
- 2010-10-01
- year:
- 2010
- month:
- October
- Season:
- Autumn
- PDF filename:
- NL_88.08_2010_Oct_Spreads_Entire.pdf
- Publisher:
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Format:
- Periodical
- volume:
- 088
- issue:
- 08
- number:
- 088.08
- Decade:
- 2010s
- Type:
- Rights Holder:
- Copyright Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, all rights reserved.
- Extracted Text:
-
Mike Livingston of Lincoln and “Jag,” a yellow Labrador, watch intently as a flock of mallards returns to
a warmwater slough from a nearby cornfield in Knox County. Photo by Doug Steinke.
Volume 88, Number 8, October 2010
14 Is It History Yet?
The 1960s was a pivotal decade in waterfowl hunting as old
ways and equipment were abandoned and new technology
introduced. Camouflaged clothing replaced duck-brown
hunting coats and plastic replaced paper-hull shotshells and
papier mâché decoys. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JON FARRAR
20 Ride West!
Nebraska’s Pine Ridge has some of the best mountain biking
in the nation. BY HOPE SCHEIMO
24 Autumn – Choose Wisely
The question is not if you should be outside during what
could be Nebraska’s most enjoyable outdoor month, but
what you should do once you’re there. BY JEFF KURRUS
30 Return to the Plains – Elk Comeback Not Yet Finished
Not long after elk returned to Nebraska in the Pine Ridge in
the late 1960s, the species survived a move to eliminate
them. In the years since, elk have flourished there and
reclaimed more of their former range, begging the question:
How many elk can Nebraska hold? TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ERIC FOWLER
38 Smallmouths – The Overlooked Bass
While Nebraska’s smallmouth fishery is often overlooked by
anglers throughout the state, there are many public waters
capable of producing quality fish all year long. Here’s where
these waters are and how to catch smallies once you arrive.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JEFF KURRUS
20
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14
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Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mixed Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Outdoor Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Parks & Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
In the Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Portraits from the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
24
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Cover: A bull elk moves through the cottonwood forest along the North
Platte River near Lewellen. See story on page 30. Photo by Eric Fowler.
Opposite: Backlit by the sun on a fall afternoon, sand bluestem seed heads
glow in a Sandhills draw. Photo by Eric Fowler.
NEBRASKAland (VOL. 88 / NO. 8, ISSN 0028-1964) is published monthly, except for the
combined Jan./Feb. and Aug./Sept. issues, by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,
2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, NE. Periodicals postage paid at Lincoln, Nebraska, and additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NEBRASKAland, P.O. Box 30370,
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370.
38
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OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 3
NEBRASKAland Visitor Letters
We want to thank all 143 readers that
sent e-mails and letters for last issue’s
visitor, a pillbug on page 38 (see page
13 for the winner, rules and this issue’s
hint). Here are just a few of the many
wonderful responses we received:
Chomp, Chomp, Chomp
The grasshopper invasion, after the
wet spring, was a sight to see in the
Sandhills this summer. You could hear
the hum of the hoppers’ wings and ,as
portrayed in the movie “A Bug’s Life,”
you could almost hear them chewing
the leaves. You definitely saw the
destruction left behind by their
uninterrupted assault.
My daughter Brittney, who is looking
into how to make photography her
career, captured this photo outside our
house
Loralyn O’Kief
Wood Lake, Nebraska
Sandpit Jellyfish
I thought I would share this unusual
find with you. Please feel free to share
this with your readers.
Jellyfish in Nebraska? Yes – just
another of God’s little surprises for us.
4 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
This is the second time in three years
our little sandpit lake in the Gibbon
area has had jellyfish show up.
Everywhere you look you can see
these little fluffy-looking balls with a
clear white “X” in the center floating
around.
Three years ago I found them around
the Fourth of July and they were gone
by September. The last two years didn’t
produce any. This year they showed up
in late-August and seem to be far more
abundant than before. They are dime to
penny size on average. I enjoy
collecting samples and supplying local
schools with something new to study.
They remind me of a “living lava
lamp,” just floating up and down all
day long in a jar.
Keep looking in your lakes – you
never know what might show up.
Dave Borman
Gibbon, Nebraska
Baby Badger
I found the article entitled “The
North American Badger” in the
2010 August/September issue of
NEBRASKAland to be very
interesting.
I had a pet badger when I was a
young lad. We used to dig coyote dens
and once we dug one and it turned out
to be a badger den. Since I was the
smallest one of the crew, I had to crawl
down into the den and found a tiny
badger – it’s eyes were not even open
yet. I raised him until he was nearly
full-grown and one night he got out of
his cage, got in the chicken coop and
killed 23 chickens. That was the end of
my pet badger, “Gruffy.”
Dale Zikmund
Kearney, Nebraska
I am totally charmed by the addition
of your clever visitor. Having survived
a career as a graphic designer and
continuing with my obsession as an
avid bird watcher, I have considerable
pride thinking my eyes are pretty darn
sharp. An added plus: I really like
insects. Well, NEBRASKAland, your
magazine has never had the workout it
now receives. I have to save each issue
so I can check the whereabouts of what
I totally missed. This is so much fun
even though I am truly humbled. Kudos
to your design team,
Bonnie Bedford-White
Coarsegold, California
As a poor boy growing up, the only
pets I had were the "rollie-pollie" bugs
(some called them armadillo bugs) that
traveled the crack roadways of our
sidewalk.
Although I've NEVER seen them in
the cornfields, (ref page 38, Aug/Sept
issue of NEBRASKAland w/corn cob) I
have found them housed within the
morel's collected from the central Platte
River Valley!
Ken Fankhauser,
Kearney Nebraska
My dad (originally from Ainsworth)
is an avid reader of NEBRASKAland and
just told me last month about the visitor
to look for. He had never found it. So
this month I was curious and got very
excited when I found it. It's on the top
left corner of page 38. I've always just
called it a rolly polly bug but Google
has many other names for it (pill bug,
sow bug, Isopada Armadillidiiae,
woodlouse, etc). So take whichever
works best. I look forward to looking
for something next month!
Kelsey Rohwer
Knoxville, Tennessee
I found the pillbug on page 38
The name of this issue is
NEBRASKAland August-September
2010 and on the front is says
"Nebraska City's Applejack Festival."
We just got this issue off the newstand.
Thank you.
Margaret Karnatz
Davenport, Nebraska
The pillbug isn’t really a bug at all. As
a crustacean in the order Isopoda, it
is actually more closely related to
crayfish than insects.
Pillbugs feed on
decaying vegetation,
and can often be
found in moist areas
under rocks and logs. They
roll up into tight balls for protection,
which is likely how they got their
other common name, roly-poly.
Special thanks to Julie Van Meter, State
Entomologist, Nebraska Department of
Agriculture.
Statement of ownership and monthly circulation of
NEBRASKAland Magazine
Owner and publisher: Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission
Editor: Doug Carroll
Headquarters of Publisher and Publication:
2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, NE 68503
Stockholders, Bondholders, Mortgage and
Security Holders: None
Average number of copies
of each issue during
preceding 12 months
Single issue
nearest to
filing date
A. Total Copies Printed
(net press run) ........................28,028 ............27,345
B. Paid Circulation
1. Single-copy sales..................2,937 ..............2,959
2. Mail subscriptions ..............23,241 ............22,853
C. Total Paid Circulation ..............26,762 ............25,125
D. Free Distribution
by Mail ........................................360 ................360
E. Free Distribution
Outside the Mail ..........................397 ................397
F. Total Free Distribution ..................757 ................757
G. Total Distribution ......................26955 ............26841
H. Copies Not Distributed ............1,073 ................504
I. Total..........................................28,028 ............27,345
J. Percent Paid and/or
Requested Circulation ....................97%................97%
Send your comments to:
Doug Carroll, Editor
NEBRASKAland Magazine
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503
or e-mail doug.carroll@ngpc.ne.gov.
Please include your postal address and
telephone number. Letters may be condensed and edited for clarity. Photographs
are welcome and will be returned.
Story and photo submissions can be
sent to the same address. Include a selfaddressed stamped envelope for mailed
submissions. The publisher assumes no
responsibility for unsolicited material.
Under federal and/or state law, discrimination is prohibited on the basis
of race, color, religion, age, gender, marital status, national origin,
disability or political affiliation. If you think you have been discriminated
against in any program, activity or facility by the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission or want more information, contact the Commission in
Lincoln, NE, at (402) 471-0641 or the Equal Opportunity Commission,
Lincoln, NE, (402) 471-2024, TTY/TDD (402) 471-4693).
COMMISSION
CONSERV
CONSERVATION OFFICERS
Director Rex Amack
Assistant Directors Roger Kuhn, Kirk Nelson,
Sam Sidner
Commissioners
Chairman - Jerrod Burke, Curtis
Vice Chairman - Mick Jensen, Blair
2nd Vice Chairman - Ron Stave, Waterloo
Dr. Mark Pinkerton, Wilber
Dr. Kent Forney, Lincoln
Lynn Berggren, Broken Bow
Rex Fisher, Omaha
Mark Spurgin, Paxton
Norris Marshall, Kearney
PANHANDLE
Officer
Jim Zimmerman (S)
Scott Brandt
Heath Packett
Dennis Thompson
Dan Zuehlke
Doug Pollard
Frank Miller
Dan Kling
MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE STAFF
STAFF
Editor Doug Carroll
Associate Editor Jeff Kurrus
Art Director Tim Reigert
Senior Editor Jon Farrar
Regional Editor Eric Fowler
Contributing Editor Michael Forsberg
Regular Contributors Bill Hager, Chris Helzer,
Lisa Knopp
Photo Librarian Sarah Johnson
Circulation Donna Robinson
For address changes and questions about
your subscription, e-mail
Donna.Robinson@Nebraska.gov
or call (800) 632-5263
Marketing/Advertising
For advertising information contact
Larson Enterprises
e-mail dave@larsonent.com
or call (515) 440-2810
NEBRASKAland Magazine Copyright 2010, all rights reserved.
NEBRASKAland is available on audio cassette from the Nebraska
Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service, Suite 120, 1200 N
St., Lincoln, NE 68508. (800) 742-7691. NEBRASKAland Magazine and
the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reserve the right to reject any
advertising not in keeping with the agency mission.
Rates: $18 for one year; $33 for two years; $44 for three years. Nebraska
recipients must add appropriate sales tax. To subscribe call
1-800-NEBLAND (632-5263), or go online to:
NebraskalandMagazine.com.
COMMISSION OFFICES
Headquarters
2200 N. 33rd Street Lincoln, NE 68503
Phone (402) 471-0641
District Office I
East Hwy. 2, Box 725 Alliance, NE 69301
Phone (308) 763-2940
District Office II
524 Panzer St., Box 508 Bassett, NE 68714
Phone (402) 684-2921
District Office III
2201 N. 13th St. Norfolk, NE 68701
Phone (402) 370-3374
District Office IV
301 E. State Farm Rd. North Platte, NE 69101
Phone (308) 535-8025
District Office VI
1617 First Ave. Kearney, NE 68847
Phone (308) 865-5310
City
Gering
Gering
Gordon
Ogallala
Ogallala
Oshkosh
Valentine
Harrison
SOUTHWEST
Officer
City
Roger Thompson (S) N. Platte
Ray Dierking
Brkn. Bow
George Sund
Cambridge
Michael Thome
Cozad
Matt Andrews
Elwood
Dirk Greene
Imperial
Virgil Gosch
McCook
Dudley Sorensen
N. Platte
Rich Routh
Rep. City
Phone (308)
763-2940
631-0663
360-0682
289-0755
289-3399
778-7101
(402)389-0444
430-0572
Phone (308)
535-8025
870-0322
655-0028
529-8146
746-2418
882-0015
340-2440
530-0016
920-0367
SOUTH-CENTRAL
Officer
Jerry Pecha (Sup.)
Jeff Jones
Terry Brentzel
Randy Pomplun
Darin Gress
Dale Johnson
Robert Finke
City
Phone (308)
Kearney
865-5327
Clay Center(402)762-5022
Doniphan (402)469-5795
Fullerton
550-0489
Hebron
(402)768-8665
Kearney
440-3847
Milford
(402)947-1363
NORTHEAST
Officer
Tom Zimmer (Sup.)
Dale Davis
Steve Oberg
Daniel Roberts
Jon Reeves
Marion Shafer
Pat George
Tim Williams
Cory Krause
City
Norfolk
Bassett
Columbus
Fremont
Kennard
Norfolk
O’Neill
Neligh
West Point
Phone (402)
370-3374
760-0712
910-3366
719-1108
889-8508
992-7590
340-0787
929-0051
380-6410
SOUTHEAST
Officer
Duane Arp (Sup.)
Sean McKeehan
William Krause
Mike Luben
Douglas Kramer
Dina Barta
Stacey Lewton
Levi Krause
Russell Mort
Dan Evasco
Jeff Clauson
City
Gretna
Ashland
Auburn
Colon
Lincoln
Lincoln
Lincoln
Louisville
Nebr. City
Papillion
Waterloo
Phone (402)
332-2965
521-0159
274-8063
443-6392
890-6465
890-6463
890-7140
949-0593
209-1506
616-5961
658-7057
ADMINISTRATION
Officer
Ted Blume (Adm.)
Craig Stover (Asst.)
Wes Loos (Asst.)
Rod Loos (Asst.)
City
Lincoln
Lincoln
Lincoln
Ogallala
Phone (402)
471-5531
471-5532
471-5591
(308)284-8056
Nebraska Wildlife Crimestoppers 1-800-742-7627
Omaha Office
1212 Bob Gibson Blvd. Omaha, NE 68108
Phone (402) 595-2144
Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium
21502 W. Highway 31 Gretna, NE 68028
Phone (402) 332-3901
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 5
Here is a list of
upcoming outdoor
events across
Nebraska.
For more
information
about
these and
other events, click on
the calendar at
www.OutdoorNebraska.org.
September 18-19
PHOTO BY LUKE KATHOL
• Arbor Lodge/AppleJack Festival –
Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and
the town of Nebraska City are host to
this annual event. Call (402) 873-7222
September 18-19
• 6th Annual Missouri River Outdoor
Expo – Ponca State Park. Call (402)
755-2284
Wood Ducks
Elizabeth Mack
Fall is the time Nebraskans begin to
see the annual migration of wood
ducks as they fly south from northern
breeding areas, with numbers usually
peaking in mid- to late-October. Their
ideal nesting spots include streams,
wetlands, shallow farm ponds and lakes
with mature woodlands nearby. Wood
ducks most often move as singles or
pairs and can be found in large
numbers along the Platte River and
wetlands along the Missouri River.
