Volume 91, Issue 8, 2013
October 2013
- Identifier:
- nela.2013_091_08
- Title:
- Volume 91, Issue 8, 2013
- Issue Name:
- October 2013
- Date Issued:
- 2013-10-01
- year:
- 2013
- month:
- October
- Season:
- Autumn
- PDF filename:
- NL_91.08_2013_Oct_Spreads_Entire.pdf
- Publisher:
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Format:
- Periodical
- volume:
- 091
- issue:
- 08
- number:
- 091.08
- Decade:
- 2010s
- Type:
- Rights Holder:
- Copyright Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, all rights reserved.
- Extracted Text:
-
Publis hed by the Nebr a s k a Ga m e a nd Pa r k s C o m m is s ion si nc e 1926
NEBRASKAland
October 2013
The Wildcat Hills in the Nebraska Panhandle have evident beauty, but sometimes getting off of
the main road is the best way to see them. These sandstone outcroppings are near Scottsbluff.
Photo by Rick Houchin.
NebraskalandMagazine.com
$4.95
INSIDE
Mahoney State Park’s Wild Side ● All About Antlers
Indian Cave – 50 Years in the Making ● Cardinal Flower
Plank Grilling ● A Mountain Lion Timeline
NEBRASKAland Magazine
Volume 91
●
No. 8
●
October 2013
F EAT U R ES . . .
16 Something to Brag About
PHOTOS BY DOUG STEINKE, TEXT BY MARK VRTISKA
22 Cardinal Flower
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY GERRY STEINAUER
24 Mahoney’s Wild Side
P
T
M
F
30 Why Trapshoot?
HOTOS AND EXT BY
ICHAEL ORSBERG
BY DAVID TUNINK
32 Indian Cave State Park
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ERIC FOWLER
40 Two for Fall
BY DARYL BAUER
42 All About Antlers
24
●
BY JORDAN TATE AND JEFF KURRUS
46 Beyond the Concrete
BY SAM ANDERSON
D EPARTM EN T S . . .
16
●
Comment .........................................................4
Mixed Bag.......................................................6
In the Kitchen ...............................................48
Outdoor Business ..........................................49
Classifieds .....................................................50
Portraits from the Past ..................................52
Page 49..........................................................53
The Last Stop ................................................54
O N T H E W EB . . .
Trail Tails Magazine – Fall 2013
EDITED BY JERRY KANE, LAYOUT AND DESIGN BY DONNA SCHIMONITZ
Preview NEBRASKAland Magazine’s award-winning
children’s publication at NebraskalandMagazine.com.
NEBRASKAland (VOL. 91 / 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.
2 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
22
●
Cover: One morning I walked down to the Platte River in Hall County
and heard a noise in the tree behind me and saw these two raccoons
watching me. To learn more about raccoons, turn to page 6. Photo by Rick
Rasmussen. Opposite: A white ash and oak seedling provide a rainbow of
color to the forest floor at Indian Cave State Park in Richardson County. To
see more on Indian Cave, turn to page 32. Photo by Eric Fowler.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 3
This red fox was photographed by Kevin
Fortina near Valley, Nebraska.
mushroom can sometimes weigh up to
50 pounds or more.
Michelle Hutchson
Blair, Nebraska
Black and Red Fox Squirrels?
We have seen a black fox squirrel
with a red tail at our bird feeders –and
more recently a “half and half” (above)
as we like to call him. We also get a
kick out of watching Cooper’s hawk
fledglings make futile passes at the
squirrels in our yard.
Stanley Jensen
Lincoln, Nebraska
The Mushroom Quest
While hiking in the woods near
Verdigre, Nebraska, my husband and
I spotted a large, orange mushroom
(above, right) that brightened up the
forest floor. The 10-inch beauty was
growing from the underground roots of
an oak tree. Since we had never seen
that type of fungus before, we took
several pictures and tried to identify
it on several mushroom experts’
websites.
From what I learned, it is commonly
known as sulfur shelf, chicken of the
woods, or the chicken mushroom.
Even though it flourishes in hardwood
forests throughout North America, it is
a rare find for some mushroom hunters.
During the summer and fall, it is most
likely to be found on deciduous trees,
stumps, logs and roots. It also grows
on cedar, pine or other conifers. This
4 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
teaching our grandchildren all about
their parents’ home state using your
magazine.
Freda Hocking
NEBRASKAland Visitor Letters
We want to thank all 36 readers
who sent e-mails and letters for last
issue’s visitor, an oriental cockroach,
that was on page 54. See page 15 for
the winner, rules and this issue’s hint.
I enjoyed the black and white photos
by Mr. Forsberg. Color doesn’t always
provide the best way to see a subject,
and I thought his images were intimate
and revealing. Thank you.
Solveig Knott
Grand Island, Nebraska
Enjoyed the article on Royal,
Nebraska. My son-in-law and daughter
and family live near there and we have
done lots of hunting and fishing in the
area. Next time you are out that way,
stop in at Randy Erb’s bait shop and
check out his chain saw sculpture.
Janelle Downing
Norfolk, Nebraska
We recently moved to Indiana but
are continuing our NEBRASKAland
subscription since we grew up
in Nebraska and were residents
of Fremont for the past 38 years.
Our granddaughter helped me find
this month’s visitor. It will be fun
I tried for more than 40 years to get an
eagle picture and finally got a couple on
the Middle Loup River.
Victor Powers, Broken Bow, Nebraska
Statement of ownership and monthly circulation of
NEBRASKAland Magazine
Owner and publisher: Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission
Editor: Jeff Kurrus
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) ....................... 24,250 ........... 26,113
B. Paid Circulation
1. Single-copy sales ................. 2,875 ............. 2,865
2. Mail subscriptions .............. 19,098 ........... 19,271
C. Total Paid Circulation ............ 21,996 ........... 22,152
D. Free Distribution
by Mail ..................................... 1,362 ............. 2,974
D. Free Distribution
Outside the Mail .......................... 333 ................ 338
E. Total Free Distribution ............. 1,700 ............. 3,312
F. Total Distribution .................... 23,696 ........... 25,464
G. Copies Not Distributed ............... 554 ................ 649
H. Total ....................................... 24,250 ........... 26,113
I. Percent Paid and/or
Requested Circulation ................92% ............... 88%
This shiny black insect may be
familiar to many of you, but you
probably won’t admit that to your
neighbors. It is an Oriental cockroach
(Blatta orientalis), which, while
not native to the United States, has
become widely distributed and is
found in Nebraska. The Oriental
cockroach is nocturnal, preferring
dark habitats, and is a scavenger
feeding on a wide variety of organic
matter. It can be found outside in
damp, shady areas, often under debris,
while inside it is most commonly
found in basements or crawl spaces,
or under sinks, where moisture levels
are high. Oriental cockroaches are
dark brown to black in color, and
roughly 1 to 11⁄2 inches in length,
with females being larger than
males. Females have functionless
wing-pads, while males have wings
covering only 3⁄4 of their abdomen;
both are apparently unable to fly.
They are good runners, though, with
strong, well-developed legs. Females
produce eggs in an egg case called
an ootheca, which is approximately
the size and shape of a dried kidney
bean, and contains 15-20 eggs. They
carry the ootheca around on their
body for a day before depositing it
near a food source. Nymphs hatch
out, begin to feed, and will go
through several molts
before emerging as
adults.
Special thanks to Julie Van Meter,
State Entomologist, Nebraska Department of
Agriculture. Visitor image by Tim Reigert.
www.bugguide.net is a good site for identification
Send your comments to:
Jeff Kurrus, Editor
NEBRASKAland Magazine
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503
or e-mail Jeff.Kurrus@Nebraska.gov
Please include your postal address and
telephone number.
Letters may be condensed and edited
for clarity. Photographs are welcome
and will be returned.
Any program that receives federal funding from the National Park
Service, or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service prohibits unlawful
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, marital
status, national origin, age, disability or political affiliation. Any person
who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program,
activity, facility, or service, should contact the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission, Lincoln, NE 402-471-0641, the Equal Opportunity
Commission, Lincoln, NE 402-471-2024, TTY/TDD 402-471-4693;
United States Fish Wildlife Service, Civil Rights Coordinator, 4401
N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203; Director, Equal Opportunity
Program, U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1849 C
Street NW, Mail Code 0008, Washington, D.C. 20240-0001.
COMMISSIONERS
CONSERVATION OFFICERS
Director Jim Douglas
NORTHWEST
Officer
City
Jim Zimmerman (S) Gering
Commissioners
Chairman - Norris Marshall, Kearney
Vice Chairman - Lynn Berggren, Broken Bow
2nd Vice Chairman - Jerrod Burke, Curtis
Dr. Mark Pinkerton, Wilber
Dr. Kent Forney, Lincoln
Rex Fisher, Omaha
Mark Spurgin, Paxton
Mick Jensen, Blair
Ron Stave, Waterloo
MAGAZINE STAFF
Editor Jeff Kurrus
Art Director Tim Reigert
Associate Editor Amy Kucera
Regional Editors Eric Fowler, Julie Geiser,
Justin Haag, Jenny Nguyen
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
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Nebraska.gov or call 800-632-5263
Advertising Sales Manager
For advertising information contact
Shane G. Gilster
Phone: 402-742-0125
Email: shanegilster@gmail.com
NEBRASKAland Magazine Copyright 2013, all rights reserved.
NEBRASKAland is available in audio 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.
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COMMISSION
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OFFICES
F CES
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Headquarters/Southeast District Office
2200 N. 33rd Street Lincoln, NE 68503
Phone 402-471-0641
Northeast District Office
2201 N. 13th St. Norfolk, NE 68701
Phone 402-370-3374
Southwest District Office
301 E. State Farm Rd. North Platte, NE 69101
Phone 308-535-8025
Northwest District Office
East Hwy. 2, Box 725 Alliance, NE 69301
Phone 308-763-2940
Bassett Office
524 Panzer St., Box 508 Bassett, NE 68714
Phone 402-684-2921
Kearney Office
1617 First Ave. Kearney, NE 68847
Phone 308-865-5310
Omaha Office
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Greg Hesse
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Phone (308)
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Alliance
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SOUTHWEST
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Phone (308)
Roger Thompson (S) N. Platte (office) 535-8025
(cell) 530-3097
Ray Dierking
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870-0322
George Sund
Cambridge
655-0028
Michael Thome
Cozad
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Terry Brentzel
Oshkosh
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Matt Andrews
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Brian Piernicky
McCook
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Brandon O’Neal
N. Platte
778-7486
Nicholas Fix
Ogallala
289-0427
Bryce Streger
Ogallala
289-1169
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Rep. City
920-0367
NORTHEAST
Officer
City
Tom Zimmer (Sup.) Norfolk
Dale Davis
Steve Oberg
Daniel Roberts
Randy Pomplun
Jeff Jones
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Tim Williams
Pat George
Doug Pollard
Alex Frohberg
Cory Krause
Phone (402)
(office) 370-3374
(cell) 649-8053
Bassett
760-0712
Columbus
910-3366
Fremont
719-1108
Fullerton
308-550-0489
Hartington
762-5022
Kennard
889-8508
Grand Is
308-380-7331
O’Neill
340-0787
Ord
308-730-7050
Ponca
241-7615
West Point
380-6410
SOUTHEAST
Officer
Levi Krause (Sup.)