Breeding populations can be found
across Nebraska, though numbers are
higher in the eastern part of the state,
where tree cavities for nesting are
more readily available. Some wood
ducks have been found to nest in
hollow tree cavities as high as 40 feet
off the ground.
The male wood duck can be
identified by its brilliant coloring, often
considered the most stunning of all
waterfowl. Its Latin name, Aix sponsa,
translates to “water bird in bridal
dress.” The iridescent green and purplish
head is bordered by a thin white line
from its striking red eyes to the end of
the crest, with another narrow white
stripe from the red and black bill to the
tip of the crest. The wood duck’s
burgundy chest offers a sharp contrast
to its golden sides and white throat.
In the last half of the nineteenth
6 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
century and beginning of the twentieth
century, wood duck populations
decreased so significantly that they
were in danger of extinction. The
Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and
hunting restrictions on wood ducks
imposed by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) in the 1940s and 50s
prevented further losses. Eradication of
bottomland hardwood forests – their
favored habitat – kept their numbers
down, but the introduction of nesting
boxes in the last two decades seems to
have helped the population.
In 2004, Bluebirds Across Nebraska
(BAN) received a grant from the
Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund to
finance a wood duck restoration
project, which included introducing
nesting boxes across the state. Steve
Eno, former executive director of
BAN, says the population numbers
show a marked improvement since the
inception of the program: “We have
seen notable increases in the wood
duck population across Nebraska since
the introduction of over 250 nesting
boxes across the state, most notably in
Otoe County.”
Significant improvements in
wetlands conditions across the Plains
states in 2009 continue to improve
nesting conditions for wood ducks,
according to the USFWS. Current
populations remain stable or are
increasing – an encouraging sign for
this popular game bird.
September 18-19
• 7th Annual Big Mac Fall
Classic/Walleye Tournament – Lake
McConaughy SRA. Call (308) 284-8800
October 1-3
• Missouri River History ConferenceAgricultural Frontier & the Missouri
River Valley – Ponca State Park. Call
(402) 755-2284
October 1-3
• 2nd Annual Heritage Farm
Weekend – Ponca State Park. Call
(402) 755-2284
October 2-3
• Living History Days – Fort
Atkinson SHP. Call (402) 468-5611
October 9, 15-16, 22-23
• Haunted Hollow – Indian Cave
State Park. Call (402) 883-2575
October 10
• Living History Events – Arbor
Lodge State Historical Park. Call (402)
873-7222
October 16, 23
• Hallowfest – Ponca State Park. Call
(402) 755-2284
October 17
• Living History Events – Arbor
Lodge State Historical Park. Call (402)
873-7222
October 22-24
• Holiday Craft Show and Old West
Cookout – Eugene T. Mahoney State
Park. Call (402) 944-2523
November 1
• Ticket Sale for Annual Historical
Christmas Dinner – Fort Robinson
State Park. Call (308) 665-2900
Jeff Kurrus
PHOTO BY JON FARRAR
In this month’s “Elk” article
authored by regional editor Eric
Fowler, 1958 marks an important
date for this big game species.
That same year was also
important for Outdoor Nebraska,
the predecessor to
NEBRASKAland, because the
Commission began publishing it
monthly instead of four times per
year, a tradition that would
continue until 1983, when
NEBRASKAland was published
11 times per year, with a
combined January/February
edition. This format lasted three
years until, in 1986, our current
format of 10 issues per year was
adopted.
“Shot or Not” was one of the
titles of this October 1958 issue,
chronicling a study by Game
Commission biologists that
revealed how many pheasants
killed by motorists had been
previously shot by hunters and
were still living. This issue also
featured the 1958 “Hunting
Prospectus,” which stated:
“Phenomenal increase in birds
gives state a rare population –
largest in years, and one that will
likely diminish soon.”
In addition, Mixed Bag type
articles on grouse, blue geese,
white bass, and fall camping also
accompanied this issue.
To read “Shot or Not” go to
NebraskalandMagazine.com and
click on “A Look Back.”
As True Today As It Was Back Then
In the Autumn 1934 edition of Outdoor Nebraska there was an ad
about the relationship between hunter and farmer. It read:
THE CORDIAL RELATIONS WHICH EXIST BETWEEN the farmer
and shooter can only continue so long as the hunter treats the farmer
with courtesy and fairness.
MR. SHOOTER, ALL THINGS UPON THE FARMER’S LAND are
valuable and precious to him. If you destroy his property and kill his
domestic birds and stock, the invitation to hunt will surely be withdrawn
and the land posted against all hunters, good and bad.
THE FARMER IS A GOOD FRIEND, and only through his generosity,
kindness and solicitous care are we assured of a future supply of wild
life. Therefore, it is your duty to assist in converting vandalism into
sportsmanship.
GAME, FORESTATION and PARKS COMMISSION, Lincoln, Nebraska.
8 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
Eric Fowler
There is no regulation making it
mandatory to wear hunter orange while
hunting upland game in Nebraska. But
that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.
Look at the photo below, and it’s
evident which hunter stands out more in
the field. And whether you’re crossing
paths with another party while hunting
public land, or a flushing rooster is
crossing between hunters in your party,
you want everyone to stand out.
Wearing orange also lets newcomers
know that safety should be first priority
when in the field.
Phragmites Duck Blind Camo
Eric Fowler
Phragmites is causing major ecological
problems on the Platte and other rivers
and wetlands in Nebraska. Now it has
shown up at Goose Lake, a Sandhills
lake in Holt County, likely with the
unintentional help of duck hunters.
Commission biologists suspect the
phragmites found at Goose Lake grew
from seeds that were brought to the lake
on duck boats camouflaged with the
plant. Luckily, it was the native variety
of phragmites, not the extremely invasive
exotic that escaped into the wild from
ornamental gardens and is now choking
out native vegetation, overtaking
sandbars needed by some wildlife,
changing the flow patterns of rivers and
contributing to flooding.
Still, biologists want hunters to be aware
of the problems they might cause by
using this plant to camouflage their blinds,
and ask that hunters only use native
plants like cattails for blind materials.
See You Out There ... But Where?
Do you know where this Nebraska photograph was taken?
See answer at the bottom of page 13.
Walleyes for Whitetails
10 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER
Eric Fowler
A 30-foot rise in water levels from
last year at Lake McConaughy
innundated about 8,000 acres of
cottonwood and willow forest that had
grown on the lakebed, sending
whitetails scrambling for higher ground.
As a result, Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission biologists have been
responding to increased crop-damage
complaints around the Clear Creek
Phragmites on the Platte River.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 11
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
The Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission is using a new online tool
designed to increase hunter access to
land where landowners seek more
antlerless deer harvest.
The Antlerless Deer Hunter Program
allows hunters to register online and
landowners to scan the database for
hunters in their area and then contact
them by telephone or e-mail.
This program is available at
OutdoorNebraska.org. Click on
Hunting, Programs and then Antlerless
Deer Hunter Program to access it,
or go directly to
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/hunting/programs.asp.
“We hear from many hunters who
have difficulty finding land to hunt,”
said Kit Hams, the Commission’s big
game program manager. “We also hear
from landowners who say hunters only
want to shoot bucks or they do not feel
comfortable telling hunters to shoot
does. This program has the potential to
address both problems with a mutually
beneficial solution.”
Hunters provide the following when
they register: name, address, telephone
number, e-mail address, counties and
months in which they are willing to
hunt, preferred weapons, and the
number of deer they want to harvest.
Landowners search the database by
county and can see the hunters’ first
name, contact information and hunting
preferences.
“With 136 days of deer seasons and
250,000 permits and bonus tags that
allow antlerless deer harvest, we have
more than enough days and permits to
control deer herds,” Hams said. “This is
one more tool to help.”
Why You Should Wear Orange
Wildlife Management Area. “We’d
like hunters to harvest as many does as
possible to reduce those numbers,” said
Commission biologist Lance Hastings.
Changes to regulations in 2009
opened most of the 6,100-acre WMA
to deer hunting until the Monday prior
to Thanksgiving, including the October
Antlerless and November Firearm
seasons. For complete regulations, go
to OutdoorNebraska.org and search for
“Clear Creek.”
PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER
Antlerless Deer Program
The public is invited to attend the
19th Annual Watchable Wildlife
Conference October 5-7 at the Kearney
Holiday Inn.
Community leaders, wildlife and
tourism agency professionals and
private business owners are all looking
for new ways to take advantage of the
growth in wildlife/nature tourism. The
conference brings together North
America’s leading experts in
developing and growing those tourist
programs.
Attendees may take part in
comprehensive sessions concentrating
on wildlife tourism development and
management programs, wildlife
viewing site development and natural
resource conservation management. For
more information or to register for the
conference, visit http://www.watchablewildlife.org/conference/register.htm.
Don’t Be Fake
Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin
Curry Soup
Kelsea Nore
When you pick out the perfect
pumpkin to carve for your jack o’
lantern this October, be sure grab
another for the kitchen. When choosing
one to cook, however, remember that
smaller pumpkins are usually sweeter.
Making your own pumpkin puree is easy
and inexpensive, and results in the main
ingredient for pumpkin bread, pumpkin
soup and the classic pumpkin pie.
Using a serrated knife cut the pumpkin
into halves and remove the stem and
pulpy insides, including the seeds. An
ice cream scoop works
wonderfully for this. Place the
seeds in a strainer (we’ll
get back to those in
12 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
a moment). Next, you are going to
steam the pumpkin halves; some people
may prefer to use a pressure cooker or
the stovetop, but a microwave works
just as well. Combine the pumpkin
with about a cup of water (depending
on the size of your pumpkin) and cook
it on high for 15-20 minutes. The outer
skin will fall away from the rest of the
pumpkin when it is finished. You don’t
want the remaining pumpkin to be too
watery, so don’t be afraid to squeeze
out any excess moisture using cheesecloth. Lastly, using a blender or a hand
mixer, mix the pumpkin to a smooth
consistency. Ta-dah – you’ve made
pumpkin puree! This ingredient freezes
well, so be sure to save some for next
month, when I have a recipe for
pumpkin cheesecake to share with you.
Those seeds that have been sitting in
the strainer? Clean them thoroughly
and spread them out on a baking sheet
or newspaper to dry. My mom hastened
this process with a hair dryer. When the
seeds are dry, toss them with
four tablespoons of melted
butter or canola oil and then
season using your
imagination. Some may
prefer plain sea salt, but my personal
favorite is equal parts garlic salt and
cayenne pepper. Spread the seeds on a
baking sheet and bake them at 275 F
for 10-20 minutes or until golden
brown. Let them cool and enjoy this
addictive new snack.
Pumpkin Curry Soup
4 medium apples
1 Tblsp. butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-2 Tblsp curry paste, to taste
2 cups pumpkin puree
4 cups chicken broth
½ water
1 tsp sugar
1 cup plain greek yogurt
In a large saucepan melt butter over
medium heat, then add the onions.
Cook until soft and add the apples,
garlic, curry paste, pumpkin puree,
broth and water. Reduce heat and
simmer for 20-30 minutes or until soft.
Pour entire mixture into blender and
mix until smooth. Serve with a
generous spoonful of yogurt (or sour
cream). Serves 4-6.
Jeff Kurrus
Even if you’ve
never killed a
banded duck or
goose, that
doesn’t stop
your ability from
acquiring a
waterfowl band.
They’re easy enough to
purchase – the online site Ebay always
has some available. However, if
undetected, these bands can create
errors in the harvest record system
database, which is the source of bird
band recovery data for those setting
hunting regulations and making
management decisions. “I am confident
undetected counterfeit reports have
entered our database,” said Marylandbased Bird Banding Laboratory
biologist Jo Anna Lutmerding. “Some
of these bands are incredibly well
made, so we really don’t know how
many that might be.”
In addition to the potential research
implications, said North Dakota
waterfowl biologist Michael Johnson,
these bands also create time issues
because researchers must track down
banding information that may or may
not be authentic. “These bands can also
be associated with decreased reporting
rates,” said Johnson. “People that are
fooled by fake bands or hear of people
being fooled may be less likely to
report their encounters with real bands.
This increases our costs in acquiring all
migratory bird band data.”
Plastic neck bands, continued Johnson,
are an even more serious problem
because color and code combination
can be duplicated even more easily
than leg bands. “Even if the codes
aren’t identical, simply having these
color/code combinations leads to hours
of work for researchers in state and
federal wildlife agencies in the United
States and Canada trying to sort real
from bogus information.”
Currently, Lutmerding and her
colleagues process data from more than
80,000 bands yearly, and hope each
reporter gives accurate information
regarding how the band was attained,
whether through hunting, purchased,
etc. Because Lutmerding and her
colleagues have only really began
trying to track detected counterfeit
bands in the last two years, it will take
some time before they have a grip on the
issue.
Until then and even after, said
Commission waterfowl biologist Mark
Vrtiska, “For the better management of
waterfowl and other migratory bands,
people should do two things: 1) report
bands, and 2) refrain from dealing in
bands on internet sites.” These steps can
aid researchers in presenting data the
way it was originally intended – correctly.
Super Tag Winner Announced
Leo Benes of Firth won the first
Nebraska Super Tag Lottery. His name
was randomly drawn from a barrel by
Gov. Dave Heineman at the July meeting
of the Nebraska Game and Parks Board
of Commissioners.
The permit, offered for the first time
this year, is valid for hunting in 2010
and 2011 and has a bag limit of one elk,
one deer, one antelope, and two turkeys.
Benes, 50, is a battalion chief for the
Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department,
and has never hunted elk, antelope or
turkey. “I’m very much looking forward
to the opportunity to travel out west
and give it [elk hunting] a try.”
There were
1,714 applicants
who each paid
$25 to enter the
lottery, which is
only available
to Nebraska
residents. Hunters
Leo Benes
who had drawn a
once-in-a-lifetime
bull elk tag also were eligible.
The permit allows Benes to hunt with
any legal weapon in any open hunting
unit during the general hunting season
for each species.
Raptors on Display
On Saturday, October 23 from 1 p.m.
to 3 p.m., the Aksarben Aquarium
Outdoor Education Center will be
displaying live raptors.
Information on identification, food
habits, biology and behavior of these
fascinating birds will be provided. For
more information, call the aquarium at
402-332-3901.
NEBRASKAland Visitor
Winner and Hint
Last issue’s winner of
the NEBRASKAland Visitor drawing
was Peter Berthelsen of Elba,
Nebraska who found the pillbug on
page 38.
Readers are encouraged to contact
NEBRASKAland within 10 days
after this issue’s publication with the
correct page number and name of
this issue’s “Visitor” – a bug found
in Nebraska that just happened to
find its way onto one of the pages of
our publication.
We will then gather the correct
entries and draw one to win a
NEBRASKAland Visitor mug.
To enter each month, write:
NEBRASKAland Visitor
2200 North 33rd Street,
Lincoln, NE 68503.
Or e-mail:
Tim.Reigert@Nebraska.gov
with “Visitor” in the subject line of
the message.
HINT: This issue’s visitor is not on
page 5, 10, 13, or 26.
Strategic Air and Space Museum near E. T. Mahoney State Park
Wildlife Conference
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 13
Is It History Yet?
Loup River Duck Hunting 1960s
Text and photos by Jon Farrar
The 1960s was a pivotal decade in waterfowl hunting as old ways
and equipment were abandoned and new technology introduced.
Camouflaged clothing replaced duck-brown hunting coats and
plastic replaced paper-hull shotshells and papier mâché decoys.
W
Yesterday I dropped off some used clothing and shoes at
the local Salvation Army store. As I was stuffing bags in the
receiving bin I caught a whiff of tobacco smoke. It wasn’t
the scent of pipe tobacco or a cigar, which I always find
pleasant (except for stale cigar stink), but cigarette
smoke from one of the good smelling cigarettes most
men smoked when I was young, probably a Camel
short, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall or Chesterfield. When I
passed the alley there was an older man leaning against
the wall, smoking a cigarette without a filter. I read once
that scents evoke our most powerful memories, like the
yeasty smell of the kitchen when your mother baked
bread.
The connection between tobacco smoke and the duck
hunting of my youth was my cousin, Gary Ziegler. He was
about 10 years older than me, and Garys, Larrys and Jerrys
had spread across America like the plumed seeds of
dandelions by the 1960s. Gary and I were friends first,
relatives second; and as things used to be in small towns,
we were related about five different directions if you did all
the genealogy – sort of like the covey of quail that never
14 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
got broken up. We started hunting together after he
got out of the Navy, when I was still in high
school. In those days he smoked Camels. The
whiff of good-smelling tobacco coming from that
alley took me back to our days duck hunting on the
Loup River between Monroe and Genoa. There
were three intoxicating scents on those chilly
November mornings – Gary’s Camel shorts, dried
willow leaves, and the aroma of coffee the first
time the vacuum bottle was cracked opened.
Gary and I spent less time hunting ducks than
pheasants in the 1960s and early-1970s because pheasants
didn’t just migrate through and there was plenty of them.
Most of our ducks we back-shot off farm ponds, sloughs,
sand pits and drainage ditches, but every year we built a
willow blind on the river, and
some years two – one a
high-water blind up
against a
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAYNE HAGENBUCK
hen I look at “Portraits from the Past” in the back
of NEBRASKAland and see photographs from the
1960s, I always think – that’s not so long ago.
And photographs from the 1970s, well, I started writing for
the magazine in 1970. Over the years I have interviewed
men who began hunting in the 1910s and hunted through the
1920s and 1930s, men who went hunting in Model Ts and
shot over live decoys. That’s old-time hunting. When I look
closely at the photos from the 1960s, though, particularly
the clothing, it’s obvious things have changed – camouflage
was rare and brown canvas hunting coats and Jones hats
were everywhere. Judging from 1960s photographs, one
would guess coonhounds were more abundant than bird
dogs. While that was likely not the case, it’s evident hunting
dogs are far more abundant today than they were back then.
All these changes seem especially pronounced with
waterfowl hunting.
Before the 1960s, as in this 1946 photograph of Monroe duck hunters Wayne Hagenbuck (left), his son Warren (center)
and his brother Lloyd, hunting clothing was often what you wore to work under a brown canvas hunting coat and hip boots.
cutbank and another on a sandbar, where ducks felt safer
and decoyed more readily. Stream flows in that section of
the Loup were at the whim of the Loup River Public Power
District. Their canal diverted water upstream southwest of
Genoa and ran it through two power plants before releasing
it to the Platte River southeast of Columbus, so our area
was but a shadow of the river it was farther upstream,
as, I suppose, was the quality of duck hunting. When
the river starting running ice the power district would
close the diversion gates upriver and the water
would come down the river in a whoosh, hence
the high-water blind.
More often than not we were diligent about
hauling our decoys to high ground after hunting
for the morning. My uncle operated the power
plant on the canal north of Monroe and he would
usually, but not always, give us a heads-up that
they were about to turn water and ice down the
river at the headgates. When we hunted Saturday
mornings and were going to hunt again the next
morning, we often left our decoys in the sandbar blind
rather than haul them to the shore. Twice when the river
started running ice we lost not only our sandbar blind but
also all our decoys. One of those times we found some of
them crammed into a logjam a quarter-mile downstream. We
went to town for axes and a bucksaw, returned to the river,
and chopped out what we could, less than a dozen as I
recall, some now stored in my attic, probably in a box
labeled “coffee cans and Mason jars, Gary’s decoys with a
yellow “Z” painted on the bottoms, mine with a “J Farrar”
in hunter-safety orange.”
In those days we shot over Carry-Lite papier-mâché
mallard decoys, only two or three dozen as the concept of
monster spreads was a decade in the future, at least where
we hunted. Our decoys were anchored with sparkplugs,
railroad spikes, wheel weights or discarded bearings that
could be had by the bucketful at any auto repair shop.
Usually several sparkplugs or wheel weights were required
to hold one decoy in the current. We liked the bearings best
because they were heavy, round, tidy and dug into the river’s
shifting sand. If you knew the mechanic of an auto repair
shop well enough (and we knew them all) they would even let
you wash out the grease in the parts pan filled with gasoline,
using a brush with stiff black bristles and a long, round
wooden handle. We tied the anchors to the decoys with the
same braided-cotton “canal cord” we used for catfish setlines
in the power canal in the summer, a name no doubt used
only locally. It would have been a good idea to tar the cords
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 15
the shape of a duck, a metal stake
riveted to the body, and painted black.
Most hunters sprinkled a bit of sand or
dirt on the paint before it dried to make
the finish dull; this being before cans
of spray paint were much in use. Some
shadows, though, were fashioned from
wood, often salvaged from wooden
crates of whatever fruit was in season
and being shipped to grocery stores.
Monroe had two grocery stores in those
days even though the town claimed
only about 350 souls. A few ambitious
hunters bought pints of paint in three or
four colors and did the best renderings
they could of mallards, typically drakes.
The most inventive duck lure I recall
was made by my brother in the late1950s. He applied yellow paint to
empty beer cans (back when they were
still substantial steel containers opened
with a “church key”), then rather
crudely crisscrossed the yellow with
black lines to simulate ears of corn and
spread them on a sandbar near his
decoys. Apparently ducks didn’t find
them irresistible, as I never recall him
bringing home more than we could eat.
Total investment in our duck hunting
operation consisted of a shotgun –
prorated to cover hours it was used for
pheasant and quail hunting, or shooting
blue rocks and pigeons; shotshells (yes
paper hulls, but just like decoys, plastic
shotshells started replacing them in the
Even in 1970, standard jump-shooting attire might be a camouflaged Jones hat, down
early-1960s); a couple
jacket and western boots. The author with mallards from Potter’s Pit near Monroe.
dozen decoys; and
cheap, uninsulated
hip boots made in Taiwan and sold at a
like serious waterfowlers on the East Coast, but we didn’t
discount store in Columbus that I think
know about that. If there was braided nylon cord in those
was called Pamida, but might have been an
days we didn’t know about it either, or Barney Pearson
Alco or Gibson’s. Not only were the
didn’t stock it in his hardware store.
prices there cheap, so was the
Most of our Carry-Lites were of late production with
quality of the merchandise – a
bills resting on the breast, making it less likely the heads
pair of waders seldom saw
would break off, although I had a few of my brother’s
a second hunting season. I’d
high-heads from the 1950s. The tips of some bills had been
swear some got their first
chewed on by mice that must have climbed down the rope
tear between the store and
suspending the decoy-filled gunny sacks that hung from the
the car. Red Ball rubber
rafters of the barn in the off-season. The sacks reeked of
waders were the best,
mice until being dragged through the river a few times.
and Converse not far
Thin-shelled plastic decoys hit the market in the 1960s and
paper decoys became something from the past, but Gary and behind. Both were
available, but
I were still shooting over them in the early-1970s.
In the 1950s, Loup River hunters were
apparently too pricey
In the 1950s, before I started duck hunting, Loup River
shooting over homemade
for our pocketbooks.
duck shooters not only put out papier-mâché decoys, but
silhouettes; some fashioned from scrap
If washed and stored
also a dozen or two homemade silhouettes that everyone
wood and crudely painted but most
properly they lasted
called “shadows.” Most were crudely cut from sheet tin in
were made from tin and painted black.
16 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
for years and could be patched on patches. I owned a pair of
Red Ball hip boots in the 1970s – hand-me-downs from a
fisheries biologist – and I wore them, heavily patched, for
10 years before the rubber died of old age.
If you stayed away from the cutbanks, hip boots were
usually adequate to get around in the Loup. There were
chest waders, called breast waders in those days, but we
never used them. I’ve always wondered about that change
in language – it happened so suddenly, probably
because of morphing sexual connotations in the
language, that by the 1970s it was no longer manly
for men to have breasts, hence wear breast waders.
Warriors and soldiers wore breastplates for centuries
and breastworks were hastily constructed fortifications,
usually of earth, thrown up at breast height to hide behind
for protection and repel attacks. And foresters measure the
diameter of trees by their “diameter at breast height.” By
today’s standards it would seem only females would be
allowed to measure trees. But I digress.
I blush at the thought of how much more duck hunting
equipment I own today, from which I get about the same
amount of fun as I did with far less on the Loup in the 1960s.
In the 1950s, I’ve been told by old Loup River duck
hunters, blinds were no more than whips of sandbar willows
cut and pushed into the sand to make a rectangle large enough
to house however many hunters would be using it. The secret
to using sandbar willows was to cut them in September
when their leaves were still green and firmly attached. Cut
then, the leaves would turn brown but cling to the branches.
More were cut than needed and stashed on shore for filling
in thinning parts of the blind later in the season.
My cousin and I did about the same in the 1960s, but were
a bit more elaborate. Building our blind or blinds usually
took most of a day and was as much fun as
hunting from them later. First we gathered
driftwood of appropriate length and
girth. Eight “corner posts” were
required as the blind wasn’t just
rectangular in shape but had a
baffle entrance to break the wind. From post
to post we wired smaller, horizontal
driftwood branches about four feet above
the sand. It was, of course, a crooked and
crude framework, but it served our purpose.
Next we cut our willows with corn knives, or
Army surplus machetes bought at the Army-Navy
surplus store in Columbus. We started pushing the taller
willow branches, some six feet long and sharpened on the
big end, into the sand around the driftwood frame, pushing
them in at an angle so they arched back and pressed against
the frame. Then came medium-sized willows to fill the gaps
between the large willows, and finally small willows at the
base. The small willows probably weren’t necessary but
helped break the wind and keep sand from blowing into
shotguns, homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee cups.
We
built
our highPaper-hull shotshells were first
water, threereplaced by Remington in 1960; but
sided blinds much the
it was several years before other
same way butted up
manufacturers followed suit.
against cutbanks. I seem to
remember once putting an old bridge plank salvaged off a
sandbar across two upside-down five gallon grease buckets
(steel buckets, as there was no such thing as a plastic
drywall bucket in those days) for a seat, but otherwise we
spent our mornings standing, eager with anticipation we would
actually see a flock of ducks.
I don’t recall coming home laden with ducks after we
hunted our Loup River blinds; but then legal bag limits
were stingy in the 1960s. In 1965, the year I graduated from
high school, the statewide season was October 20 through
November 28. The daily limit of four ducks could not
include more that two wood ducks or canvasbacks, or more
than one mallard or pintail. The following year the season
was slightly longer, October 15 through December 12, but
the bag limit was only three ducks. Daily bag limits had
been even smaller – two per day in both 1961 and 1962.
Gary and I killed more mallards with a good sneak on
flocks tucked under the north banks of sandpits. The pits,
because of their deeper waters, often remained open when
the river was running slush ice. Early in the season we
would shoot a little of this and a little of that on the river,
but only puddle ducks as I recall. I don’t remember shooting
a diving duck. Older hunters told me they occasionally shot
bluebills, blackjacks and butterballs – three names covering
all known diving ducks in the world except drake canvasbacks
and drake redheads, the only two diving ducks I bet they
could identify. Blackjacks (ring-necked ducks) were no
doubt often identified as bluebills (lesser scaup), and vice
versa. They said the diver duck shooting was better before
the power canal stole away most of the river’s flow in 1936.
Back in those days there were only three kinds of puddle
ducks – mallards, teal and gray ducks. Mallards had green
heads, teal were little ducks, and “gray ducks” were
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 17
The Broadbill caller, left, was introduced in 1917 and
sold through 1946. It was still used in the 1950s.
In the 1960s we used the P.S. Olt D-2 Model.
nondescript
birds larger than
teal and without
green heads and
probably often included
some diving ducks as well.
Long-legged wading birds were classified as one
species – shitepokes – and shot by many hunters
because “they eat fish.”
Our best days on the river came with the big push of
mallards when winter storms sent them scurrying south out
of the Canadian provinces and the Dakotas. In the 1960s,
more often than not, that came around the second week of
November; earlier and more predictable than in recent
decades. The push of mallards often came at the same time
as the firearm deer season. Many blustery opening mornings
of the deer season I sat high in a cottonwood treestand with
a high-powered rifle in my hands, watching flock after flock
of mallards run the river, their orange legs nearly brushing
the treetops. Depending on the nature of the storm that
moved them south, we would have good mallard shooting
for one to three days, sometimes longer, and then they were
gone.
It was rare in those days for any hunter to shoot a Canada
goose, and when they did it was invariably a small or mediumsized bird. Restoration programs that would bring back the
“giant Canadas” did not start until the late-1960s in the
Dakotas, and 1970 in Nebraska. Gary and I never killed a
goose on the Loup River, but did on several occasions when
jump-shooting farm ponds.
There was one morning that we came close to piling big
birds on a Loup River sandbar, though. It was just a few
minutes into legal shooting time when we saw an undulating
flock of white birds winging upstream toward us, no more
than 30 yards above the river. It was a foggy morning as I
recall. Convinced they were snow geese, although neither
my cousin nor I had ever seen a snow goose on the Loup
River or heard of anyone seeing them, we tucked back deep
into the blind until they were overhead, raised to shoot,
clicked off safeties, moved index fingers to triggers and
only in the last fraction of a second saw the huge yellow
bills and pouches of pelicans.