Sean McKeehan
William Krause
Mike Luben
Dan Zuehlke
Darin Gress
Douglas Kramer
Dina Barta
Stacey Lewton
Dudley Sorensen
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City
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ADMINISTRATION
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Craig Stover (Adm.)
Duane Arp (Ass.)
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City
Lincoln
Lincoln
Lincoln
Phone (402)
949-0593
308-279-9133
274-8063
443-6392
806-9084
768-8665
890-6465
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937-3422
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209-1506
616-5961
619-1355
Phone (402)
471-5531
471-5531
471-5531
Nebraska Wildlife Crimestoppers 1-800-742-7627
Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium
21502 W. Highway 31 Gretna, NE 68028
Phone 402-332-3901
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 5
Amy Kucera
Whether it’s running down
a tree head first or standing on
hind legs to inspect an attractive
aroma, raccoon behaviors
can be fascinating to observe.
Though easily identified by their
distinctive black mask and ringed
tail, witnessing a raccoon in the
wild can pose a challenge due to their
nocturnal nature.
In the city, however, the odds of catching
a glimpse of these mammals are considerably
greater. With a population density and life
expectancy higher than that of their country counterparts,
urban raccoons have quickly adapted and thrived in the
midst of the metropolis. Since they have the dexterity to
unlatch doors and open containers, it is customary for these
omnivores to dine at garbage bins where their access to food
is plentiful, and will often become the exclusive source of
nourishment.
It was once believed that raccoons had the humanlike tendency to wash their food before eating it. Rather,
the perceptive hairs surrounding their claws increase in
sensitivity while immersed in water and they use this method
to explore and identify objects.
In the Midwest, raccoons mate primarily during late
PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER
Raccoon Behaviors
winter. After a gestation period of around 62 days, a litter
is born, usually comprised of two to five young known as
kits. Since male raccoons do not assist with caretaking, kits
will remain with their mother in a protected area until they
are old enough to forage on their own. Urban raccoons will
often use attics, garages, chimneys and basements as den
sites and will teach their young their trademark technique of
dumpster diving.
As a survival skill, raccoons will often elude their pursuers
by traveling through streams and climbing trees. In the city,
since their only major predator is the automobile, they have
subsequently learned to avoid busy
streets and highways, and will teach
their young how to safely cross the
road. These resident raccoons don’t
use traffic lights, however, for they are
colorblind.
In Nebraska, prior to 1940, raccoons
were common only in the eastern
third of the state. They have since
greatly expanded their reach and can
now be frequently found in all 93
counties. As they continue to colonize
in cities, they have become a notorious
neighborhood nuisance to some, yet
they remain a treasured resource to
others. During the 2011-2012 season,
Nebraskans harvested an estimated
177,171 raccoons at an average price of
$10.09 per pelt. This value is projected
to continue on the upward trend this
Bob Caldwell captured this image when the Missouri River
season, making this furbearer a viable
flooded seven miles south of Nebraska City in 2010. The
economic activity for hunters and
camera and feeder were ruined but the SD card survived.
trappers.
Regardless of their location within
the landscape, raccoons are intelligent
Please submit your trail camera photos by e-mail to:
creatures with a unique ability to adapt
nebtrailcam@gmail.com. Also include where you’re from and
under modern circumstance. This
any information that will help explain your photo.
makes observing them a worthwhile
experience, one that may leave the
viewer just as curious as they are. ■
Send Us Your Trail Cam Photos!
6 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 7
A Backyard Photo Reminder
by Amy Kucera and
Jeff Kurrus
Halloween
f the blaze of orange you
ssee in the distance isn’t a hunter,
it could very well be a jack-o’-lantern
glow at one of these popular
glowing
Halloween-time destinations.
Vala’s Pumpkin Patch
pkins
D
g pum
n
i
t
a
r
o
c
e
8 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
Campgrou
State Parknd at Ponca
Dylan Tegtmeier, Outdoor U!
Whether in the field or at the
range, firearm handling should be
done properly at all times. There
are multiple options to choose from,
each specifically designed to keep
everyone safe in the field.
The two-hand, or ready, carry
offers good muzzle control and
allows you to get into shooting
position quickly. Use this carry when
others are in front of or behind you.
Never use it when someone is on the
same side that the muzzle is pointed.
The cradle carry is a comfortable
Two-hand (ready) carry
A Cooper’s hawk feeds on a small bird in an Alliance neighborhood tree.
way to carry a firearm, but this
position is not as secure as a twohand carry. Use this carry when
others are behind or in front of
you, but never to the side where the
muzzle is pointing.
The elbow, or side, carry is a
safe method when walking in open
terrain. This method may be good for
walking at the range, but when out
hunting in thick cover, branches can
catch the gun. Use it when others are
behind or to your side, but not when
they are in front of you.
The sling carry method frees up
your hands for other things, such
as scanning terrain with binoculars.
Cradle carry
When walking, one hand should
grasp the sling to keep the firearm
from slipping off the shoulder. This
is a poor method when walking on
difficult terrain or in heavy brush.
Be responsible and use the proper
firearm carry for whichever situation
you find yourself in. And always
remember, practice safety first and
keep your finger off the trigger and
your action open until you are ready
to shoot.
Visit us at OutdoorU.org for more
information. ■
Elbow (side) carry
Sling carry
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 9
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KALKOMEY
ENTERPRISES,
WWW.HUNTER-ED.COM
USED BY PERM
PERMISSI
ISSION.
ISSI
ON COPY
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T © 2013 KAL
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KOMEY
KOME
Y ENTERP
EN
TERPRISE
TERP
RISES,
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S, INC.,
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INC.,
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WWW.HUN
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TER-ED.C
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COM
But these are not the state’s only Halloween
destinations. One family spot to consider is the
Bloom Where You’re Planted From Farm in
Avoca and its not-so-scary characters and kidfriendly games for all ages. Or the Bellevue Berry
and Pumpkin Patch in Papillion which features an
Old West ghost town, a play area for kids and the
Ranch of Terror and its two-plus hours of fright-filled
attractions starting September
21. Visit RanchofTerror.com
for more information. ■
Safely Carry Your Firearm
PHOTO
PHOT
O BY BOB GRIER
GRIER
The possibilities are endless for pumpkins
and people alike at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Gretna starting
September 20. Witness a pumpkin shoot a quarter-mile,
get lost in the corn maze, walk through a haunted house or
participate in one of the many other holiday activities.
Visit ValasPumpkinPatch.com for more details.
Ponca
In addition, don’t miss the 15th Annual Hallowfest at Ponca State Park in
one
little
your
while
cider
apple
on October 12 and 19. Enjoy hand-cranked
competes in pumpkin rolling, carving or campground decorating
contests. The hair-raising highlight is the Haunted Hayrack tours at dusk.
Ride reservations begin October 7 at 8 a.m. Be sure to call early
as reservations for the rides fill up fast. Or, you could take
a chance at the Indian Cave State Park Haunted Hollow
Hayrack Ride and campsite decorating contest (see
page 39 for additional information).
Bob Grier, retired NEBRASKAland
regional editor
Feathers floating to the ground like
snow caught my attention from our
kitchen window in Alliance. Following
the trail upwards through a tree
revealed a rare guest to our back yard,
a juvenile Cooper’s hawk, patiently
pulling feathers from a smaller bird.
Grabbing a 35mm digital single lens
reflex and newly acquired 400mm f5.6
telephoto lens, I slowly moved in its
direction. The hawk paid little attention
to the approaching camera as I moved
almost directly under the perch.
No matter where you call home,
wildlife photography opportunities are
always close at hand. Be observant, and
you too might one day find feathers
floating to the lawn like snow. ■
A Nebraska Cowboy Tells How to Drive Cattle
HARPERS WEEKLY 1867-10-19_3> – FROM HARPER’S WEEKLY, OCTOBER 19, 1867
10 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
Warm-weather Precautions for Canines
Trent Leichleiter, Pheasant Bonanza
Keep these tips in mind when working your dogs
throughout the still warm days of early fall. They may just
save your best friend’s life.
1) Exercise your dog(s) before you start the hunting season,
especially the warm weather seasons such as grouse, dove
and early pheasant. Taking walks helps but actually working
your dog in a field is the best because they travel at least 3
to 4 times the distance you do during a hunt.
2) If you have multiple dogs it is beneficial to rotate them
out during a hot day. When they’re not working, place them
in an insulated and/or well-ventilated dog crate, box or
trailer. Park in shade if possible or have a fan system set up
on the kennel. I have had customers’ dogs overheat in the
kennel and pass away. Lastly, if your dog is wet make sure
you dry him/her off before kenneling because the wet coat
will not allow the skin to breathe properly.
3) Read your dog. Do not push them too hard and
make sure you carry plenty of water with you and water
frequently. When they slow down, put them up and give
Super Bait Storage Ideas
Brian Robinson, Field Expert
If you’re like most anglers, you’ve
heard of some of the new so-called
super baits. The baits I refer to are soft
plastics such as Berkley Gulp!, Gulp!
Alive and Trigger X. They come in
many bait profiles, sizes and colors to
fit many different fresh and salt water
applications. Just like any other bait,
they’re not the magic fish-catching
answer all the time. But there are times
when they do shine.
The problem these baits present is
properly storing them. They are most
commonly sold in plastic zip-lock
storage bags, or sometimes jars that
have screw-on lids. These jars are often
anything but leak-proof. The plastic
bags are a better option, but only if you
successfully get them closed. As we all
know, this is not always the case.