Both my cousin and I were smart, if not good, duck
callers. Usually we kept our calls in our pockets until it
was obvious the flock of ducks that just swept past our
spread wasn’t going to turn and come back, so there was
no harm in giving them a toot. During lulls in the action
18 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
– which were both frequent and prolonged –
Gary would often do an outstanding rendition of a
whinnying horse on his D-2 Olt. And I recall a
day when I had partied into the wee hours of the morning
and overslept until Gary cut loose on his call outside my
bedroom window. The Olts were made of what we called
“hard rubber,” but I’m guessing they were an early-day
plastic, the same sort of stuff from which gearshift knobs
were fashioned. Our lanyards, when we had them, were of
the same cord we used to tie anchors to decoys or, if we got
fancy, a used leather strand from broken bootlaces, although
it was a rare event either of us wore a call around our
necks.
While the scent of curing willow leaves vividly carries
me back to the 1960s and duck season, so does the springy
feel of pushing shotshells into the magazine of a Model 12
Winchester, followed by the clankity-bang of oiled, all-metal
parts as a shell is pumped into the chamber at shooting time.
To a Model-12-shooter’s ear it was a symphony, a promise
that this morning there would be orange legs dangling under
cupped wings over the decoys and spent shotshells would
litter the sand floor of the blind. There were a few
semi-automatic and side-by-side shotguns on the Loup in
the 1960s, but four-to-one they were outnumbered by Model
12s, “The Perfect Repeater,” the first choice of waterfowlers
in those times; works of art in a modest blued-steel and
walnut way, a workingman’s gun. Invariably they were
full-choke guns, although that was changing by the 1960s.
My Model 12, bought in about 1960, was bored modified,
but Gary was just enough older to be of the full-choke
generation. The older Model 12s, from back when they had
nickel-steel barrels, were almost always bored full.
By the late-1960s,
interest in duck hunting
on the lower Loup
River seemed
to be on
the
Because
of poor
production
on the nesting
grounds, daily
bag limits were
stingy in the 1960s.
Barney Pearson’s hardware store in
Monroe was our duck hunting
headquarters – selling permits, shotshells
and other accouterments of the hunt.
decline, perhaps spurred by low duck
numbers and hence three-bird-per-day
limits; but it didn’t recover with the
more liberal “point system” adopted in
1970. The interest in big game hunting,
particularly for deer, was on the rise.
There was ample room on the river for
blinds, but a tradition seemed to have
passed on the lower Loup River. I
heard stories of the generation of duck
hunters before me, after World War II
and through the 1950s, when favored
sandbars were jealously guarded. In
those times, if you regularly hunted a
certain sandbar or stretch of river it was
assumed to be your spot until you no
longer used it; and that territorial right
was usually enforced by the
landowner whose land you
needed to pass
through to
Well into the 1970s, Gary Ziegler and I were shooting over Carry-Lite papier mâché
decoys. His hunting garb would not have been out of place on an aircraft carrier.
reach the river. The rub, though, was that the landowner on one side
of the river was seldom the same as the landowner on the other side,
and so conflicts did arise. There were stories of hunters building their
blind too close to another, and a few days later, perhaps struck by
lightning in one of those rare November thunderstorms, the infringing
blind burned, along with any decoys in it. I’ve been told papier-mâché
decoys and dried willow leaves made a hot fire.
For the last dozen years or so I’ve been telling myself that I’m going
to build a willow blind on the Loup back home and hunt from it in
November just one last time. Dig out as many papier-mâché
mallard decoys as I can find stashed away in my attic, oil up the
same old Model 12 I’ve shot since I was 13, find a D-2 Olt
call in one of the old cigar boxes on a shelf in the closet,
sharpen my World War II machete, and pretend I’m 18 years
old again. Chances are I’ll never do it and just savor
memories that now are “portraits from the past.” ■
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 19
Ride West!
Nebraska’s Pine Ridge has some of the
best mountain biking in the nation.
By Hope Scheimo
Photos by Jeff Kurrus
ooking for a new place to ride
this fall? Then go west. Imagine
enjoying the rhythmic rotation of
knobby tires meeting the trail, pinefresh air; crisp, fallen branches and
leaves snapping beneath your wheels as
autumn’s bouquet of color rustles in the
trees above you. Western Nebraska’s
Pine Ridge provides some of the best
riding in Nebraska, says Dirtworld.com,
a popular mountain biking web site,
and once you’ve ridden there yourself,
it’s hard not to agree.
The web site for the Pine Ridge
Ranger District of the Nebraska
National Forest near Chadron describes
the district’s 6,600 acres of the ponderosa
pine-covered land as “many miles of
popular mountain biking … in an
undiscovered part of Nebraska.”
The exact amount of mountain biking
opportunities available in the Pine
L
Ridge area is of course difficult to
determine, but suffice to say there’s
more miles to ride than you can get to
in a weekend. Herb Peterson, owner of
Chadron’s bike shop, Mountain Mania
Bicycles, can’t even tell you, even
though he’s helped develop a number
of the trails himself.
What is known, however, is that
you’re sure to have a challenging and
fun time learning all of these trails,
which are being expanded or created
on a regular basis. For instance, the
National Forest Service is expanding
the Pine Ridge Trail from the Spotted
Tail trail head to the West Ash Creek
trail head approximately 35 trail miles
away.
These names and places were
unfamiliar to me when I moved to the
area in late-2008, but they’ve easily
become friends, for in the Pine Ridge
Elizabeth Ledbetter (left) and husband George spend many afternoons riding bike trails near Chadron.
For bike riders, autumn features some of the year’s best scenery and weather.
20 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
familiarity breeds anything but
contempt. The names alone conjure
images of scenery both rugged and
serene, as well as hopes of crossing
paths with the area’s abundant wildlife,
which often add to the enjoyment of a
day’s ride.
“Deer have let me get nose to nose
with them,” said George Ledbetter,
publisher of The Chadron Record
newspaper and a frequent user of the
area’s bike trails. Familiar with cars,
the deer seem curious about mountain
bikes and have approached Ledbetter in
the past to investigate this much quieter
mode of transportation.
Although the chance to see a variety
of wildlife increases the enjoyment of
biking the Pine Ridge, in can also create
some trepidation: Ledbetter’s most
interesting, although somewhat
frightening, experience with wildlife
while riding his bike was watching a
mountain lion attack a deer. Although it
was mesmerizing to see nature acted
out, “I didn’t stop to ask him how
breakfast was,” said Ledbetter.
The wildlife encounters most riders
will have probably won’t be nearly as
exciting, but they will be special to the
individual, nonetheless. For instance, on
one of his bike rides Dr. Jerry McClain
of Chadron rounded a corner on the
trail to find a coyote with his
latest meal: “There he was, chewing on
a carcass at the bottom of the hill. He
didn’t smell me because the wind was
blowing the other direction, and I was
literally within five feet of him.”
McClain has also been blessed with
sightings of bighorn sheep during his
rides – he counted 14 on one visit to
Chadron State Park alone.
While the remoteness of these trails
improves your chances of seeing
wildlife while enjoying a peaceful ride,
it also decreases your chances of finding
help should something go wrong, so
take a few precautions prior to heading
down the trail:
First, get a good map of the area to
help you find the miles upon miles of
biking trails and old logging roads in
the Pine Ridge. Perhaps the best single
map you can get is available from the
National Forest Service office in
Chadron at (308) 432-0300, which will
help you locate points of interest as
well as assist in getting you back home.
Second, bring a riding partner along
whenever possible to enjoy the ride
with and to help out if any problems
should occur.
Third, even though a mountain bike’s
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 21
Dr. Jerry McClain rides through a patch of water on one of the Cliffs trails southeast of Chadron. The Cliffs
are one of many trails in the region that offer both challenging and scenic rides for bikers.
tires are “knobby” and wider for better
control and gripping power, they can
go flat in the rough terrain found in
western Nebraska.
“You need flat-resistant tires just in
the towns around here,” joked McClain,
and Ledbetter agreed. Between puncture
vines, goats head burrs and weeds and
seeds with sharp thorns you want to get
“slimed.” Perhaps the best-selling tire
sealant in the world, Slime© can be
purchased at most bike shops, larger
retail stores and online, and is easy to
use: “Just remove your tire’s stem, pour
the stuff in, close it up and then pump
up the tire,” said Ledbetter.
If you get a small puncture (this does
not work for rips and large holes), the
slime fills in the hole before much air
22 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
can escape. Occasionally, however,
your tire will get a larger hole in it that
Slime© can’t fix, so make sure you
bring along at least one extra tube, tire
repair kit and air pump. Wrenches for
chain problems might also come in
handy, and, of course, water and a
helmet is a must:
“I was on King Canyon going
downhill way too fast to make the
curve and decided I had to brace
myself for impact,” said McClain. As
his bike flipped, he tucked up and
allowed his back to take the brunt of
the fall, suffering a huge road abrasion.
Getting up and checking himself over,
he discovered a small tree branch
imbedded in his helmet. “It was at least
an inch into the helmet,” he said. “You
want to wear a helmet whenever you
are out bike riding.”
Once you’re properly outfitted and
ready to find a place to ride, there’s
probably little reason to look much
beyond the Chadron area – in 2000,
Sports Afield dubbed the town of
Chadron “one of the four best mountain
biking towns in the United States,” and
nearby Chadron State Park is a favorite
for bikers in this area and has been
recognized as one of the top mountain
biking areas in the nation.
So bring your bike or rent one from
Fort Robinson State Park (308) 6652900 (Note: Fort Robinson only rents
bikes from Memorial Day through
Labor Day) or Mountain Mania
Bicycles in Chadron (308) 432-3653
and hit the trail. Below is a short list of
some that you might want to check out:
• Pine Ridge Trail, Nebraska
National Forest, with trail heads at:
West Ash, East Ash, Coffee Mill,
Roberts (Loop), Chadron State Park
and Spotted Tail.
• Toadstool Trail and Bison Trail,
Toadstool Geologic Park.
• Trooper Trail and Boots & Saddles
Trail, Soldier Creek Wilderness Area.
White
River Trail, Crawford to Fort
•
Robinson State Park.
• The Cliffs Trails, a loose network of
trails 15 miles southeast of Chadron.
• Norwesca Trail, Steamboat Loop
Trail, Blue Tail Trail, Yellow Trail,
Black Hills Overlook Trail and
Outrider Trail, Chadron State Park. ■
The Ledbetters discuss bike routes near the Pine Ridge Trail.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 23
Autumn
Choose Wisely
By Jeff Kurrus
Above: A cottonwood leaf hangs from the side of a tree along the Platte River in Buffalo
County as back lighting from the sun brings out its fall color.
Right: A whitetail buck peers through a thicket of leafless ash trees in Gosper County.
24 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
PHOTO BY LUKE KATHOL
PHOTO BY LUKE KATHOL
The question is not if you should be outside
during what could be Nebraska’s most enjoyable
outdoor month, it’s what you should do once you’re
there. From fall color viewing along the Missouri
River, to hunting or fishing with friends and family or
taking a few more glimpses of the small world living
all around you, autumn has limitless possibilities.
The only drawback is time isn’t limitless, so choose
wisely, take photos during your travels, and revel
in this time of year when the world is not
yet cold, only very, very cool.
PHOTO BY BILL HAGER
PHOTO BY BILL HAGER
Above left: A campsite on Merritt Reservoir is
transformed by brilliant maple and sumac leaves
glowing in the warm afternoon light.
Left: A caterpillar rests on a prairie clover stem
on an early October day in Aurora.
Right: The seeds of summer provide forage for
migrating birds as they prepare for their trek
south.
PHOTO BY BILL HAGER
PHOTO BY CHRIS HELZER
26 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
Above right: The lush green of a Sandhills
landscape changes to shades of brown, orange
and yellow against a contrasting sky.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 27
PHOTO BY BILL HAGER
Above: A pronghorn buck lopes off to
rejoin his herd along the Dismal River
near Halsey.
PHOTO BY CHRIS HELZER
28 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
Right: Fall colors abound on an
overcast October afternoon as golden
leaves from an overhanging cottonwood
tree partially cover a sandy river road
near Smith Falls State Park.
PHOTO BY BILL HAGER
Left: Fall brings lots of colors to
Nebraska, few of which are looked
forward to by kids of all ages as much
as the bright orange and yellows of
Halloween jack-o-lanterns cut from
pumpkins
OCTOBER 2010
2008 • NEBRASKALAND 29
Text and photos by Eric Fowler
M
ention elk to most people, and
they are apt to think of high
mountains cloaked with aspen
and pine forests. Which makes sense,
since throughout recent history, that’s
where most elk have been found.
That, however, was simply because
as Euroamericans settled the continent
in the 19th century, the Rocky Mountains
and the Cascades in the Pacific
Northwest were the only places elk
were able to find refuge from hungry
settlers’ guns. Before settlers
arrived, elk were the most
widely distributed
of the deer species,
found across two-thirds of the United
States and as much at home, if not
more so, on the Great Plains as in the
mountains.
Today, elk are making their way
back home. Nebraska, the heart of the
historic elk range, now boasts more
than 2,000 head, a number that is
growing steadily as herds expand
within their current range and continue
to reclaim former territory. The growth
comes a mere 25 years after
efforts to eliminate the first
wild elk herd in the state’s
modern history failed,
much to the delight of
biologists, hunters and
nature lovers.
What follows is a brief
history of the elk’s
return to the state and
what the future might
hold for this majestic
big game animal.
Elk Before White
Man
Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus
canadensis nelsoni) once occupied
all corners of Nebraska. Unlike
deer, which browse on trees
and shrubs, elk are primarily
grazers. “Prior to settlement,
Nebraska was better elk
habitat than deer habitat,
solely because we were
95 percent grass,” said
Kit Hams, big game
program manager with
A bull elk stands between his harem and a satellite bull as the rut began last fall near the top of the
Bordeaux Creek watershed in the Pine Ridge near Chadron, where wild elk first reappeared 40 years ago.
the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission.
Plains Indians, including the Pawnee
and Sioux, regularly hunted elk,
especially when buffalo moved to
distant ranges. They made clothing
from elk hides and the Sioux decorated
those clothes with elk ivories, the two
top canine teeth that scientists believe
are remnants of three-inch-long tusks
of the modern elk’s ancestors.
The journals of the Lewis and Clark
expedition mentioned elk often as the
explorers traveled up the Missouri
River in the summer of 1804. They
spotted their first on an island in the
Missouri near the mouth of the
30 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
Nemaha River on their second day in
what is now Nebraska.
“the Elke Sine is [v]erry plenty.
Deer is not as plenty as it was below,”
Charles Floyd wrote in his July 18 entry.
In the years that followed, explorers,
soldiers and settlers noted the
presence of elk, sometimes great
herds of them, in Nebraska along the
Missouri, Platte, Loup, Cedar,
Dismal, Niobrara and Republican
Rivers. Like the buffalo, however,
their days were numbered, and as
civilization spread westward,
sustenance hunting and wanton shooting
took its toll. By the 1880s, elk had
been extirpated from the entire state.
Once 10 million strong across North
America, elk were gone from 90 percent
of their historic range by 1900, when
fewer than 100,000 elk remained,
mostly in the Mountain West.
Reclaiming Their Territory
In Distribution and Taxonomy of
Mammals of Nebraska, published in
1964, J.K. Jones Jr. wrote that elk
historically were likely more abundant
in eastern Nebraska, where there was
less competition from bison and more
rivers to provide refuge, than in western
Nebraska. Yet it was out west where
wild elk first reappeared in the state
and are most abundant today.
The first recorded elk sighting came
from Box Butte County in 1958,
although there are no details of how
many. In 1964, a cow and calf elk
were seen in Garden County. In either
case, the elk likely wandered in from
Colorado or Wyoming, where wild elk
had survived the settlement rush, or from
South Dakota, where elk reintroduction
began in the Black Hills in 1914.
Although Wyoming probably had the
greatest number of elk following the
Westward Expansion, most lived in the
mountainous western portion of the
state, including Yellowstone National
Park. Wyoming’s efforts to expand their
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 31
Ever since the first resident herds returned to Nebraska’s Pine Ridge escarpment in
the late 1960s, Rocky Mountain elk have reclaimed territory along the Niobrara, North
Platte and Missouri rivers, as well as the Wildcat Hills escarpment in the Panhandle
and Lincoln County’s loess hills. Because of the reclusive nature of elk and their
tendency to spend daylight hours in thick cover, biologists can only estimate the
number of elk found in Nebraska today, but place that number at around 2,000.
range included the release of 43 elk in
the Rawhide Buttes, located 12 miles
south of Lusk, in 1967 and 1968.
Just five miles to the north of Lusk
lies the western tip of the Pine Ridge, a
rugged, crescent-shaped escarpment
covered in ponderosa pine forest and
mixed grass prairie that encompasses
about 1,100 square miles of northwestern
Nebraska between Wyoming and the
South Dakota line north of Rushville.
When the elk released near Lusk
wandered, as relocated animals often
do, it wasn’t a surprise they ended up
in the Pine Ridge. An ear-tagged spike
bull released in February 1967 was
found dead by a Nebraska conservation
officer six months later north of Hay
Springs, 95 miles from the Rawhide
Buttes. In September 1969, Nebraska
conservation officers found the remains
of a mature bull in Sioux County that
had been released south of Lusk in
January 1968.
It was during that same two-year
span that Stanley Stumf recalls seeing a
cow elk on his farm and ranch along
Bordeaux Creek southeast of Chadron.
A few days later, he heard a bull bugle.
He never saw the bull, but saw plenty
of the cow.
“She stayed with my cattle all winter
long and ate hay with them,” recalled
Stumf, now 89. “Then in the spring, I
saw her when I was out riding and
there she is with a calf.
“I never even questioned it. I figured,
‘Here’s the beginning of an elk herd.’
That’s what I thought and I was right.
Pretty soon there was elk all over –
32 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
they multiplied.”
While there were likely elk elsewhere
in the Pine Ridge at the time, biologists
believe the elk that made their home on
Bordeaux Creek grew into the state’s
first resident herd in more than 80 years.
The area remains a stronghold for elk.
“The habitat in that Bordeaux area
was so suited for elk. You had an
interspersion of small grains, you had
calving areas, you had good escape cover
and you had good winter protection.
You had all of the things, including
water, that good elk habitat will have,”
said Gary Schlichtemeier, who worked
in the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission’s Alliance office from
1965 through his retirement in 2006.
Stumf was happy to have the elk, but
not all of his neighbors were. By the
early 1980s, with the Bordeaux Creek
herd having grown to at least 38 head
and possibly as many as 65, complaints
of damage to crops, hay stacks and
fences, and the cost of pasturing the
elk, abounded, as did concerns about
diseases such as brucellosis.
In 1985, 42 people from 24 families
signed a petition asking that the
Commission trap and remove the elk.
However, follow-up interviews by Karl
Menzel, the Commission’s long-time
big game biologist who passed away
in 2009, found that about half of the
families in the core of the elk range
who signed the petition did so only to
be good neighbors. They actually
welcomed the elk.
Stumf didn’t sign the petition. “They
never bothered anything that I knew
of,” he said. “Sure they grazed in the
millet field a little bit, but that’s no big
deal. Hell, I don’t mind having them
around. I like having animals around.”
The Commission contacted biologists
in six states to see if trapping and
removal the elk was feasible. All said
such a plan would be extremely
expensive and ineffective. Eliminating
elk by using sharpshooters or a hunting
season were discussed as alternatives,
but most Commission biologists,
including Schlichtemeier, weren’t in
favor of any of those plans: “We knew
the habitat was there for elk to increase,
and it was just a matter of trying to
figure out how elk could survive with
the agricultural activities that were
going on,” he said. “I felt we could
always do something else if we found
we just couldn’t have elk in Nebraska,
but I felt as wildlife managers we
should give it a try and see if we could
make it work. I guess I felt there were
definitely a lot more people that wanted
elk than those that didn’t want elk.”
Feeling pressure from landowners
and state legislators, however,
Commission administrators agreed to a
plan that would reduce the herd to less
than 20 head through hunting (even
though some landowners said they
would not allow it) and not allow the
herd to rebuild to problem levels. So
Nebraska held its first modern elk
season in 1986, issuing 75 permits –
a number most biologists believed was
greater than the number of elk. Only
15 elk were harvested, with low success
due in part to some landowners closing
their land and the ability of elk to
become scarce when pressured. In
1987, 42 more permits were issued for
a second elk season, and hunters again
took home 15 elk.
Based on observations by biologists,
conservation officers and landowners,
an estimated 12 to 15 elk remained in
the Bordeaux Creek herd, bringing it
below the population goal, and hunting
ended for the time. Contingency plans
to feed elk during the winter, and
possibly even trap or shoot elk if
problems continued, were never needed.
From that small nucleus, the elk herd
quietly grew. In 1994, 51 elk were
counted in one herd in the Bordeaux
Creek area, and there were likely more.
That put the count near levels that had
prompted the outcry from landowners a
A spike bull follows a calf down a trail in the cedar canyons above the North Platte River near Lewellen. Elk in this herd spend
most of the year in the riverbottom forest and nearby crop fields, retreating to the canyons only during the winter months.
decade earlier, but complaints were
fewer and usually involved elk feeding
in stack yards. The Commission
responded by providing fencing
materials to keep the elk out, a practice
it continues to this day and one
biologists, both past and present, agree
was key to changing the perception of
some landowners who were initially
against having elk in the Pine Ridge.
While the elk herd was growing
along Bordeaux Creek, elk were quietly
reclaiming territory elsewhere in the Pine
Ridge. By 1994, a herd near Crawford
had grown to nearly 50 animals, possibly
from the 14 head, including a cow that
had been fitted with a radio collar in
South Dakota that had been spotted in
the same area in 1987. Smaller herds
had also become established south of
Whitney and north of Hay Springs.
With the growth of these herds,
hunting resumed in 1995. This time,
however, the goal was not to eliminate
the population, but to slow its growth
through limited recreational hunting,
with the emphasis on recreation. An elk
season has been held in the Pine Ridge
ever since, and the herds have continued
to grow. Todd Nordeen, who took over
for Schlichtemeier as district wildlife
manager for the area, estimates the
Pine Ridge elk population at between
1,000 and 1,500 head, with numerous
herds concentrated in core areas during
certain times of the year and elk scattered
throughout the escarpment during others.
“There’s still opportunity for growth,”
said Nordeen of the area’s elk population.
Beyond the Ridge
While the elk herd was growing in
the Pine Ridge, they were also becoming
established in other parts of Nebraska.
When those herds grew to manageable
levels, new areas were opened to
hunting, providing a timeline of elk
expansion in the state.
In the early 1990s, captive elk escaped
from a pen on the Yankton Sioux
Indian Reservation near Pickstown,
South Dakota. Some of those elk
crossed the Missouri River and made
themselves at home in the rugged cedar
and oak forested canyons rising from
the river into Nebraska’s Boyd County.
In 1996, the area became the second
open to elk hunting in the state.
A band of elk spotted in southwestern
Nebraska in 1981 may have been the
seed for a herd in the loess canyons
south of the Platte River between
Maxwell and Curtis. Elk were firmly
established in the area by the late 1990s,
and the area opened to hunting in 2002.
Elk that were spotted along the
North Platte River near Lewellen in
the early 1980s apparently didn’t stay,
but a decade later, others wandering
through the area did. There are now
two small herds living in the riparian
forest between Bridgeport and
Lewellen, with elk scattered throughout
the riverbottom between Wyoming and
Lake McConaughy.
During the same time period, elk
became established in the Wildcat
Hills, a pine forested escarpment south
of the river stretching from Bridgeport
to Wyoming. Three herds and other
scattered elk now occupy the Wildcats
which, along with the North Platte
River, opened to elk hunting in 2005.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 33
Origin: Elk are even-toed ungulates
(hooved mammals) of the deer family
(cervidae), along with white-tailed
and mule deer, moose and caribou.
North America “elk” (the name elk
properly belongs to the European
moose) are closely related to red
deer of Europe and Asia, and are
believed to have crossed the Bering
Land Bridge between Siberia and
Alaska 120,000 years ago. Elk are
also referred to as wapiti, a Shawnee
name for “white rump.”
Subspecies/range: Six subspecies
of elk, numbering perhaps 10 million,
once roamed throughout most of the
United States and parts of Canada
and Mexico. Today four remaining
subspecies number an estimated
one million elk. The Rocky Mountain
elk was found from the mountain
west to unknown points to the east,
possibly overlapping with the nowextinct Eastern subspecies. It is still
found thorughout the west and has
been transplanted in several eastern
states as well. Of the other subspecies, Roosevelt elk are found on
the Pacific Coast, tule elk in central
California, and Manitoban elk in the
northern Great Plains.
Size: As adults, cows measure
4½ feet at the shoulder and 6½ feet
from nose to rump. Bulls are 5 feet
at the shoulder and 8 feet long.
Calves weigh about 35 pounds at
birth. Cow elk can weigh more than
500 pounds, and bulls average
700 pounds.
Diet: Elk are primarily grazers that
feed on grass, but they sometimes
browse trees and shrubs and will
even nibble aspen bark in the
high-country. In Nebraska and other
agricultural states, elk will also eat
corn, wheat, alfalfa and other crops.
Antlers: Starting in their second
year, bull elk grow and shed antlers
annually. The antlers grow from
pedicles on their skull in the spring.
Beneath a layer of velvet,
layer upon layer of cartilage that mineralizes
into bone is
added at a
rate of one
inch per day,
growing faster than any other kind
of bone. When the growth stops in
August, the velvet is shed. In their
second year, bulls grow spikes that
are 10 to 20 inches long. Later
sets produce tines that branch from
the main beams. By its seventh
summer, a bull typically has six
points per side on antlers that
can measure 4 feet in length and
weigh 40 pounds each. During the
breeding season, which in Nebraska
begins in mid-September and
stretches into or through October,
bull elk use their antlers to fight for
breeding rights and protect their
harem. The biggest bulls with the
biggest antlers typically win these
battles, which are often bloody and
sometimes deadly.
The Language: Bulls let out eerie,
high-pitched bugles to advertise
their presence to rival bulls and
potential mates during the fall rut.
Cows bark to warn others of danger
and mew to keep track of each other.
Breeding Age: Unlike white-tailed
deer, which sometimes breed in their
first fall and often have twins, cow elk
usually don’t breed until they are
2½ years old and in most cases
have only one calf. In late-May or
early June, following approximately
8½ months of gestation, cows
separate from the herd to have their
spotted, scentless calves in isolated
areas. Calves join the herd about
two weeks after birth.
Lifespan: Elk can live 20 years in
captivity, but typically live 10 to 15
years in the wild.
Conservation Partners: The Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation has helped
protect and enhance 5.8 million acres
of elk habitat since it formed in 1984,
including several Nebraska projects,
where it has also been a partner in
elk research. Information in this
sidebar came from their web site at
RMEF.org, which contains many
more facts and details about elk
conservation
issues,
hunting
tips and
news.
Captive elk that escaped on the
Rosebud Indian Reservation in southcentral South Dakota appear to be the
seed for a herd that now spends most of
the year in the canyons along the
Niobrara River near Nenzel. Elk
sightings in the area began in the early
1990s and a decade later became
common. Unique among Nebraska’s
elk, most of the cows and some of the
bulls in that herd migrate between the
two states, wintering in South Dakota
and spending the rest of the year in
Nebraska. With other herds established
along the Niobrara near Valentine and
Basset, the region opened to hunting
in 2007. Growth of the herd near
Valentine, as well as disease concerns,
led to changes at the Fort Niobrara
National Wildlife Refuge, which has
begun eliminating its captive elk and
lowering fences to allow wild elk to
come and go as they please.
The Niobrara River and Boyd County
elk herds aside, biologists can only
speculate on the source of the other
herds. The Pine Ridge is a likely source,
but elk could have wandered in from
Wyoming, Colorado or even South
Dakota. Biologists have also found it
difficult, if not impossible, to get an
accurate count of the number of elk in
Nebraska, but based on their observations
and those provided by hunters,
landowners and others, they believe
each of the herds is slowly growing.
Next Stop … ?
Biologists estimate there were
between 1,600 and 2,200 head of elk
heading into last spring’s calving
season, which likely added about
300 more animals to the herd, and elk
harvest should be around 150 head
this fall. Based on Hams’ estimates,
the state’s herd is growing by 15 to
20 percent per year. At that rate, the
elk that survived the first two hunting
seasons in the Pine Ridge could have
fueled the growth of the state’s entire
population, but interstate movement of
animals likely figured into the equation
as well, and not just in the Boyd and
Niobrara units. Nordeen is fairly certain
there continues to be movement of
young bulls, and possibly other elk,
from the Black Hills of South Dakota
and Wyoming into the Pine Ridge.
Elk, especially young bulls that tire
of bouts with older males, are prone to
wander and can cover 50 miles in a
day. Reports of bull elk have come
from all corners of Nebraska, most
staying in one area for a short time
before moving on. Sometimes cow elk
wander off with those bulls, too, and
when that happens, a new herd can be
established wherever they find things to
their liking and stop, as was the case
when the Wyoming elk settled in the
Pine Ridge more than 40 years ago.