Let’s look at Berkley’s Gulp. This
bait is made of biodegradable material
that absorbs the liquid that it’s sold and
stored in. This liquid is essential to the
bait’s fish catching ability, storage and
general life. Leave the bait on your hook
and out of the package when you’re
finished fishing and you’ll be looking
for a very sharp knife to remove it.
Companies such as Plano are
now coming out with plastic storage
them water.
4) I have seen dog(s) go down before and thankfully
we had access to wet/chilled soil that we packed in the
arm pits and the underneath of the dog until a vehicle was
dispatched. Some handlers say rubbing alcohol serves the
same purpose but I have not had to use it. If you follow all
of the precautions you will hopefully never get to this point
of treating heat stroke. ■
containers that are leak-proof and
designed to specifically store the baits
mentioned here. Another good option
is to peruse your favorite department
store, locate the kitchen aisles and find
a leakproof container to your liking.
I have found that these containers are
built heavier, and truly do stay leak
proof. The added bonus is that you
can store most all of your Gulp in
the same container. Because they are
biodegradable and made of different
material than other soft plastic baits, the
colors do not bleed and discolor other
baits in the same container. They all
share the same liquid, and when you
have a container with different baits,
you have a variety to choose from
at any given time. I’ve stored pink,
white, yellow and black baits in the
same container and have yet to have a
problem.
With this storage system you’ll be
able to customize what baits you have
with you, and maybe more importantly,
what size container to carry with you. I
have a larger container that stores them
all in my boat, but if you’re fishing
sandpits or backpacking to a remote
location, a smaller container may be
more desirable.
One important aspect to mention
here is not to store other baits in the
liquid with the Gulp. Baits such as Mr.
PHOTO
PHOT
O BY JEF
JEFF
F KURRUS
KURRUS
David Bristow, Nebraska History Magazine
Cattleman James H. Cook first came to Nebraska in 1876 when he helped
drive a herd of cattle from Texas. In 1911 he recalled driving 2,500 head of
longhorns from Texas to Dakota Territory:
“Our experience in getting as far as the North Platte River in Western
Nebraska was the one common to those who ‘drove the trail’ in those
days—high water, stormy weather, stampedes of both cattle and
saddle horses, hunger at times and great thirst, as well as a few other
discomforts which aided the cowboy in rounding out his full
measure of whatever he might choose to call it – misery or joy.
“We crossed the South Platte and North Platte Rivers a few
miles east of the town of Ogallala. From there we drove over to
Birdwood Creek, then to the head waters of the Dismal and Loup
rivers and on north through the great chain of shifting sand hills
that are now so well known.”
But how did they do it, day after day? Cook explained in a
1907 interview:
“The right way to drive these cattle was to run them in a
long, narrow column which tapered toward the front end to
half a dozen in width. On each side and some distance in rear
of the leaders, or ‘pointers’ as they were called, was a single
driver, and these two foremost drivers were called respectively
right and left ‘point’ drivers.
“Behind these on either side and nearly midway of the
column were the right and left hand ‘swing’ drivers; in rear of
these at the proper distance were two more ‘swing’ drivers, and in
the rear of the column were two ‘drag’ drivers whose duty was to
bring up the laggards. The drivers kept the cattle in column by riding
from their stations rearward till they reached the driver next behind.
Two opposite drivers riding backward and pressing in toward the center
overcame the tendency of the stock to spread out…
“In this way two thousand cattle could be held in compact line
extending two or three or more miles in length.”
And this was done by a crew of only about a dozen men, including a
foreman, cook, and horse wrangler. Because of the exhausting riding, the
owner provided six to 10 horses per man.
Cook settled on a ranch in Sioux County in 1887; today it is known as
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. His is one of many stories told in
Nebraska Cowboys: Lives, Legends, and Legacies, a new exhibit at the
Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. ■
RG3484-1 SFN105511_2 – JAMES H. COOK. TEXT AND PHOTOS FROM THE NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A Brief History —
Twister,
regular
Berkley
Power Bait
and other basic
plastics are not
built to perform
the same way as
Gulp. The same can be
said for Trigger X.
A big advantage of this system is
always having the liquid to put baits
back into and recharge them. And if
you’re looking for fishing tips with
Gulp, this system makes it easy. When
you have a fish rip a piece of Gulp in
half, or it’s simply falling off the hook
from being used, don’t throw it away.
These pieces can be used later, even if
they’re a small fragment of their original
size. When times get tough trolling
crankbaits, I will tip the forward hook
with a piece of Gulp for added color or
attraction. While fishing a jig/minnow
combination, I will often apply a tiny
piece of Gulp after the minnow has been
baited. And while using slab spoons I
will tip one of the trebles with a piece of
Gulp. The list goes on.
Do these super baits really outfish live
bait as they claim? Not always, but in
the instances when they do, it’s good to
have plenty with you in the right type of
storage these baits require. ■
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 11
Hunter Orange Facts
Firearm and muzzleloader deer hunters in Nebraska must wear hunter orange, but it is
also highly recommended for upland game hunters to wear hunter orange.
Here are a few other orange notes:
• Hunter orange was patented by
Randall S. Moyer in October of 1988.
• Deer cannot see hunter orange
because they lack red-sensitive
cone cells in their eyes and cannot
distinguish this color like humans
can.
• In Arkansas, hunter safety green, or
fluorescent chartreuse, is an acceptable
color of hunter safety clothing during
the fall hunting seasons.
• In Alabama and Connecticut, if
hunting from a tree stand more than 12
feet above the ground, hunter orange
clothing is not required.
PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER
Jordan Tate, Freelance Writer
As the firearm deer hunting season
approaches, every hunter entering the
field should have one thing in common,
an abundance of hunter orange.
Nebraska hunters are required by state
law to wear a minimum of 400 square
inches of hunter orange, visible on their
head, chest and back as a precautionary
safety measure while firearm and
muzzleloader deer hunting.
Fall turkey hunters also fall under the
same requirements during Nebraska’s
9-day November firearm season, and
hunter orange is also recommended for
small game and upland game hunters
as it helps hunting partners as well as
other hunters better see you.
• Alaska, Arizona, California,
Idaho, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, New York, Oregon
and Vermont do not have state hunter
orange regulations in effect; rather it is
recommended that hunters wear hunter
orange clothing during the appropriate
hunting seasons. ■
Turkey Hunting with Dogs
Hunters Helping the Hungry
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
12 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
PHOTO
PHOT
O BY
B JEF
J F KURRUS
KURRUS
K
S
Kara Wessel, NEBRASKAland Intern
The Hunters Helping the Hungry program is entering its second year. This
program provides pure ground venison to Nebraskans in need and is funded
entirely by tax deductible donations.
Highlights of changes this year:
• Hunters may offer a deer to the program with the start of the archery
season on September 15.
• Budget allows for processing twice as many deer as last year.
• Processor quotas will be increased if supported by cash donations and
donated deer.
• There are 22 locations to donate a deer – two of these include new
processors.
Successes from the first year of the program include:
• 213 deer donated by 188 hunters to 22 different participating processor
locations.
• 16 charitable organizations distributed 11,536 pounds of venison.
• Hunters contributed $62,000 while purchasing permits between May 2012
and June 2013. Over $30,000 more was donated by businesses and individuals.
To learn more, including how to donate and the locations of participating
processors, visit OutdoorNebraska.org/HHH or email Teresa Lombard, Hunters
Helping the Hungry program coordinator, at teresa.lombard@nebraska.gov. ■
Jordan Tate, Freelance Writer
Of the 8,362 turkeys harvested during Nebraska’s 2012 fall turkey season, very
few were probably taken with help from man’s best friend. In the 44 U.S. states
that have fall turkey hunting seasons, 30 of these states, including Nebraska, allow
the use of dogs to find turkeys during a hunt. However, many fall turkey hunters
in Nebraska have never heard of using dogs to hunt turkeys, but using them
creates a strategical advantage that many hunters argue cannot be
duplicated.
According to the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), a typical hunting
strategy suggests that a dog should roam 100 to 200 yards ahead of the hunter,
trying to locate a flock of turkeys for their master. Once a turkey flock is found,
the dog charges through them, barking and scattering the flock in all directions.
Then, a good turkey dog will wait at this spot, allowing the hunter to quickly
locate the position of the commotion.
The hunter’s next step is to hunker down and hide their dog, using a canvas
bag or other camouflage cover, near the flock’s original location. Once settled, it
is recommended that the hunter should start to call the turkeys back. The NWTF
suggests the hunter should immediately begin using basic calls hoping that a lost
turkey will wander back to their original position. Because it is the fall season,
many turkeys will group together, and all turkeys are fair game to harvest. After
only a few minutes of calling, the hunter should remain very alert because the
turkeys could return to this spot quickly. This gives the hunter a great chance at a
bird, and a well-earned reward for their four-legged hunting companion.
However, a hunter must remember that while on public land there is always
a possibility that others may be hunting on the same ground. Turkey hunters
using a dog should be aware of other hunters in the area, as well as respect land
boundaries, while chasing their Thanksgiving bird. ■
When fall turkey hunting with dogs,
birds will often fly to a nearby tree when
their flock is busted by a dog before
re-flocking on the ground below.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 13
by Jerry Kane
Contact the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission at 402-471-0641 or visit
OutdoorNebraska.org for more information.
Visit HuntSafeNebraska.org for a list of hunter
education classes and BoatSafeNebraska.org
for a list of boating safety classes.
Crow hunting season
opens statewide
River antlerless deer
hunting season for legal
firearms, but not Season
Choice, landowner or
youth permits
October 1-31
Paddlefish snagging
season
October 4-6
Becoming an
Outdoors-Woman
Camp Halsey, 402-4715482
October 5
Project WILD
Workshop
Spring Creek Prairie
Audubon, Denton,
402-471-5363
October 5
Dark goose hunting
season opens in North
Central Unit
October 5-6
Youth waterfowl hunting
season in Zone 1
October 6
Muzzleloader antelope
hunting season closes
Cave SP, Shubert,
402-883-2575
Portable Cell Phone
Chargers
October 12
October 19-20
Julie Geiser
Youth waterfowl hunting
season in Zone 3
October 12
October 23
October late doe/fawn
antelope hunting season
opens
October 12
Duck and coot hunting
seasons open in Zones 2
and 4
October 12,19
Hallowfest Ponca SP,
October 5
Light goose hunting
regular season opens
October 19-20
Roger G. Sykes Outdoor
Heritage Education
Complex closes for
season, Platte River SP,
Louisville, 402-471-5547
October 5
White-fronted goose
hunting season opens
Nebraska Game
and Parks Board of
Commissioners meeting,
8 a.m., Nebraska City
Youth pheasant, quail
and partridge hunting
seasons open
October 11, 18, 25
Haunted Hollow
Hayrack Rides Indian
Duck and coot hunting
seasons open in Zone 1
October 5
October 18
Ponca, 402-755-2284
October 12, 19, 26
RV Campground
Halloween Decorating
Contest Indian Cave SP,
Shubert, 402-883-2575
October 19-20
DeSoto muzzleloader deer
hunting season
Duck and coot hunting
seasons open in Zone 3
October 26
Howl in the Hills Night
Hike Wildcat Hills Nature
Center, Gering,
308-436-3777
October 26
Pheasant, quail and
partridge hunting seasons
open
October 27
Archery and firearm bull
elk hunting seasons close
October 12-27
October 27
October 5
Firearm antelope hunting Private and public land
Homemade Living Day season open
antlerless elk hunting
Ponca State Park (SP),
seasons close
October 13
Ponca, 402-755-2284
Muzzleloader Sight-in October 28
October 5-6
and Family Rendezvous Dark goose hunting
Autumn Harvest Art
season opens in East,
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Platte
Show
Platte River, Panhandle
River SP, Louisville,
Eugene T. Mahoney SP,
Ashland, 402-944-2523
October 5-6
Living History
Weekend
402-234-2217
and Niobrara units
October 13
Family Rendezvous
October 30
Platte River SP,
Louisville, 402-234-2217
Fort Atkinson State
Historical Park (SHP), Fort October 14
Columbus Day Game
Calhoun,
and Parks offices closed
402-468-5611
H
aving a cell phone with you
afield is a matter of safety.
Accidents, dead boat motors or
being lost in the Nebraska back
country are all excellent reasons
to have a cell phone. But you also
need to have a portable cell phone
charger.
While they come in different
sizes, most fit easily in a pocket,
day pack or dry bag and are able to
recharge the average smartphone
one to six times before needing to
be recharged themselves. The units
I tried cost $8, which provided one
charge, and $22, which allowed
four charges, making these portable
lifesavers great when in the woods
or on the water. ■
Hod Kosman of
Scottsbluff was
recently recognized
with the highest honor
given by the Western
Association of Fish
and Wildlife Agencies
(WAFWA) – the
President’s Award.
Kosman accepted
the award on behalf of the Platte River
Basin Environments (PRBE).
Jim Douglas, WAFWA president
and director of the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission, recognized Kosman Commission director and WAFWA
president Jim Douglas presents the
for his many years of conservation
award to Hod Kosman this July in Omaha.
efforts. Kosman was honored with the
President’s Award during WAFWA’s annual meeting July 19-24 in Omaha.
Kosman and other sportsmen created PRBE in 1989 with the help of several
partners, including Game and Parks. PRBE works to preserve, conserve, enhance
and restore wildlife habitat and natural areas within the North Platte River basin
and adjacent drainages through long-term commitment, steadfast reliance on good
science and volunteers.
PRBE’s other partners are the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, Nebraska
Environmental Trust, Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever,
Wild Turkey Federation, Peter Kiewit Foundation, Oregon Trail Community
Foundation, Dow Chemical, Doris Duke Foundation, Toyota Field and Stream,
University of Nebraska, Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Partners for Conservation
and North American Wetlands Conservation Act. ■
Dick Turpin
Before a little
rubbery flap came
along, there was a
day that jelly and
pickle jars could
be hard to open.
That technology has
found its way into outdoor applications
as well. Here’s a handy little tip: be
sure you have one of these little rubber
mats with you, especially those of you
who shoot bigger bows of 60, 70 and
80 pounds. Those arrows reallyy go
g
deep into the targets.
ets.
They make the
mats to take off jar
ar
lids and everything
ng
else. Boy, they
really help when it
comes to grippingg
that arrow out of
there. Just a little
twist is all you’ll
need. ■
See You Out There... But Where?
Dove hunting season
closes
October 31
Raccoon and Virginia
opossum hunting
seasons close
PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAAG
October 1-10
Turpin Time
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
October 1
Kosman Receives President’s Award
Do you know where this Nebraska photograph was taken?
See answer at the bottom of page 15 (right).
NEBRASKAland Visitor
Winner and Hint
Last issue’s winner of
the Visitor drawing
was John Helzer of
Aurora, Nebraska, who found the
Oriental cockroach on page 54.
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.
We will then gather the correct
entries and draw one to win a
NEBRASKAland Magazine 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 4, 5, 24, or 47.
CHADRON STATE PARK IN DAWES COUNTY
14 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 15
Something to
Brag About
Sharing the experience
expands the tradition
Photos by Doug Steinke, text by Mark Vrtiska
W
aterfowlers are a determined lot of hunters
willing to share their expertise with anyone
who will listen. The sound of an exaggerated
competition-like hail or rapid feed call is nice, but
what hunting partners want to see, and will tell
their friends about, is if a caller can turn a flock of
geese toward the decoys or convince that lonesome
greenhead that he has compatriots on the water below.
A quiet, well-mannered dog with an unquenchable
drive for retrieving is the companion of choice, one
which will sit quietly in a corner until released to
attack any downed bird ... as long as the dog retrieves
with a soft mouth. Lastly, one’s own shooting prowess
will always come into play, and the hunters most
enjoyable to be around are those who shoot well but
don’t comment on how well they shoot.
The one thing a hunter should comment on,
especially during the slow times in the blind, is the
hunt itself. We all know why we love to waterfowl
hunt – winter sunrises, the sound of whistling wings
and the smell of gun powder – but we also love to
learn all we can about the subject. For the more we
learn about our quarry, the more we can pass on to
our hunting partners in order to educate and protect
this passion we love so much. ■
16 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
TOP: A Labrador retriever carries a
Ross’s goose through an Adams County
cornfield. This Ross’s goose likely came
from the main breeding colony above
the Arctic Circle in central Canada. In
distinguishing between Ross’s geese
and white-phase snow geese, look no
further than the bill. Ross’s geese have
a shorter, stubbier bill, lack the “grinning
patch” found on snow geese, more of a
straight edge of feathers at the base of
the bill and can have various quantities of
caruncles – warty-like protuberances – at
the base of the bill.
BOTTOM: Mallards loaf on the edge of
a warm water drainage. Mallards are
the most harvested duck in Nebraska,
comprising 55 percent of all ducks since
1995. Most mallards shot in Nebraska are
hatched and raised in Canada.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 17
TOP LEFT: Pintails, known for their elongated tail which can measure one-fourth of
the drake’s body length, are an elegant flyer throughout their North American range,
which includes Nebraska. While they were once one of North America’s most abundant
ducks, their numbers have declined since the 1950s because of loss of wetland and
grassland habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region, their primary breeding area.
OPPOSITE LEFT: Kevin Berggren of Broken Bow carries two blue-winged teals after an
early morning hunt in Dawson County. Surveys of Nebraska migratory bird hunters by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate Nebraskan duck hunters spent a combined
240,000 days afield, and an average of $815 spent per hunter, but don’t tell your spouse
that.
TOP: Decoys are vital equipment for many waterfowlers, and can range in price from less
than $40 to more than $600 per dozen. But regardless of price, if the decoys are not in
the right spot and you’re not well hidden, even the most expensive decoys, loudest calls
and best layout blinds won’t help. Lots of scouting – watching not only the fields the
birds are using but the location in those fields – is the key to deciding where to place
your setup.
LEFT: Nebraska winters about 40 percent of the large Canada geese in the eastern tier
of the Central Flyway. The Platte River system typically holds about one-third of the total
number of waterfowl wintering in Nebraska each year.
18 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 19
TOP LEFT: Recent surveys from Arkansas and Missouri indicate that duck hunters
place more importance on passing along the traditions of waterfowl hunting and the
opportunity to see ducks than actually harvesting ducks.
OPPOSITE LEFT: Biologists can determine not only the species of the duck they’re
looking at from the wing, in this case a blue-winged teal, but also the age and sex of
the bird.
LEFT: Since the 1970s, the number of waterfowl hunters in the United States has
declined about 40 percent. A major ramification of the decline is the loss of revenues
– used to protect wetland and upland habitats – associated with the Federal Migratory
Bird Hunting Conservation Stamp (i.e., the Duck Stamp). Potentially, over $125 million,
and 100,000 acres of habitat, could have been garnered since 1995 from stamp funds
alone if trends in waterfowl hunters had maintained.
TOP RIGHT: Two redheads pitch toward a decoy spread on the central Platte River.
Redheads are well-known for laying their eggs in the nests of other ducks, and are the
most common diving duck species in Nebraska’s harvest.
20 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 21
Cardinal Flower
A Charismatic Though Rare Wildflower
By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist
O
ILLUSTRATION BY GRACE KOSTEL
THINKSTOCK
Flowers and Pollination
22 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
Introduction to Nebraska
Native plants are dispersed to new regions primarily
through agents of nature – their seeds are blown by the wind,
carried by water, transported in the gut of birds or lodged
in mammal fur. Nebraska’s cardinal flower populations,
however, may be an exception. Ethnobotanist Melvin R.
Gilmore speculated that the Pawnee Tribe introduced the
plant to the Republican and Platte valleys.
“This species is peculiar in its situation in Nebraska, in
that it is found in some isolated areas, all within the ancient
domain of the Pawnee Nation. These areas are far distant
from any other region in which the species is found. … the
presence of this species in the Pawnee country may be due
to introduction by Pawnee medicine men. This explanation
is suggested in view of the value placed on the mystic
powers attributed to the species by that people. One use of
this plant was in the composition of a love charm [made
from the plant’s roots and flowers mixed with ginseng,
wild columbine, wild parsley, and red-earth paint],” wrote
Gilmore in his 1919 book Uses of Plants by the Indians of
the Missouri River Region. He noted that known cardinal
flower populations in Nebraska were near old Pawnee
villages.
Gilmore did not say whether he thought the Pawnee
scattered cardinal flower seed into wetlands or grew the
plant in gardens. Native Americans were known to have
cultivated Indian-tobacco (Lobelia inflata), a close woodland
relative of cardinal flower, in gardens. In the mid-1800s,
for example, the Crow Tribe was growing the plant for
use in religious ceremonies in Montana’s Yellowstone
River Valley, several hundred miles west of its current
range. Recently, ecologists have successfully sown cardinal
flower seed in central Platte River wetland restorations,
demonstrating its ease of establishment. Whether cardinal
flower was introduced to Nebraska naturally or by the
Pawnee may never be known.