So where will elk wander off to next?
“Clearly they’re going to continue to fill
in the Pine Ridge, the North Platte River,
the Wildcat Hills and those escarpments,
and the Niobrara River all the way
down to the town of Niobrara,” said
Hams. “Those are all of the easy ones.”
Nordeen said it appears as though
new herds are currently forming along
the Niobrara south of Rushville and
Gordon, and in the Wildcat Hills on the
south edge of the Pumpkin Creek Valley
west of Harrisburg.
Hams said the territory elk are likely
to reclaim next is the Sandhills, which
may already have the beginnings of its
first herd. Michael Croxen of the
Nebraska National Forest – Bessey
Ranger District near Halsey said four
years ago a visitor reported seeing a
herd of 10 cows and calves with two
bulls. While a herd of that size hasn’t
been reported since, sightings of elk on
the forest aren’t uncommon, including
a cow and calf that were seen this
summer. Elk are also being reported on
nearby private land along the Dismal
River. For that matter, any of the other
rivers running through the Sandhills,
including the Snake, Cedar and Loups,
all of which include stretches that are
forested with cedars, cottonwoods or
other deciduous trees, could support
elk today just as they did more than
100 years ago. So could rougher areas
of the Sandhills, including those east of
Alliance where Schlichtemeier regularly
received reports of elk.
“If elk stay in the general habitats
that they’re in right now, I think the
population will double from where it is
now in about five years,” Hams said.
“If they expand into the Sandhills, that’s
a huge amount of habitat – three times
as much habitat as there is everywhere
else in the state. There’s very little rowcrop agriculture and a lot of grass. You
could put 1,000 elk in the Sandhills
A young bull elk peers through the cattails on the North Platte River.
and not even know they’re there.”
The rugged, cedar-forested canyons
of the Central Loess Hills Region in
and around Custer County also have
habitat suitable for a new elk herd, as
do most rivers, including the Missouri.
Richard Nelson, district wildlife
biologist in the Commission’s North
Platte office, said there are already a
few elk living along the Platte and
Republican rivers in southwestern
Nebraska.
It’s Your Call
While some landowners in the Pine
Ridge, Boyd County and elsewhere
initially were opposed to having any
elk around, perceptions seem to be
changing.
“They’ve become fairly popular with
the landowners,” said Nordeen, noting
that landowners not only appreciate
the opportunity they get to hunt elk
themselves, but many make additional
income by charging others who hunt
their land.
Wherever elk move to next, it will be
the landowners who decide if they stay
and how big the herds will be, as Hams
said the Commission recognizes the
damage these large mammals can do
to crops.
John Orr has had elk on his farm and
ranch on the North Platte River near
Lewellen since the early 1990s. He
said bachelor groups of bulls spend
much of the summer in his corn fields,
which provide everything an elk needs
– food, water and cover – and may be
cooler and less bug infested than the
riverbottom. The bulls trample the
corn, bed down and stay.
“When they start living in the corn
fields, those things do a lot of damage,”
said Orr. “It seems like they have to
make themselves a new place to lay
down every night.”
That damage isn’t evident until
harvest rolls around in the fall, but the
damage elk cause to fences is more
readily seen. “A four-wire fence is
nothing to them,” Orr said. “If they want
Like deer, rutting bull elk rub their antlers
on trees. With elk, however, the trees are
often much larger, including this 12-inch
ponderosa pine.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 35
Lined out and headed back to the timber above the Niobrara River after spending the
night feeding on center pivot fields, a herd of elk wanders past Kewanee Public
School on Nebraska Highway 12 between Valentine and Sparks.
A bachelor group of bull elk graze in the Sandhills north of the Niobrara River near Nenzel. While some elk spend the entire year in
the area, most of the cows and calves in this herd migrate north into South Dakota for the winter and return in the spring.
Fresh from a roll in a wallow, a bull elk heads back into the timber after feeding
on an alfalfa field in the Pine Ridge near Chadron.
36 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
to, they’ll just run right through it and
never look back.”
A self-described nature lover, Orr
admits he has mixed feelings about the
elk, and isn’t sure he would want the
herd to grow much beyond its current
level. “They’re so pretty to look at and
so majestic, and I love hearing them in
the fall when they start bugling,” he
said. “So I’m glad they are here – I just
wish they weren’t quite so destructive.”
Likewise, Mark Johnson is mostly
happy to have had elk on his place near
Nenzel since the early 1990s. But the
migratory nature of that herd lessens
the damage they can cause, and led
Johnson and other landowners to ask
that only bull permits be issued when
the area opened to hunting in 2007. It
was the bulls that were doing most of
the damage, often tearing up hay bales
and trees with their antlers. Johnson
tries to alleviate the damage by placing
round bales near a shelterbelt and pivot
on the south edge of his property, giving
the elk something to eat far from his
stack yard.
Hunting has reduced the number of
bulls in the Nenzel herd, and the pressure
seems to have broken what had been
one large herd into several smaller
ones, Johnson said. Last winter, however,
the cows were slow to move north to
South Dakota. “I had them here probably
for a month and a half which was
getting to be a little long,” said Johnson.
“If the cows did stay here all winter
long, we would want more cow permits
because I can’t have 62 head of elk all
winter. I just can’t. But in the short
time they’re here you get to see them,
you get to enjoy them and people want
to come see them. And as long as the
snow doesn’t get a foot-and-a-half
deep, they’re not too bad.”
With the sentiments of Orr, Johnson
and other landowners in mind, the
Commission’s elk management plan
has been fluid and ever evolving. Ten
years ago, the plan suggested that elk
would not be tolerated in heavily farmed
portions of the state. That section will
likely be removed in a revised plan, work
on which is underway. Hams said the
new approach will be on a case-by-case
basis wherever elk decide to settle down.
“There are a lot of places in the
Sandhills where elk are going to be
welcomed,” he said. “And we’ve had
elk show up throughout eastern
Nebraska and rarely have we had a
complaint. If we get 20 elk that set up
on the Lower Platte, it will probably be
a problem, but we’ll see.”
Two recent examples illustrate the
differing opinions landowners have of
elk. For the past two years, Pat Molini,
the Commission’s district wildlife
manager in Lincoln, has received a call
from a woman living in the hills south
of the Platte River near Columbus. She
wouldn’t leave her name or address, but
wanted Molini to know she had elk on
her property. The last time she called, she
reported seeing elk calves. Molini said
she is apparently happy to have the elk
and doesn’t want anyone to bother them.
A herd of 10 to 20 elk that has
made its home along a creek south of
Interstate 80 near Sutherland, however,
has not been welcomed by landowners,
so the Commission has increased the
number of cow permits available in the
area and has directed hunters there in
an effort to reduce that herd, an approach
it will use elsewhere that elk become a
problem.
Even within their current range,
biologists aren’t certain how many
more elk will be tolerated. In the Pine
Ridge, for example, the population is
already about double what a 2002
University of Nebraska – Lincoln study
estimated the area’s landowners would
want, although that number was less
than what the study said the habitat
could support. But Hams said landowner
tolerance of elk is greater now than
anyone could have imagined. “It kind
of started out like a relationship
between the little boy and girl that are
eight or nine years old and can’t stand
each other and then end up getting
married,” Hams said. “People start
seeing things differently, and that’s
the phase we’ve been in here the last
20 years, an emerging of appreciation
for each other … elk, landowners,
hunters and Game and Parks.”
“It’s a changing story, that’s for
sure,” said Hams.
And a good story for those who
appreciate elk. The next chapters
should be interesting reading. ■
For more information and photos
of elk in Nebraska, go to
www.NebraskalandMagazine.com.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 37
Gearing Up for Smallies
1. Fly rod/reel – Use floating poppers or sinking flies for clear-water smallies.
2. Spinning reel/rod – Spinning tackle allows the smallmouth angler to more easily fish
lighter, smaller lures with less visible line. “There are two things I’d concentrate on when fishing
for smallmouth versus largemouth,” said Commission fisheries biologist Daryl Bauer. “One, put
yourself in smallmouth waters. And two, downsize your tackle just a little bit.” Lures from 1/8
ounce to ¼ ounce are typical, and line test from 6 to 10 is the norm.
3. Baitcasting reel/rod – You don’t totally have to forgo your heavy tackle to catch
smallmouths. In Nebraska I’ve fished ½-ounce spinnerbaits and line test above 20 pounds for
smallies and had good success.
4. Topwater lures – Try prop lures as well as poppers. I watched angler Trevor Nation one day
at Johnson Lake repeatedly have strikes on lures similar to these. They are definitely an option in
my own tackle box.
5. Black spinnerbait – My most reliable lure for all Nebraska big game fish species is the
black spinnerbait. The color is supposed to represent crawfish, a staple in the smallmouth diet.
Change blades and lure sizes to find the right match for the smallies you’re targeting.
Smallmouths
6. Tube jig – Whenever longtime smallie angler Wendell Newcomb struggled on the Missouri
River during a recent trip, he went back to this lure and its slow presentation. And it worked.
The Overlooked Bass
7. Crankbaits – Remember the name of this fish when choosing crankbait sizes. My favorites
are Shad-raps from Rapala, the Bandit 100 series, and Bagley crankbaits.
Text and photos by Jeff Kurrus
2
A
t the time of press, there were 477 Master
Angler (MA) largemouth bass reported to the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for
2009. For a largemouth bass to be considered
for a MA award, the fish must measure 20
inches or above and weigh at least 5 pounds.
Despite the fact that the minimum
measurements for smallmouth bass are less restrictive due to
the fish’s smaller size (to qualify for a MA award, a
smallmouth should measure 18 inches or weigh three
pounds), only 31 smallmouth received MA awards last year.
Because of these numbers, it might appear that Nebraska’s
smallmouth population isn’t worth fishing for, yet I disagree.
While not as many as some states, Nebraska has multiple
smallmouth lakes to fish, and is gaining more each year.
The more I research, the more I’ve seen that instead of
spending the time and money to fish in Minnesota or
Wisconsin for smallies, I could stay right here and have just
as good of time.
The following sections reveal how you could do just that –
remain close to home chasing one of Nebraska’s most
underutilized, yet also most fierce, game fish.
38 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
3
Finding Smallmouth Waters
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s
re-designed web site has an interesting feature for
anglers looking for new spots to fish for their
beloved species, including smallmouth.
On the home page, at OutdoorNebraska.org,
click on the Maps link on the left side of the
screen. The screen you now see will look like the
state of Nebraska with the words Boating, Fishing,
Hunting, Parks, and Trails listed at the top of the
map. Click on Fishing.
In the upper right hand corner of the screen,
there is a blue fish icon next to the word Search. If
you click on this icon, you can find the locations of
specific water bodies or what water bodies have
certain fish species. Other information includes
water body size, contours, and any special
regulations for each public area. Because the map
is frequently updated, check back often.
5
1
4
7
6
OCTOBER 2010• NEBRASKALAND 39
“River fish tend to be harder
Largemouth Bass/Smallmouth Bass Comparison
B
oth smallmouth and largemouth bass are
members of the sunfish family, which contains
33 species. The term “bass” is derived from the Old
English word baers, meaning bristly. The spines of
both fish help protect each species because
predators will often take soft-rayed prey instead.
Yet they may be known more for their differences
than their similarities.
First, the mouth of the largemouth is large and
underslung, aiding their predatory instinct of
attacking prey from below. In contrast, the
smallmouth is better suited to feed on their
preferred diet – crayfish – in small rock crevices
due to its narrow and more pointed mouth.
In addition, while the jaw of the largemouth
extends past the eye, the jaw of the smallmouth
ends before the eye. Also, while both species will
change colors due to the clarity and composition of
their environment, largemouth are typically dark to
light green while smallmouth are bronze to brown.
Regarding their environment, the largemouth
fighters,” said Commission
fisheries biologist Daryl Bauer.
“They’re exercised more because
they’re in river current. But if you
take a smallmouth in a pond
environment, they’re still going to
fight better than most fish.”
habitat is much more varied than that of the
smallmouth. Largemouth bass can tolerate a
variety of environments, including brackish water,
ponds, lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers,
and marshes. The smallmouth is more selective –
they thrive in clear lakes and cool rivers with rockgravel bottoms and moderate flows, flows they can
manage better than the largemouth because of
their streamlined shape.
There are also other differences between these
two fish: Largemouth bass usually have horizontal
stripes along their sides, while the smallmouth has
vertical bars, and largemouth grow larger than
smallmouth. The world and Nebraska state records
for largemouth bass are 22 pounds, 4 ounces and
10 pounds, 11 ounces, respectively. In contrast, the
world record and Nebraska state record
smallmouth are 11 pounds, 15 ounces, and 7
pounds, 4 ounces.
While their differences are varied, both of these
fish are known by sportsmen for their fighting ability.
However, it is rare to find an experienced angler
who would rather catch a 4-pound largemouth as
opposed to a 4-pound smallmouth, which is
probably the greatest difference between these two
freshwater fighters.
“Inch for inch and pound for pound, the smallmouth
bass (Micropterus dolomieui) is the gamest fish that
swims,” claimed outdoor writer J.A. Henshall in the
late-1880s – a statement that is still very accurate
today.
40 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
FISH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOSEPH R. TOMELLARI
The crayfish is a favorite meal of the smallmouth bass. The
fish are also partial to other insects and smaller fish as
they mature.
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is the
most popular game fish in Nebraska and the U.S.,
and is found from coast to coast in a variety of
waters.
The River Rat
iver rat – that’s what Wendell Newcomb is.
He’s been fishing the Missouri River for 35
R
years and will probably continue fishing it until
he dies. As we rode west from Verdel Landing
one morning last summer, Newcomb repeatedly
cut back and forth across this unchannelized
part of the Missouri. “Traditional lake fishermen
don’t like navigating the river,” he yelled over
his engine. “You’ll get stuck on sandbars quick.
Some guys will run 60 miles per hour and not
know where they’re at. Slow that boat down on
this river.”
Smallmouth angler Wendell Newcomb fishes the lower end
of a sandbar on the Missouri River west of Verdel Landing.
A long time Missouri River angler, Newcomb fishes
various habitat on this unchannelized portion of the river
depending on the time of year.
The State of Smallies in Nebraska
It was my first time smallmouth fishing on the
Missouri, and more MA smallies came from
this part of the river in 2009 than any other
location in Nebraska. “The river has been
consistent through the years on production,”
said Newcomb. “Either it’s gotten better or I’ve
gotten better.”