Medicinal Values
Many Native American tribes also valued cardinal flower
as a medicinal plant. A root tea was used to treat stomach
PHOTO BY CHRIS HELZER
long. The flowers, an inch in
n an August day in
length or longer, have five
the late 1990s in a
petals with bases fused to
central Platte River
form a nectar-storing tube.
backwater slough, I stumbled
The unfused portion of the top
upon a colony of wildflowers
two petals flare outward while
with spikes of striking scarlet
the upper portion of the lower
blooms. Though I had never
petals form a three-lobed lip.
before encountered this plant,
Cardinal flower blooms from
the distinct flowers were a
August through September
dead giveaway to its identity.
with the lower blossoms of
The plant was cardinal flower
the densely flowered spikes
(Lobelia cardinalis), a member
blooming first. The flowers are
of the bellflower family
scentless and attract pollinators
(Campanulaceae), whose name
with color alone. The fruit is a
was inspired by the red robes
capsule containing copious tiny
worn by Catholic cardinals.
chestnut or light brown seeds
Cardinal flower most
A MALE AND FEMALE phase of cardinal flower blossoms.
that are wind-dispersed.
commonly grows in marshes,
The grayish-white
wet prairies and woods in
reproductive organs are located atop a narrow stalk that
eastern and southern states. In Nebraska, it is known from
rises above the flower. When an individual flower first
only a few sites in the Republican River and central Platte
blooms, it is in the male phase and the five anthers fill with
River valleys, and these populations represent the extreme
pollen. A tiny brush of hairs, located behind the anthers,
northern edge of the species’ Great Plains range.
pushes pollen out of the anthers when a pollinator presses
against the stalk. The pollen dispersal last five days, then
the flower shifts to the female phase. At this time, the twolobed stigma – the pollen receiving structure also located
Cardinal flower is a perennial that can grow up to 5 feet
atop the stalk – spreads open. When pollen is deposited on
tall. The erect, light green stems often grow in clusters
the stigmas, it penetrates downward through the stalk and
and are lined with lance-shaped leaves that reach 6 inches
eventually reaches the ovary below,
where fertilization occurs. Having
alternating male and female flowering
phases promotes pollen exchange
among plants, known as outcrossing,
and guarantees the offspring greater
genetic diversity and fitness.
Cardinal flower is Nebraska’s only
native wildflower with pure red blooms.
Most plant species with red and orange
flowers are adapted for hummingbird
pollination as the birds have an innate
attraction to these colors, hence why
hummingbird feeders are red. Cardinal
flower’s floral tubes angle upward and
outward from the stem, a design that
provides hovering hummingbirds easy
access to the dilute nectar stored deep
within the tubes. The flower’s anthers
and stigmas, which are held above
A RUBY-THROATED hummingbird pollinates a cardinal flower.
the floral tube and nod downward, are perfectly placed for
pollen transfer by feeding hummingbirds. When a bird visits
a flower in the male phase and thrusts its lengthy, narrow
bill into the floral tube to lap nectar with a long-forked
tongue – that can flick at a rate of 10 times per second –
pollen is brushed onto its head. When the bird later visits a
flower in the female phase, the pollen is deposited onto the
receptive stigma.
The ruby-throated is the only species of hummingbird
present in the Republican River and central Platte River
valleys when cardinal flowers bloom. The species is at the
western edge of its range here and its numbers are low, and
therefore is likely an inefficient cardinal flower pollinator.
Larger, long-tongued butterflies, such as swallowtails,
and day-flying moths, also drink nectar from and pollinate
cardinal flower as their wings contract and transfer the
pollen, and they may be the primary pollinators.
CARDINAL FLOWER in full bloom in a restored wetland on the Nature
Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies in Hall County.
aches, syphilis, typhoid and worms, and a leaf tea was used
for colds, croup, nosebleeds, fevers and headaches. Colonists
and settlers used cardinal flower and other Lobelias in
medicines to treat asthma, nerves, coughs and other ailments,
as well as an emetic.
Recently, it was discovered that cardinal flower and other
lobelias contain lobeline and other similar alkaloids. These
compounds, when ingested, have effects comparable to
nicotine, causing excitement and paralysis of the nerves, and
likely explain cardinal flower’s use as a medicinal plant.
Lobeline is an active ingredient in modern cough medicines,
over-the-counter smoking cessation products and respiratory
stimulants used to relieve bronchial spasms. Due to its effect
on dopamine levels in the brain, it has the potential to treat
amphetamine and other drug addictions. In high doses,
however, lobeline is toxic, as the compound’s likely function
in plants is to dissuade herbivores through poisoning. The
symptoms of over consumption, similar to those of nicotine
poisoning, include nausea, paralysis, rapid but weak pulse,
coma and even death.
Upon close inspection, it is obvious that the cardinal
flower’s beauty and elegance extends well beyond its
showy plume of blossoms, to the details of its intricate
floral design, complex chemistry and interactions with other
species. It’s sad, however, that this charismatic wildflower is
rare in our state and known to so few Nebraskans. ■
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 23
Mahoney’s Wild Side
Photos and text by Michael Forsberg
Perched high on the Platte River bluffs, Eugene T. Mahoney
State Park sits equidistant between Lincoln and Omaha, the two
largest population centers in the state. The park consistently ranks
as one of the three most visited attractions in Nebraska, with its
first-rate lodge and cabins, aquatic center, theatre, horseback
rides, toboggan runs and 70-foot tall observation tower. In 2012,
Mahoney had more than one million visitors pass through its gates.
But beyond the entrance and its myriad amenities, there is another
side of Mahoney – a quieter, wilder side.
A raccoon left its mark (opposite) along a wooded creek bottom.
A white-tailed deer (above) grazes on late season grasses near the woodland edge.
24 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 25
This wild is most apparent in
autumn after the summer crowds
have retreated, when you can
hike the Railroad Trail at dawn
traversing oak-covered bluff
tops with views of the river and
come eye level with a bald eagle
surveying the floodplain below, or
look up through the canopy to see
huge flocks of whitefronts and snow
geese arrow overhead following a
watery path south on migration.
A migrating robin (opposite) gorges on the ripened fruit of a crabapple tree.
A coal train (above) just beyond Mahoney’s eastern border snakes along Salt Creek near its confluence with the Platte.
26 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 27
wild turkeys marching through the forest, or watch
white-tailed deer emerge into the open parkland
at day’s end. The trails never venture far from a
road, cabin or other man-made structure, but they
can quickly reveal the wild spirit that still lingers
in the land.
Mahoney is one of several properties that
stitched together help protect the integrity of
important habitats along the Lower Platte River
corridor, from remnant oak-hickory woodlands
along the bluffs to cottonwood islands and wide
braided channels on the river floodplain. These
places harbor rare species and provide safe
passage for international migrants, protect our
water resources and open spaces, and provide
us all an opportunity to appreciate our natural
heritage and connect us to the world beyond
ourselves. ■
On a misty afternoon in October, you can
walk the Margre’s Village trail contouring the
woodland-prairie edge before heading into the
woods, shuffling through damp layers of fallen
leaves following coyote tracks to watery pockets
and ravines where fall warblers flit like winged
spirits among the old oaks. Or you can simply
wander onto a path just outside your cabin or
campground in the evening, listening intently for
28 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
A wild turkey (above) foraging in
the forest understory pauses while
waiting for the rest of her brood.
E.T. Mahoney State Park
Fallen leaves (right) provide a
colorful carpet on the hardwood
forest floor.
Mahoney State Park stretches across 706
acres of Platte River bluffs and is located
3 miles east of Ashland in Cass County.
Seven miles of hiking trails traverse
easy and moderate terrain, connecting
day users and overnight guests with
Mahoney’s wilder side.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 29
they can borrow one for the first
couple of practices to see if they enjoy
the sport. Many new shooters start by
using their father’s or grandfather’s
shotgun. Shotgun shells range from
$5.50 to $8.50 per box depending on
the brand. A shooting vest or shell bag
is also recommended.
Why
Trapshoot?
What is the cost of
range fees?
A Question and Answer
J
unior and senior high trapshooting
is one of the fastest growing
competitive activities in Nebraska,
as shown by the continued increase in
attendance at the Cornhusker National
Trapshoot held annually in Doniphan
the first week of May. This organized
meet, which began in 1970, is currently
the largest youth trapshooting
competition in the world. In 2013, the
event had a total of 2,253 shooters.
In Nebraska, there are four organized
youth trapshooting conferences –
Eastern Cornhusker, Mid-Nebraska,
Central and Western – that provide a
structure to conduct meets at area trap
ranges, as well as offer youth a place
to compete against each other on both
an individual and team basis. In 2013,
the Eastern Cornhusker conference, the
largest in the state, celebrated its 25th
year of existence with 1,385 registered
shooters. The success of these
conferences are the result of many
hours of volunteer time by conference
board members, shoot directors,
club personnel, coaches, parents and
participants.
The following are some frequently
asked questions by new and potential
shooters:
What is trapshooting?
Trapshooting is a shotgun event
first developed in the 1700s to extend
practice for bird hunting, and actually
used live pigeons as targets. Today,
shooters fire at 4¼-inch clay targets
thrown from a trap house at a height of
9 to 9½ feet and speed of 42 mph.
The trap house, located at the center
of the range, oscillates through a set
field of five stations. Therefore, the
shooter knows
the general area
that the target will
be thrown.
In competition,
trapshooters will shoot events from a
distance of 16 yards, measured from
the shooter’s position to the front of
the trap house. In the handicap event,
participants stand farther from the trap
house depending how well they shoot,
shooting at distances of 18 to 25 yards
based on their scores in the singles
event.
What do I need to get
started?
A shooter is required to have eye
protection, whether it be prescription or
tinted shooting glasses. Ear protection
is also essential, from simple foam or
fitted ear plugs to ear muffs. Shooters
should invest in a shotgun but generally
Where can I find a
range?
There are many trap ranges across
the state. Websites, including the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
at OutdoorNebraska.org and National
Shooting Sports Foundation at Nssf.org
include a search for area trap ranges.
What type of shells do I
need?
Shot size is restricted to no more
than No. 71⁄2, but shooters can also use
No. 8 shot as it is smaller in size.
High velocity shells aren’t necessary.
For the 16-yard event, light trap
loads – 11⁄8 oz., 1,145 feet per second
– work great. A shooter can also use
loads that are 1,190 feet per second.
It is important to reduce the recoil,
especially for young shooters. If one
were to shoot 300 or more targets
in a day, the lighter loads will be
appreciated.
PHOTO BY BOB GRIER
Who is there to help
with safety?
The annual Cornhusker National High School and Junior High School Trapshoot, held at Doniphan, Nebraska.
30 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
Safety is a number one priority on
the trap range. With school club teams,
at least one parent or coach is present
with each squad during shooting. For
new shooters, coaches are right behind
them while they are shooting until we
are confident that they have learned
shotgun safety. From the beginning of
the season, shooters and their parents
At what age can I
begin?
It depends on the individual and their
mental maturity. Most students begin
competing in the 6th grade. By the end
of the season, major improvements
in their shooting ability, as well as an
increase in confidence, can be seen.
How do I choose a gun?
For trapshooting, a break action
shotgun is recommended for beginners
since there are fewer moving parts.
Pump shotguns would be second.
Semi-automatics are fine if you
keep them clean, as their operation
helps reduce recoil. However, during
competition a shooter is not allowed
to eject shells on the ground so a shell
catcher must be used.
Some shooters use a field shotgun to
shoot trap, but it is a disadvantage to
do so. Field guns are built to shoot flat,
which means that half the shot pattern
is above where the shooter points and
the other half is below.
PHOTO BY DOUG CARROLL
By Dave Tunink, Trapshooting Coach
The normal cost is $3 to
$4 per round of 25 targets.
Most shooting clubs provide
youth trap teams a discounted
rate for practice rounds. As a
member of a club, the cost for
individual practice rounds will be
cheaper.
are informed that their child may be
disciplined to enforce range safety
rules.
Instructors will teach that a shooter’s
gun action is always open until they are
ready to shoot, with their barrel pointed
down range. A finger is placed on the
trigger only when they are ready to
call for the target, and shooters are not
allowed to move from one station to
the next with a shell in the gun.
Kristyn Kocsis of Marian smiles after a
successful round at Doniphan.
Will trapshooting lead
to shooting better in the
field?
What is the difference
between a 20 and a 12?
The more you shoot, the better
you will be, but since trapshooters
start with the shotgun mounted, it is
different than hunting in the field. The
best practice to improve field shooting
is going out to a nearby sporting clays
range and practice without the shotgun
mounted and with targets coming from
various angles and speeds. One may be
a very good trapshooter, but sporting
clays can humble even the best.
Trapshooting is a great sport that
anyone can be involved in. It teaches
not only gun safety and handling skills,
but personal responsibility as well. It’s
also a chance for youth to meet others
and enjoy a friendly competition. ■
Gun fit is the first thing that a trap
coach assesses with a new shooter,
next checking the length of the stock,
eye position on the comb and whether
the shooter is canting the shotgun – the
barrel should be vertical, not tilted.
Trap shotguns have longer barrels
than field or skeet guns, giving
them a smoother swing to the target.
Some start with a 20-gauge, but new
trapshooters should go with a 12-gauge
shotgun instead. It is a misconception
that 20 gauge shotguns have less recoil.
Shorter stocks can be purchased for
several gun models and adjusted to fit
as needed.
Dave Tunink, a fisheries biologist for
the Commission, is a certified NRA/USA
Trap Shooting Coach with the Lincoln
Pius trap team since 1998, and became
head coach in 2005. During this time,
members have placed often, including
two individual 16-yard champions, one
individual handicap
champion and 2013
overall high team
champion. He also
leads the youth
trapshooting event for
the Cornhusker State
Games.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 31
Indian Cave State Park
A Natural Playground Turns 50
Southeastern Nebraska park is the
perfect place to soak in
autumn’s splendor.
On cool October mornings, fog often rises from the
warm waters of the Missouri River at sunrise, giving
park visitors another reason to stop at the scenic
overlook on the park’s loop road, the first being a
ridgetop-view of a forest painted in fall color.
32 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 33
Text and photos by
Eric Fowler
F
or most of the year, Indian
Cave State Park is a quiet,
sleepy little park, tucked in
the forested bluffs above
the Missouri River in the
southeastern corner of Nebraska. When
fall arrives, however, bringing shades
of yellow, orange, red and purple to
the woodlands, that all changes – or at
least in parts of the park, anyway – as
visitors arrive in droves to soak in the
autumn splendor by day and scream
their way through the Halloween
festivities at night.
Nature
Doug Masat of Lincoln and Jim
Reynolds of Salina, Kansas, hike
the Hardwood Trail on the east
end of the park last October.
34 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
The crescent shaped park straddles the
Nemaha-Richardson County line and
comprises the lion’s share of one of the
largest oak woodlands in the state – 7
miles long and stretching up to 11⁄2 miles
from the edge of the Missouri River
valley. But this isn’t like other forests
farther up the Missouri or Platte rivers
that are dominated by burr oak, which
often simply fades to brown in the fall.
At Indian Cave, black and red oak, along
with shagbark and bitternut hickory and
white ash, all at the northern or western
edge of their range, join species more
common in Nebraska like green ash,
pawpaw, dogwood and cottonwood to
put on a colorful display that in some
years makes the park look more like the
Missouri Ozarks. Other species of trees
in the forest are Chinquapin oak, black
walnut, Kentucky coffee, American and
red elm, ironwood and redbud, which
puts on a show each spring with a flush
of rosy pink flowers.
Only recently has the forest become
so expansive. When Lewis and
Clark came upriver in 1804, only the
riverbottom and the creeks leading to
it were timbered. The rest of the fertile
loess hills were prairie, which William
Clark said was “rich but parched with
frequent fires.”
Soon after, most of the trees in
and near the valley were cut to feed
the boilers of steamboats that plied
the river. By the time railroads made
the steamboat obsolete, settlers had
controlled the fires that kept trees
in check, and they grew with vigor
Elk are among the ancient petroglyphs etched in the wall of the sandstone outcropping
that gives Indian Cave State Park its name.
wherever the land wasn’t farmed.
Fire recently returned to the forest.
Since 2007, Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission staff has been using
prescribed burns to control shadetolerant trees and shrubs like dogwoods,
ironwood, hackberry and elm, as well
as garlic mustard, a non-native invasive
plant.
“The problem is when it gets
overly dense and shady, we start
losing the native grasses and sedges
and wildflowers in the understory,”
said Gerry Steinauer, a botanist with
Commission. Also, oaks, which
require substantial sunlight as saplings,
cannot survive. “We’re trying to open
up the woodlands so we get the next
generation of oaks.”
Some areas have been burned
annually since 2009, others one to three
times, and 1,700 acres were blackened
last spring. Garlic mustard is also being
attacked by chemical and mechanical
means, as is sericea lespedeza, another
non-native invasive. Already, remnants
of prairie have begun expanding on
the ridgetops, benefitting flowers like
Indian paintbrush and blue-eyed grass.
In the understory, purple milkweed,
prairie plantain, May apple and
maidenhair fern are spreading.
The work will benefit the diversity
of wildlife found in the park. More
than 130 species of birds breed in the
woodlands, including some like the
pileated woodpecker, red-shouldered
hawk, Carolina wren and Kentucky
warbler, all more common in deciduous
woodlands to the south and east. In the
spring, birders could check more than
100 species off their life list in a day.
Elk and wolves no longer roam the
area as they did 200 years ago, but
white-tailed deer and wild turkeys are
common at Indian Cave. Other forest
inhabitants at the northwestern edge of
their range include the gray squirrel,
the eastern cousin of the brown fox
squirrels, and the southern flying
squirrel, a nocturnal creature that soars
from tree to tree on “wings” of skin that
stretch between its front and back legs.
An addition to 347 acres of
bottomland on the park’s northeastern
corner in 2000 added to the river
frontage and wildlife value. A pair of
bald eagles has nested in cottonwoods
there since 2011. A restored 20-acre
wetland draws migrating waterfowl.
Partially filled with silt in recent floods,
work to improve the wetland is planned
for 2014.
History
The ancient cave that gives the park
its name is just one of the historical
attractions at the park. But actually it is
more of a hollow beneath a sandstone
ledge than a cave. Reportedly used
by trappers and outlaws, ancient
Indian Cave State Park
Indian Cave State Park is located 10 miles
south and 5 miles east of Brownville on
Nebraska Spur 64E.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 35
A handful of the 120 tent camping sites at
Indian Cave that come with picnic tables
and fire rings are found on a ridge-top
clearing that stretches 200 yards from the
park’s main road.
Yellow lady’s slipper orchid is a rare plant
species that is expected to increase in
abundance as woodland habitat at Indian
Cave becomes more.
PHOTO BY CHRIS HELZER
petroglyphs etched in the cave’s walls
may provide the earliest evidence of
man’s presence at the location. Which
Native Americans created the artwork,
which include elk, buffalo and abstract
symbols, is not known. And many have
been obscured by modern-day vandals.
Before the white man arrived, Otoe
Indians lived in villages along the
river, growing corn and other crops
and traveling west to hunt buffalo and
other game. They ceded the land to the
Park wrangler Denny Crawford leads Sage Pentland of Wymore on a horse ride during
Indian Cave State Park’s Outdoor Adventure last April.
36 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
U.S. Government in an 1830 treaty.
That same year, the government created
the 125,000-acre Nemaha Half-Breed
Reservation between the Big and Little
Nemaha rivers for homeless offspring
of trappers and natives, including
Yankton and Santee Sioux, Omaha and
Iowa, as well as orphaned Indians.
Joseph Deroin, the son of a French
trader and his Otoe wife, staked his
claim on the reservation in the 1830s
and began operating a trading post
there in the 1840s. By 1853 – the year
before Nebraska became a territory –
the post became known as St. Deroin,
with aspirations of the town’s ferry site
making it as prosperous as St. Louis. In
1858, Deroin was shot trying to collect
a debt from one of the white squatters
who moved into the area. The influx
of whites led to both the dissolution
of the half-breed tract in 1861 and the
growth of the town, which peaked at
200 residents and 20 businesses in the
1870s. Losing the Nemaha County seat
to Brownville stemmed the growth,
and the coming of the railroad in 1903
reversed it. A flood took most of what
was left of the town in 1911.
The walls of the school, which
closed in 1944, were all that remained
of St. Deroin when the Commission
acquired the first parcel of land for the
park in 1963. Restoring the school,
rebuilding the sutler’s store, and other
improvements laid out in the original
plans for the park like campgrounds
and roads had to wait until creation of
the State Park Entry Permit in 1978.