After seeing how many different options and
techniques he used while fishing that day, I
imagine it’s a little bit of both. Here are a few
locations Newcomb regularly fishes on
Nebraska’s best smallmouth fishery:
1) Rip-rap banks and jetties – Because the
smallmouth bass spends so much of its life
near rip-rap and sand, these locations are
perfect spots to catch smallies. The flow of the
river can create holes near rip-rap, so both
deep and shallow water fishing are available.
There is a large amount of rip-rap just west of
the Verdel boat ramp. “Those fish will be there
all day,” Newcomb repeatedly told me that
day. “We’ll get back there later,” he said as
we sped in the opposite direction. Yet when
fishing turned slow later in the day, this set
of rocks was the first place we went. And
the fish were there.
2) Eddies – Smallmouth near these eddies
feed on a variety of aquatic prey coming
through the eddies, including baitfish, so
position the nose of the boat into the current
below the eddy and fish upstream to
downstream, allowing the lure to flow
through the eddy following the natural flow
of the river.
3) Downside of sandbars – The downstream
side of sandbars often create small shelves
and drop-offs in still water where topwater
lures, including weightless soft plastics,
become good options.
4) Upside grass on sandbars – Fish these
with spinnerbaits and weedless soft
plastics. The cover is denser and will hold
smallies late into the summer. “There is a lot
more grass on this river than a lot of people
realize,” said Newcomb. “And it holds
smallies.”
5) Backwater – In late-April and into May,
said Newcomb, fish move into the
backwaters as soon as these shallow spots
become warmer than the main river. “Once
you’re there, fish every log you see because
spawning fish will be on each one. It’s a
matter of going from stump to stump to
stump, and that lasts until June.”
6) Points – Once fish move out of the
backwaters, look at river points. “Come up
behind the points when you fish them,”
Newcomb said. By doing this, the lure has a
more natural presentation to the fish. These
areas should also be fished during the first
cool nights of August, Newcomb said, for
smallies will congregate on any kind of point
where these fish can locate fry.
“Smallmouth are like packs of wolves,” said
Newcomb. “Here today, gone tomorrow.
They move a lot through the year, especially
during the summer, making spring and fall
the best times to catch them.”
42 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2010
“While we do have a self-sustaining population
of smallmouth in multiple places,” said Bauer, “I
definitely wish we had more smallies.”
Unfortunately, most waters in Nebraska don’t
have suitable smallmouth habitat, so it’s probably
better to release the smallmouth you catch
instead of putting them in the fryer. Plus, because
the state has a 15-inch minimum on members of
the black bass family, which the smallmouth
belongs to, any smallmouth a person keeps
would therefore be one of the larger smallies in
the state and one of the few that helps sustain
Nebraska’s naturally reproducing population.
Smallmouth bass mature sexually between
three and four years of age, at which time they
are able to spawn, usually in early-May to earlyJune depending on the latitude. Females lay
eggs numbering in the thousands and males
defend the nests, continuing to aggressively
chase off interlopers days after the eggs hatch.
Spawning can be compromised by a variety of
factors, including water temperature, predation
and rainstorm runoff, with water washing away
eggs or covering them with silt. If they survive
this initial storm of danger, fingerling smallmouth
feed on plankton, then move on to small
crustaceans, insects and fishes. But many young
smallmouth in Nebraska do not survive this early
part of their life cycle, which is why the state’s
stocking program is so important to their
continued existence. War Axe SRA, near Shelton,
is one of the lakes recently stocked by the
Commission. “People are catching 10- to 12-inch
smallies in there right now,” said Bauer, “with a
few larger ones as well.” For larger water with
naturally reproducing populations, Merritt,
McConaughy, and Lewis and Clark are some of
the state’s best. However, the
unchannelized portion of the Missouri River
above Lewis and Clark remains the best place to
find this fierce fighter.
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRASKALAND 43
-
- ---------------
- Outdoor Business
New Land on the Missouri
Hunting on Tribal Land
Purchases will benefit wildlife and public use.
Many species and opportunities for hunters this fall on-,tmbaf
By Eric Fowler •
ByKenBouc
he U.S. Army Corp of
Engineer recently purchased
two large tract of land on the
59-mile reach of the Mi souri
National Recreational River in
northea tern ebraska to benefit least
tern and piping plovers that will also
sub tantially increa e the amount of land
on the river open to public for hunting,
fi hing, camping and other u e .
A 2,372-acre tract north of Wynot to
be known as Audubon Bend will open
to the public thi fall, according to Mike
George, manager of the Corps' Mi souri
River Recovery Program Manager before
moving to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. The land was purchased with
the a i tance of The Con ervation
Fund, a national non-profit group
which, among other things, u e it
revolving fund to help federal , state and
local partners quickly acquire land.
T
..,,t.r>•r~
(~ )
?+,,.,.-,.0,1.tf'
44
EBRA KALA D • O C I'O BER 2010
Audubon Bend include 4.5 miles of
river frontage and bottom land between
the bluff line and river, and is adjacent
to a large sandbar complex where tern
and plovers ne t.- The purchase will
protect the land from recreational
development that could degrade the
sandbar , said George and the Corps
will look at way to enhance those
andbars, including allowing the natural
bank sloughing and ero ion that provide
the edirnent neces ary to maintain them.
The Corp i working on a restoration
plan that will eventually include
converting more than 1,800 acres of
cropland to native gra e and
cottonwood forest. It al o hopes to
re tore a chute that formed the hi toric
St. Helena Island. When restoration i
complete, the Corp may transfer the
land to a government agency to manage.
" We've bought a lot of land since the
NEBRASKA
- GAME ~ ~ PARKS -
mitigation program ha been in
bu ine , ' aid George. "The e are the
kind of tracts that leave the legacy of
why we' re in that bu ine ."
Audubon Bend is adjacent to Bow
Creek Recreation Area which wa
purcha ed by the ational Park Service
and opened in 2008. Other public land
open to hunting on the ebra ka side
of the riverbottom in thi reach include
800 acre at Ponca State Park and the
nearby 660-acre Elk Point Bend
Wildlife Management Area.
While the Audubon Bend property
will be the most u ed by ebraskan , a
econd tract wa al o purcha ed·by the
Corp - the 546-acre orth Alabama
Bend property outhwest of Vermillion.
The Corp plan to remove cedar tree
that have invaded the gra land and
woodland there in recent year a
well a control mooth brome gra . ■
early 100,000 acre of tribal land on three northeast
ebra ka reservation are open this fall to hunter
with permit is ued by the Omaha at Macy, the
Winnebago at Winnebago (both in Thur ton
County) and the Santee Sioux at Santee in Knox
County. Their regulation include the following:
The Winnebago
Re ervation in northea tern
ebra ka will have about
30,000 acre open to hunting
thi fall , according to tribal
conservation officer Pete
Snowball Sr. The e field
and woodland hold
phea ants, quail and a
gu
cattering of Hungarian
z
·l:!
partridge for upland game :;;
enthu iast , plu cottontail §
and squirrel for small game iE
hunter . High flows thi spring and ummer filled oxbows
along the Missouri River with abundant water, providing
excellent opportunity for waterfowler . Plenty of forbearer ,
including beaver, muskrat , raccoons and mink, are available
for tho e who wi h to do ome trapping.
Tribal fall turkey permit al o are available, but only to
hunter who al o have a valid Winnebago deer permit, which
are already old out for thi year.
Permit are $75 for the upland game permit and 20 each
for mall game and waterfowl hunting and forbearer trapping.
A $100 combination permit allows upland, small game and
waterfowl hunting and forbearer trapping. A $20 tribaf habitat
tamp is required for all hunting or trapping._
Perm.it and map must be picked up in person at the
Wildlife and Parks Office behind the Ho Chunk Hope
Building on the outh out kirts of Winnebago. Only a
ca hier check or money order in the amount of the permit
and made out to the Winnebago Tribe of ebraska will be
accepted a payment and permit will not be i ued to
anyone under 12 year of age.
For more information,
call (402) 878-2362 or (402)
320-9471 between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m.
The Omaha Re ervation
offer an unlimited number of
either-sex fall turkey permits,
waterfowl permit , upland
a:
game permit valid for
~
pheasant quail cottontail
g"
and squirrels, and 38,000 acre :;;
on which hunter can use those §
permit , according to Wildlife iE
N
1 , .
ations.
and Parks Program Director Mike Tyndall. Deer permits for
thi fall , however, are not available - the Omaha sell tho e
in early January each year, often exhau ting the upply in an
hour or less.
The Omaha' fall turkey ea on is open October 28
through November 30. Permits are $25 each, are valid for
one bird of either ex, and there is no limit on the number a
hunter may buy. Upland game permits are $175, and allow
the taking of pheasants and quail from October 23 through
January 23, plu cottontail rabbit and quirrel , open now
through February 28. The tribal waterfowl permit i $100.
Permits and a map howing land open to hunting are
available over the counter at the Tribaf Park and Wildlife
Office at Big Elk Park, near the Mi ouri River nonheast of
Macy. Permit applications and a map al o are available
online at www.rezhunter.com. For more information, or to
reserve park cabin or camp ites, call the Wildlife and Park
office at (402) 837-4389. Permits and accommodation must
be paid for with credit card or money order.
Deer, turkey and upland/ mall game season on the Santee
Re ervation in Knox County will open and close on the
ame date a
Nebraska'
tatewide easons
and, with one
exception, also will
have the ame bag
and po ses ion
limits - the
Nebraska fall
turkey permit
allows two bird of
either sex, while the Santee permit is valid for one.
The approximately 30,000 acre of the Santee Re ervation
open to hunting offer "lots of turkeys," according to Don
LaPointe, director of Santee Parks and Wildlife. An
unlimit~d number of turkey permit , each allowing one
bird, are available at $50 apiece.
At $40 each, an unlimited number of doe permit will al o
be available. Those wishing to take a buck u ing a bow,
firearm or muzzleloader can upgrade to one of 200 available
either- ex permit for $125.
A Santee upland and small game permit seems a bargain at
20, valid for phea ant (which are making a comeback from
winter lo e everal year ago) a well a quail pa1tridge,
rabbits and squirrels.
Permit and a map howing land open to hunting are
available via e-mail at anteeparkswildlife@yahoo.com. Al o
include any question you might have. Permit and maps
al o may be obtained over the counter at the tribal Park and
Wildlife office in the town of Santee. Permits may be paid
for with ca h money order or per onal check. ■
OCTOBER 2010 • NEI3RA KALA 1D 45
Duck Soup
Something different when you have grown weary of the same old recipes.
By Jon Farrar
s soup, duck is artributed wirh
extraordina,y powers. 'When
married couples quarrel,' said
an ancienr Chinese sage, 'the)
should immediately make duck
soup and eat it togethe,: The soup
is so beneficial that even rhe most
argumentative man and wife will be
reunited.' It helps that the Mandarin
duck, which mates for life, is a symbol
offelicity and constanc) .
A
- William Mark The Chinese
Gourmet, l994
A le flattering comment about
eating duck came from a line in the
Marx Brother cla ic movie, Duck
Soup, relea ed in 1933. The movie had
nothing at all to do with duck oup.
The title wa one of Groucho ' line :
"Take two turkeys, one goose, four
cabbage , but no duck and mix them
together. After one ta te, you II duck
oup the re t of your life.
Duck oup hould not be ducked! It
is hearty and deliciou . Mo t recipe
are for dome tic duck and Ea tern
European or Chine e in origin. All can
be adapted u ing wild ducks. For
hunter , duck soup can be a welcome
change from the u ual way duck are
prepared - roasted, tir fried or on the
grill. The Internet is awa h in domestic
duck oup recipe , but be aware mo t
Chinese recipe begin with a roa ted
duck to bring out the full flavor of the
bone ; and mo t Poli h recipe for
Czarnia, a traditional Ea ter-time meal ,
call for the u e of everal cup of duck
blood, omething impo sible for duck
hunter to gather. Al o, when crui ing
the Internet be diligent to avoid "duck
soup' recipe for ick ferret . While
they may breathe new life into ai ling
ferret , the ground cat food recipe
would require trong drink to choke
down.
Since mo t recipe are built around
dome tic duck that are ub tantially
larger than wild duck the volume of
other ingredients hould be halved if
u ing one mallard, or two mallard-sized
46 NEBRA KALAND • OCTOBER 2010
duck hould be u ed. Mo t oup
recipe call for a carcas with kin-on ,
particularly if the duck i to be roasted
fir t. A mo t health-con ciou eater
today will di card the kin after the
duck i cooked and skim fat from the
top of the tock it i acceptable to tart
with a whole kinned duck. The carca s
i simmered to extract the favor locked
in bone and connective ti ue, creating
a ta ty tock for the soup. If a whole
duck picked or kinned, i not at hand ,
boned-out duck meat can be ub tituted
in the oup u ing commercial chicken
broth in place of the homemade oup
tock, but the flavor i a di rant econd.
Chunky Duck Soup with
Wild Rice
Serve four to ix
SOUP
l mallard- ized duck, picked
5 cup water or canned chicken
broth
1 large bay leaf
1 cru hed garlic clove
½ tea poon crushed ro emary leave
2 large carrot
2 celery tock
2 large red potatoe
1 large white onion
½ cup minced par ley
Place duck on it back in tockpot
with liquid. Should be enough to flow
into the body cavity but no more. Add
herbs. Bring to a low boil. Reduce heat
cover and immer for about two hour
or until meat ea ily flake off bone .
Remove meat and et aside. Return
bone to the tock. Simmer at lea t 30
minutes more.
Strain tock, cool, and kim fat from
urface. Coar ely chop and add the
vegetable . Cube brea t meat and add
along with leg to the pot. Simmer until
all vegetable are done. It i a hame to
overcook fresh vegetable . Add par ley
la t. Amount of ea oning may be
changed to uit individual taste . Add
alt if nece ary.
RICE DISH
1 cup wa hed wild rice
2 cup wa hed white rice
7 cup homemade stock or canned
chicken broth
½ teaspoon each of oregano leaves
cru hed fennel seed and thyme
I tea poon granulated or freshly
minced garlic
½ pound baby portabella mu hroom
15 moi t prune
1 red pepper
10 mall green onion
Prepare rice dish while soup is
immering. Bring rice and liquid to
boil while gently stirring. Reduce to
a simmer, add herbs and cover.
When only a little liquid remain ,
add quartered mushrooms, quartered
prune , diced red pepper and diced
green onions. Cover and immer for a
hort time, no more than lO minute
or until all liquid i ab orbed . Red
pepper are mild and lose their
weetne if overcooked.
As the oup and rice are cooked
eparately, they may be served a
eparate di he , or together with the
soup ladled over the rice mixture.