Today
Each October, St. Deroin is on the
half-way point of one of the spookiest
hayrack rides in Nebraska. Held
annually since 1996, the park’s oneway loop road is transformed into
the Haunted Hollow and filled with
zombies, witches and ghosts that lurch
from the darkness. A cadre of volunteer
spooks, including area high school
and college students, make the event
possible. Last year, 3,000 people joined
the fun on the five nights it was held.
Another must-see on an October
Saturday are the campsites vying for
best of show in the annual Halloween
decorating contest. Aspiring ghosts,
super heroes and ballerinas can also
trick-or-treat their way through the
camp. During the day, youngsters can
carve pumpkins, see how far they can
roll them down a hill or partake in other
crafts at the park’s museum.
The 134 sites in the Ash Grove and
Hackberry Hollow RV campgrounds
fill up fast on weekends from midSeptember through October. Other
than that, only on Memorial Day
weekend will you want to arrive early
if you didn’t reserve a site. Even if the
campground is full, park staff will find
a place for you to park for the weekend.
Likewise, while the 120 primitive
sites with picnic tables and fire rings
might fill up, the park never runs out of
room for tent campers. Those looking
to really rough it can hike or bike to one
of 18 backcountry campsites, nine with
Adirondack shelters, scattered along the
22 miles of trails that wind through the
park. Those sites are first-come, first
served, but don’t often fill up, even in
the fall.
Many of the trails, ranging from
three-fourths of a mile to 7 miles in
length, aren’t for the meek. There
is more than 300 feet in elevation
change from the park’s highest point
to the riverbottom, and some of the
trails seem to cover that in short order,
making them a popular training ground
for Boy Scout troops preparing for
greater ascents in the mountain West.
If you have a horse, you can ride
on 16 miles of the trails and park it
for the night in one of 12 corrals in
Indian Cave’s horse camp. If you don’t
have your own mount, trail rides are
offered on weekends and holidays from
Memorial Day through October.
If a hike in the steep hills isn’t your
thing, follow the level trail to a viewing
deck on the bottomland wetland.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 37
Colleen Volkmer of Brownville stokes the fire
under her pot of witch’s brew as she awaits
another batch of visitors to scare during the
Haunted Hollow Hayrack Ride last October.
Elissa Huebert of Omaha and her children,
Bryce, Ethan and Tessa, watch Joan Keighley of
Reserve, Kansas, hand-dip candles last April.
38 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
And you can absorb plenty of nature
driving the 8 miles of roads in the park,
including the one-way loop that twists
and turns its way down to St. Deroin
and returns in a deep ravine under the
forest canopy.
Anglers can wet a line in the
Missouri River and have a chance at
channel, flathead or blue catfish. “It’s
good fishing if you know where to go,”
said Larry Weyers of Beatrice, who
with his wife, Ann, spends four weeks
a year as a volunteer campground host
at the park. Weyers targets flatheads,
expecially in the spring – “I have more
fun catching them,” he said – but his
biggest fish to date is a 60-pound blue.
If plans and construction advance as
hoped, by next year anglers will have
an option to the swiftly flowing river.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
is planning to construct a 20-acre
backwater on the riverbottom just
below the park’s boat ramp that is as
likely to hold crappie and largemouth
bass as catfish.
The park is open to archery deer
and turkey hunting from November 1
to the close of the season, and draws
hunters from near and far. During the
late firearm antlerless season, which
starts December 26, hunters can pack
muzzleloaders or shotguns into the
woods to try and bag a white-tailed
doe. Once the leaves fall from the
trees, hunters mostly have the park to
themselves. Things stay quiet there
until spring, when a different type of
hunter descends on the park in search
of morel mushrooms.
A mushroom hunting contest
headlines an annual spring event that
began in 2012: the Indian Cave Outdoor
Adventure. The April event lets visitors
learn about outdoor activities like
archery, muzzleloading and Dutchoven cooking. The Morel Mile and 5k
Mushroom Runs were added in 2013.
Next year’s event, set for April 19, adds
a glow-in-the dark Easter Egg Hunt.
Other than the addition of a few
events and modern conveniences,
little has changed at the park during
the past 50 years. “It’s quiet,” said Jan
Alexander, who has worked at the park
since 1998. “We don’t have anything
high tech, but that appeals to most of
the people who do come here.”
Many of the improvements originally
planned for the park, which some
envisioned would draw visitors from
Omaha and Kansas City and all points
between, never materialized. But many
who visit the park surely are grateful
for that. Had plans come to fruition, the
trails and roads that take visitors into
the forest, immersing them in nature,
would have been much more crowded.
And much less peaceful.
“We just love it over there,” said
Weyers. “I just enjoy the outdoors. If
you like the wildlife, the turkey and the
deer, you’ll sit there and the deer will
walk right through your campsite if
you’re quiet and don’t move. And you’ll
have turkeys walk right by the camp.
I’ve seen silver fox and red fox, and the
coyotes howling ... and you can hear
coons all night long. And you wouldn’t
believe the different kinds of birds. We
take bird feeders along.”
Those birds might be the noisiest
thing in the park. Except on an October
weekend, when screams fill the woods. ■
For more information, contact the
park by calling 402-883-2575, e-mail
ngpc.Indian.Cave@nebraska.gov or go
to OutdoorNebraska.gov.
Fall Events
October 11: Haunted Town in
St. Deroin
October 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26:
Haunted Hollow Hayrack Rides,
Pumpkin rolling contest, etc.
October 12, 19 and 26:
Halloween Campground
Decorating Contest
Heritage Program,
Museum
Weekends and Holidays,
Memorial Day Weekend through
October, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Watch blacksmithing, candle dipping,
and the making of Granny’s Lye soap
near the old log cabin, see broom
making in the St. Deroin Sutler’s store,
or visit the 1908 schoolhouse. The
museum details the natural and cultural
history of the area and offers crafts for
kids. The Pioneer Longrifles club holds
shoots on the first full weekend of each
month, May through November.
Indian Cave
Outdoor
Adventure
April 19, 2014
Archery, muzzleloading, morel
mushroom hunt, 1-mile and 5k
runs, Dutch-oven cooking, crafts,
art show, glow-in-the-dark Easter
Egg Hunt.
From Top: Ghosts in St. Deroin school during Haunted Hollow. Judy
Crawford and Granny’s Lye Soap. Pioneer Longrifles member Chuck Miller
of Plattsmouth helps Zack Ottemann of Johnson shoot a flintlock pistol.
Runners on the course in the Morel Mile.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 39
By Daryl Bauer, Fisheries Biologist
F
all is my favorite time of
year for open-water fishing.
However, with the abundance of
baitfish, the autumn bite can be
a challenge on some Nebraska
waters as fish begin feeding to prepare
for winter and the spawn to come next
spring.
Although many outdoor enthusiasts
put their rods and reels in the closet
when the fall hunting seasons open,
those who keep fishing are rewarded
with some of the fattest fish of the
year. Depending on the body of water,
habitat conditions and species being
pursued, a variety of baits and lures
can be productive in the fall, but there
are a couple of presentations that I
consider to be classics, tactics that
will produce big predator fish until the
water freezes.
Go Big or Go Home
I am a believer in “big baits for big
fish,” and this strategy is most true
in the fall. One reason is that all of
the natural prey has grown during the
summer. Predator fish will select larger
Big swimbaits are a good
shad imitation to use in
the fall.
Bucktail jigs are old-fashioned
baits that still work well on
Nebraska reservoirs.
40 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
prey, if they are available, simply
because they will get a greater energy
return.
Throughout the fall, baitfish, and the
larger sport fish that feed on them, can
be found in relatively shallow water.
That is especially true early in the
season, but it also applies on sunny,
warm afternoons through late fall.
Anglers can look for concentrations
of baitfish in the back of bays and in
shallows near deep water.
Those baitfish can be imitated with
a variety of artificial lures, including
bucktail jigs, swimbaits and crankbaits.
But remember to super-size those lures
to match the larger sizes of the baitfish.
Crankbaits, in particular, are hard
to beat. As well as looking like the
real thing, the vibration of crankbaits
feels like natural prey to predator fish.
In autumn, cast or troll crankbaits
six inches long or more. Neutrallybuoyant baits like Rapala Husky Jerks
or Smithwick Rogues are particularly
effective as the water begins to cool, as
they can be fished slower as the water
gets colder while still maintaining their
running depth.
Size #15 Flat Raps are not too big.
“When I go fishing in
the fall, I take along
two types of lures ...
big and bigger!”
Easy Meals Flutter
While a handful of reservoirs have
alewives, gizzard shad are the primary
prey in many Nebraska waters.
Both are open-water baitfish species
that become stressed when water
temperatures begin to cool. As fall
progresses, they move toward deeper
water, where temperatures are more
stable, and large predator fish follow.
However, even in deeper water, many
of those baitfish begin to die. As they
flutter toward the bottom, walleyes,
white bass, wipers, pike, muskies and
even catfish lurk below and pick them
off.
There are a variety of artificial
baits that imitate the behavior of
dying baitfish and are particularly
effective in the fall, especially late in
the season. Slab spoons are heavy,
compact lures designed specifically for
vertical jigging, and they are excellent
imitations of cold-stressed baitfish.
Examples include Bomber Slab
Spoons, Bass’n Bait Company’s Rattle
Snakie Jigging Spoons or Reel Bait’s
Fergie Special. Blade baits, such as
the Heddon Sonar or Silver Buddy
and tail-spinners like Mann’s Little
George or Reel Bait’s Lytle’s Secret
Tail Spinners, are other baits that are
excellent imitations of stressed and
dying shad or alewives.
The deep-water, vertical-jigging
bite in the fall is a boat-angler’s sport.
Typically, schools of baitfish, and
larger predator fish, are spotted on
sonar units. Those fish are usually
holding near creek channels, steep
drops and underwater humps.
Once fish are located, the key is to
maintain the boat’s position – usually
using an electric motor – as vertically
as possible above the school
without dropping an
anchor that could spook the fish.
One of the aforementioned jigging
baits is then dropped to the bottom.
Raise the bait up several feet, then drop
the rod tip and allow the bait to flutter
back to the bottom. Repeat the motion
until a fish is hooked. Watch the line
for bites, but most fish will take the
bait as it falls and often be hooked on
the next jigging stroke.