Top with a dollop of our cream and
chive and a prinkle of freshly ground
black pepper. Taba co lover might
want to add a drop or three to their
individual bowls. A hearty red wine
a fine companion to the meal.
If desiJed the duck may be cooked
and tock prepared, refrigerated
overnight, and the meal completed
quickly the following day.
Hearty Barley Duck Soup
Serve four to ix
Two mallard (or equivalent of mailer
duck ) kinned
2 quart cold water (or I quart chicken
tock, fre h or canned combined
!0
:fi-::_i.~/:>"~;;::~~~ ~
5z
j/
]l
_ _ _ ___.;._ ___;;......... i
In countries where domestic ducks are commonly raised, duck soup in a much anticipated meal. Wild ducks can be used
in most recipes for domestic duck, keeping in mind that they weigh less and as a rule do not have as much fat.
with I quart water)
2 carrot , craped and coarsely chopped
2 celery talk , including leave ,
coar ely chopped
1 mall parsnip, craped and coar ely
chopped
l onion, peeled and pierced with
2 whole clove
Fre hly ground black pepper
½ pound portabella mu hrooms,
coarsely chopped
½ cup pearl barley
2 large bay leave
½ tea poon each of coar ely grou nd
pepper ro emary, and granulated
garlic.
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh
par ley
Fillet brea t meat from carca and
cube. Cut thigh and leg from carca
but leave joined. Marinate meat
overnight or up to three day ,
refrigerated. (My favorite marinade
i enough bottle of tout beer to cover
the meat in a gla or ceramic bowl
6 table poon oy auce, 2 table poon
eaeh of cru hed ginger and chopped
garlic, and two large bay leave .
Periodically tir the meat o all
urfaces are expo ed to the marinade.)
Prepare tock a in the fir t recipe by
immering carca in l quart of water
or commercial chicken broth for at
least one hour. Strain to remove bone .
In tock pot combine the broth, J to
2 cup of the marinade. brea t and
leg meat, herbal ea oning . Simmer
for 30 to 40 mi nut . Salt to ta te. Add
barley but do not u e ·'quick barley" a
it will not make the wonderful barley
milk. ' Simmer until barley nearly
done. Add additional water if too
thick. About 10 to 20 minute before
erving, add carrot , celery. par nip
mu broom and onion. Cook until
vegetable a de ired. Serve with prig
of par ley for a garni h. Thick lice of
hearty ourdough or rye, an aged
chee e that can hold it own next to
thi hungry hunter ' oup and a dark
beer are perfect companion . A with
mo t homemade oup , the flavor
blend and improve in any left over
and eaten the next day. ■
OCTOBER 2010 • NEBRA KA
D 4
ATTRACTIONS/EVENTS
TAXIDERMY
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL CLA S - S1an a fire wi1h
1hc bow-drill me1hod. build a survival sheller.
be introduced 10 primi1ive !raps. cordage. 0int
knapping. edible and medicinal plants. waier
loca1ion and purifica1ion, and much more! Go to
www (\rcatnlaimarackcrcom.
B&B SKULL CLEA I G and European mounts:
professional service al affordable prices. Con1ac1
Rubin Fields in Omaha a1 (402) 598- I 873 or go 10
BOOKS/PUBLICATIONS/VIDEOS
THE OLDE MAIN STREET h 1. A hi 1oric bed and
breakfast lis1ed in lhe Na1ional Regi ter of His1oric
Places. Beautiful dining room wi1h lireplace.
Headquaners for General Nelson Miles. Wounded Knee
lnciden1, I 890-91. 115 Main S1rec1. Chadron E 69337
(308) 432-3380. www chadron com/ofclcmnin.
EXPLORE EBRASKA an, his1ory, cuhure and 1he
great ou1doors wi1h a ubscrip1ion 10 Nebraska Life
Magazine. One year (six issues) for $21 or two years
( 12 issues) jus1 $38. Phone (800) 777-6159. wri1e us a1
206 W Norfolk Ave. 1 orfolk I E 68702-08 I 9 or visi1
www NcbraskaLjfc com. Makes a greai gifl.
SATISFY YOUR CUR IOSITY about Nebraska" rich
pa I wi1h Nebraska His1ory. Learn about 'ebraska"s
fascinming people. places and even1s that shaped our
siate. To subscribe or 10 give a gifl of Nebraska Hi IOI)".
call 1-800-833-6747 or (402) 471-3272. To learn more.
visi1 www ncbraskahjsJocy org.
DOGS
I
PLUM CREEK KE
EL. German shonhairs. lud
service. puppies and staned dogs. Training for all poin1ing breed . Specialize in 1raining the handler as well as
1he dog. Wayne Clark. Percival. Iowa (ne.1r Omaha) (7 12)
529-4238. clarks I @iowa1clecom.ne1.
DUCKDAWG RETRIEVERS • Raising exceptional
hun1ing yellow and black Labradors. Puppi mi ed in
our home. 30-monlh. wriuen heahh guarantee. Stud
service: GRHRCH Ut DuckDawg"s Eba Roll 1he Diec
and GRHRCH UH McMac Magic Eyes A"Smilin MH.
The firs! Grand Hun1ing Re1rievcr Champions in
Nebraska. www,duckdawg com Ron Green. DVM and
Libby Milroy, onh Plane. NE (308) 534-3659
PREMIER GUNDOGS TRAI h G KE! EL: S1a1e
licensed kennel specializing in Hunting Dog and Hunt
Tcs1 1raining for all waterfowl and upland 0ushing
re1rievcrs. spaniels and pointing Labradors. Dale and
Kris Taylor (402) 787-2048 www prcmjcrgunclogs com.
FLATLA DER KE ' ELS I C. Bayard.
E
Full-time relriever 1raining facili1y for 1hc serious hunter
or AKC and HRC hun1 tester. Trainer of I ebra ·ka's firsi
and only GRHRCH's! Super Re1riever Series compe1i1or
and a member of Avery's Team Wmerdog. Training
available for all levels of hunl 1ests and gundogs. Chris
Jobman: (308) 249-0707. www 0mfandcrkcnoels com.
www bb~kullclc...,ning
com.
VACATIONS/RESORTS
www diamondbtroutrcsoa
For FREE Visitors Information, call 1-800-965-8479
www. vis itcasscou nty.com
48
1
EBRA KAL ND • OCTOBER 2010
GlJIDES/OUTFITTERS
LUGERS.
MILITARY SIDEARM . swords/edged
com
com.
MIGRATORY BIRD
HUNTERS
Don't forget your to get your
HIP number by calling
1-8 77-634-868 7
GUN DOG TRAINING
All Sporting Breeds
All dogs worked on foot - no
horses. Obedience included.
Midwest's finest facilities.
Started and trained dogs for sale.
"Training for hunters by hunters. •
Wilderness Kennels
Henry Sader-Lincoln, E
(402) 423-4212
GET YO UR FISH ! 'G PERMIT online today! Don ·1
wait un1il 1omorrow 10 enjoy I ebraska' great outdoors
by going ti hing wi1h 1he family. To purchase a pcnnil
from 1he comfon of your own home. go online 10
www Ou1doorNcbraska org and click on Purchase a
Pen11i1 under Uce11ses mu/ Fees.
•
•
•
WANTED
Classified Rates: 85~ per word, minimum $15.
Closing: First business day six weeks before issue
date. Classified ads are accepted on a first-come,
first-served, space-available basis. Classified Ads.
NEBRASKA/and Magazine, P.O. Box 30370,
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Telephone (402) 471-5473.
Fax: {402) 471-1984. E-mail: ngpc.classifieds
@nebraska.gov. Ads are posted online at
Nt;braskatandMagazine
at no additional charge.
MILL LRO I V LODG I G has modem cabin for your
vaca1ion pleasure. We are localed near Verdigre, E
in 1urkey coun1ry. Each cabin offers privacy: view and a
birdwatcher's paradise. Siay wi1h us for a COU TRY
1 EBRA KA LAKE MA AGEMENT. Biological lake
surveys. fish s1ocking, rough fish con1rol. lake acra1ion.
algae control, aquatic weed control. Rob Hpfpar. Aquaiic
Biologis1. licensed, insured and qualified. ~02) 784-6005
Valparaiso - (888) 850-2460 www nclake,s net.
HOMEBREWI G/BEER
A D
Wh EMA KI NG.
Fcrmenler"s Supply, 8410 K Plaza, Sui le# 10, Omaha. ' E
68127. Phone orders only. (888) 655-2739. Advice line
(402) 593-9171. www fcrmcntcc;supply com.
PLA1 11NG A VACATIO ? Why 001 spend ii at a
ebraska S1a1e Park? Wi1h more than 80 s1a1e park and
recreation areas across Nebraska 10 choo e from. you can
enjoy a campground or cabin and enjoy ac1ivi1ies such a
fi hing, swimming, camping and hiking. Call
(402) 471-1414 for rescrva1ions or go online al
www.Ou tdoorNcbraska org and follow 1he Parks link.
weapons wanted. Comac1: Dave (402) 677-2323. davidjayuden@m n.com
BIG BLUE RA 'CH & LODGE· Enjoy fi shing. hunling,
hiking. birdwaichiiig and ranch advcn1ures on 2000+ acre
caule ranch in southeastern 'ebraska. Beau1iful log
cabin. wi1h fireplaces, ki1chens & big covered porches.
overlooks 20-acre lake. www bjgblucrnnch.com (402)
730-3643.
FISH FOR SALE. Catfish. largemou1h bass. smallmou1h
bas . perch, crappie. bluegill. walleye. rainbow 1rou1.
grass carp, minnows. Pleasant Valley Fi ·h Fam1. 27851
U.S. Highway 83. McCook. E 69001. (308) 345-6599.
Strategic Air and Space Museum
Eugene T. Mahoney State Park
Wildlife Safari Park
Hiking and Biking Trails
Seven Golf Courses
www mjl)jron-v-
DIAMO D B TROUT RESORT. Orchard, 'ebraska.
Lodge. cabins, spring-fed lakes. piayground equipment
paddleboa1.. Great for families, groups, hun1ers. Book
your cabin now! Call for brochure (800) 974-3002.
FISH/FISHING
FOOD/GIFTS/HOME
EX PERIE 'CE. (402) 668-748 .
lodgjng com. jpeinrem@gpcom.ne1 .
RUFF RIVER'S BLACK MAGIC MARKER MH QAA
Sharpie Is a good-looking. powerful 80# male who Is ln toll lgent,
5
1
!~~:ri:':a~t::~~ t~~~~!~~:;, ~n~e1.:rn~s:r:~::~t:i::;:.
Sharpie has been very conslstont In both AKC ltT and FT.
In addition he Is a powerful upland dog with a fantastic nose.
•
•
•
•
AKC Moster Hunter
Qualified All-Ago
SRS Soml-Flnallst
Yellow Ff ctored
•
•
•
•
OFA Excellent Hips
EYES CERF Normal
EiC and CNM Clear
$500.00 Stud Fee
FC•AFC HIiitop's H1yued
CA OE - K AYAK - TUBE RE 1TALS on ·1he
bcau1iful 'iobrara River wi1h Dryland Aqua1ics al
Sparks. 1 ebraska. Your Niobrara River Specialist.
(800)
337-3119.
wwwdcylandaqu;njc,scom.
info@
drylandaquati .com.
OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT
I PERFORMANCE IMPORTANT? For lhe lines1
canoes and accessories look to Grca1 Plains C1noe Co ..
205 Main. Springfield. 'E 68059. Phone (402) 253-2000.
Sire: FC•f"TCH·AFTCH "Magic" MH
Cedar River Sage
SHARPIE
rc-ArC-FTCH•AFTCH Ritz
Oam: Rull Rivers "Minni" MH QAA
Ruff Rivers ""Trudy"" MH
JASON BRION
402-730-4235
www .jlbretrievers.com
OCTOBER 2010 • NEDRA K.ALAND 49
Portraits from the Past
◄
Pictured on the left is my
dad, Matt Wachal, in the
early 1940s with furs that
he trapped in the Richland
area. He trapped skunks,
muskrats and weasels with
his dog, Brownie.
Below is a picture of
myself taken approximately
forty years later after
trapping the same area
around Richland and
catching coyotes, muskrats,
coons, beavers and mink
with my dog, Lady.
- Dan Wachal
Schuyler, Nebraska
In a day, you went from "Dad"
to hero, mentor and friend.
Nebraska has made it easier than ever to pass on the gift of hunting to our young people.
I
With your leadership and knowledge, b?,nds will be strengthened and a first-time hunter will
become a lifetime hunter. To help, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is proud to announce
new regulations that allow youth hunting at a younger age with fewer roadblocks to success including lower tag fees. And your local _shooting range is the perfect place to begin your
preparation. This year, make a lasting c0nnection. Take a young ~erson hunting.
$5 Youth d_eer and turkey permits.
• This is a picture of Cedric
Meisel from Omaha, second
cousin to my father, August
"Augie" Thomsen. Augie and his
brother Bud used to go "coon"
hunting and sell the pelts for
extra income during the
Depression.
Bud had the dogs. They were
good hunting dogs but one night
one of them would not return to
the car when called - it must
have had a coon up a tree! So
Dad left his coat beside the road.
The next day he returned and
found the dog waiting beside the
coat. The scent of the coat made
him stay until Dad returned.
The photo was taken in
Scribner, Nebraska, in.the
1930s.
- Marilyn A. Volz
McCook, Nebraska
• This photograph was taken in Murray, Nebraska in approximately 1950. On several Sunday afternoons during the winter, many of the local
hunters would get together for a coyote hunt. They would surround a country section and walk toward the center herding the coyotes into the
ever decreasing circle. Today I'm sure this would give a hunter safety instructor cause for concern, but other than the coyotes, no one was
ever injured. I can identify all those leaning on the top rail of the stock truck. All but two are deceased. My father, Bob McKulsky, is 5th from
the left. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 91 .
- Bob McKulsky Jr. , Omaha, Nebraska
Send contribution to: Portrait from the Pa t, NEBRASKA/a11d Magazi11e P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Or e-mail to
tim .reigert @nebra ka.gov. Photo hould show people enjoying ebra ka outdoor activities, such a camping, boating, hunting or fishing,
and mu t have been taken before 1980. We will give priority to unu ual photo or activitie . When pos ible, plea e include a tory about
-the photograph and identify the people, place and approximate date it was taken. Photos will be returned.
50 NEBRA KALA 1D • OCTOBER 2010
For more information, go to
www.outdoornebraska.org/youth
NEBRASKA
-
GAME ~ ~ PARKS-
Position: 704 (16 views)