By using these techniques, you
might find yourself unsure of what
you should pack for your next
Blade baits work well for
vertical jigging.
outdoor excursion this fall – guns and
shells, or rods and reels. Well, you
know what my answer will be: both. ■
Daryl Bauer is a fisheries biologist
with the Commission, as well as Fish
and Wildlife Program Manager. He
holds over 70 Nebraska Master Angler
Awards for 13 different species, and
over 20 In-Fisherman Master
Angler Awards for eight
different species.
Big channel catfish are
predators, too. Using a
slab spoon, this one was
caught and released at
Merritt Reservoir last fall.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 41
Rack Facts
A look at whitetail headgear
By Jordan Tate and Jeff Kurrus
A
ntlers, particularly those of
white-tailed deer, are the rave
of both the print and digital
outdoor world. Simply type
“bucks” into a Google images
search and you’ll get a dollar sign or
two and a few pictures of professional
basketball players from Milwaukee,
but most of what you see will be big
antlered deer, mostly whitetails.
In Nebraska, the interest is no
different, with the state garnering a
national reputation for growing huge
bucks.
White-tailed deer, and the antlers
they carry, have never been more of an
obsession to both hunters and outdoor
enthusiasts. But not everyone knows
how these antlers form or why some
bucks are bigger than others. That’s
where we come in.
The Growing Season
During the autumn rut, bucks
attempt to mate with as many does as
possible. Because of the amount of
energy it takes to stay reproductively
motivated for so long, bucks will
lose a tremendous amount of weight,
with estimates ranging from 30 to
40 percent of their total body mass.
In addition, when the rut concludes,
the buck’s testosterone levels drop
dramatically, causing the deterioration
of the connective tissue between the
antler and pedicle, or antler base, on
the skull. The antlers are then cast, or
ABOVE: White-tailed deer antler growth in Nebraska begins in March or April.
OPPOSITE: By early September growth has ceased as bucks begin to rub their velvetcovered antlers on trees, shaping their newly created bones into fine points.
42 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
shed, usually between December and
March in Nebraska. From this point,
bucks spend the next six weeks or
more resting and regaining muscle and
body fat lost during the rut.
As days get longer in the spring, the
buck’s testosterone level also rises,
and a new set of antlers rapidly grows
from the deer’s pedicles. While experts
vary on how much animal antlers can
grow in a day – accounts range from
one-eighth inch to one-half inch in
whitetails and one inch for elk – one
fact is agreed upon: it is the fastest
example of bone growth in nature.
During this time they are covered
with fine hairs known collectively
as velvet, a soft material containing
an extensive capillary network that
supplies the growing antlers with
blood, oxygen and minerals essential
for growth. Warm to the touch, these
velveted antlers are sensitive and
susceptible to breakage.
While growing, antlers will
temporarily borrow minerals from
the buck’s internal bone structure, a
process known as resorption. Bones,
including the ribs and shoulder blades,
will contribute to the calcium needed
for antler growth and be replenished by
the fall.
A deer’s antlers begin to harden,
usually in August or September in
Nebraska, as testosterone levels
increase and bucks use them for fights
and displays of dominance that will
come as they vie for does during the
November rut.
When the mating season is over, the
entire process starts anew. Well, almost
anew. Antler growth in some respects
is comparable to that of trees. Some
years are just better than others, and for
many reasons.
● In most cases, typical
white-tailed deer antlers
begin growing out a
buck’s head in a backward
motion, then quickly change
direction and sweep forward
as we commonly know.
● Bucks will usually shed
their antlers around the same
time, but sometimes an antler
will remain intact for hours or
days after the first antler has
been shed.
● Because of a hormonal
imbalance, one in several
thousand does will grow
antlers.
● Because antlers are rich in
calcium and other nutrients,
they are often eaten by other
animals, primarily rodents,
following shedding.
● White-tailed bucks are
classified as typical or
non-typical. Typical antlers
are symmetrical on both
sides with points growing
straight up off main beams.
Non-typical antlers are
asymmetrical and can
have points growing in any
direction.
● The deterioration of
connective tissue between
the pedicle and antler that
results in antler shedding,
caused by a bone cell known
as an osteoclast, is one of the
fastest tissue deteriorations
in the animal kingdom.
● A cactus buck, one who
remains in perpetual velvet,
suffers from a condition
known as cryptorchid caused
by abnormal testicular
production or injury.
● Dominant bucks in
northern regions often
shed their antlers earlier
than younger deer, perhaps
because of their post-rut
physical condition.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 43
THINKSTOCK
PRONGHORN
BIGHORN SHEEP
PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS
n Nebraska, there are three antlered game
species: white-tailed deer, mule deer and
elk. There are also two with horns: bighorn
sheep and pronghorn. In these antlered
species, head gear is shed annually, branched
and made of bone. Conversely, horns are
grown for a lifetime, unbranched, and are
closely related to hair
and skin. The pronghorn,
however, combines factors from
both. First, the pronghorn has
a small branch unlike a typical
horn. Second, the outer covering,
called a sheath, is shed each
year while the inner horn grows
for a lifetime.
PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER
Antlers or Horns?
I
ELK
ntler color is an often talked about subject with
no definitive answers. Some research says it
depends on the tree species a deer rubs. For example,
if a buck chooses a pine tree to rub, this tree could
darken his antlers. Others
point to lighter-racked
deer receiving more
sun exposure, while
the amount of oxidized
blood left over following
LIGHTER ANTLERS
velvet shedding has also
provided researchers reasons why antler color varies.
Even genetics and the age of deer has been cited as
possible answers. Regardless, hunters and outdoor
writers continue to debate the subject, further
confirming the fascination with all things antler.
DARKER ANTLERS
Diet, Genes, Age and
Injury
Following the rut, bucks replenish
themselves with a bevy of nutrients,
including protein, calcium phosphorous
and vitamins A and D. The top crop
in this land of corn is a nice source
of energy to get deer through a cold
winter, but does little for antler growth.
And if bucks don’t receive an adequate
amount of nutrients to replenish
themselves post-rut, their bodies will
44 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
direct all resources toward keeping
them alive first, growing antlers second.
In this example, antler growth will
suffer in mass, main beam length, and
total number of points grown. Also,
because antler growth is so rapid, even
a few days without enough to eat could
hinder antler size.
However, even with optimal
nutrition, antler growth will never
exceed genetic potential. When it
comes down to it, a buck is who his
family is – but he’ll only be that way
THINKSTOCK
THINKSTOCK
Antler Color
A
for so long.
At 10 months, a buck will begin
growing his first antlers, from spikes
to a three-by-three or small four-byfour. Typically, even a 1½ year old
spike is fighting against bad genetics
or an inadequate food source, for larger
antlers can be grown even in that small
time period. A year later, at 2½, a buck
will achieve 25 to 35 percent of his
potential antler development, with his
maximum potential occurring between
5 and 7 years of age. Bucks lucky
Shooting a nice buck should never be seen as a commonplace occurrence. With the amount of problems that can occur on a yearly,
if not daily, basis for a white-tailed deer and his antler growth, any buck harvested should be considered a trophy.
and smart enough to live longer than
this will see their antler mass increase
but tine and beam length decrease.
Throughout their entire lives, even
one marginal year of nutrition can
affect maximum growth, and even one
isolated injury can affect antler growth
for a lifetime.
If injury to a deer’s body does occur,
resources will be diverted from antler
growth. Injury to the pedicle can cause
deformity to the antler or stop antler
growth entirely. If broken during the
velvet stage, a buck could die from
blood loss and will most certainly have
inadequate growth that particular year
and potentially future years. Injury to a
buck’s testicles could also temporarily,
or permanently, hurt a buck’s antler
growth.
In short, the big buck you’re chasing
with a weapon, camera or a pair of
binoculars is a prize when you see
him, and an example of a true trophy
in nature because he and his body have
gone through the rigors to make his
antlers as nice as they are. So take a
few extra moments, and stare at him a
bit longer, when you see him this fall.
He definitely deserves it. ■
Jordan Tate is a freelance writer
who lives in Lincoln.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 45
Beyond the Concrete
By Sam Anderson
In the darkness, an owl waits. Its perch, a sign reminding
motorists to drive slowly, glows back at us in the headlights.
THINKSTOCK PHOTOS
Out amid the cicada song, shortly after sunset, my wife
and I stood in a field near the edge of Omaha at Chalco Hills
Recreation Area searching for owls. Slowly, I let the glow of
my two flashlights drift from branch to branch, seeking out
any empty knots in the trunks, any variations in the wood
that might have been feathers. Behind me, Deanna skimmed
through her iPad, playing examples of owl calls so I would
know what we were listening for. Of the few species of owls
that hold permanent residence in Nebraska, I most enjoyed
the soft whooing of the
eastern screech owl and the
more confident hoot, hoo-hoot
of the great horned owl.
The purpling sky grew
black, and the full moon shone
fat and orange through the
trees above us. Gnats swarmed
the glass of my flashlights, twinkling in the darkness
inches from my face. I stepped forward, scanning along the
branches. My shoes crunched lightly through the dry browngreen grass at our feet. I crept to the edge of the longer,
waist-high grass.
Suddenly, we both jumped when an irritated shriek –
chirawp – chir-ch-chirawp – sounded from a bird in a
nearby tree. Our flashlights darted back and forth, trying
to pinpoint the source of the sound. It chirped at us once
more, still unseen as our bobbing circles of light swept the
trees and grass around us. As abruptly as it had begun, the
squawk disappeared, and the silence filled in quickly with
the cicadas and crickets all around us.
In that moment, I began to wonder what exactly had
brought me there, wandering in the woods at night. The
closest I had come to nature hiking since old family
vacations was the short trek around our suburban block to
the mailbox. I suspected suddenly that the shrieking bird,
hidden away, knew I did not belong.
Tufts of feathers protrude from above the reddish eyeshine. I shut off the headlights and flipped on the hazards as
the car rolled to a stop along the side of the road.
46 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
Owls adorn our house. We have a replica of Hedwig –
Harry Potter’s snowy owl companion – hanging in our
office. Our bookshelf is home to a pair of black stylized
statuettes that look most like great horned owls. Deanna
likes seeing the bookend statues together because it is
believed that these owls mate for life, which is one of the
things that we can both respect about owls and hope to
embody ourselves. Deanna has owl jewelry and an owl
desktop buddy that dances and hoots for her when she plugs
it into her laptop.
Even her teacher’s bag is adorned with an owl perched
upon a branch against a blue damask sky. This bag was
the first thing I saw when she came through our garage
door, cradling in her hands something hidden among paper
towels. She had the same look on her face normally reserved
for when I have given her jewelry or a book she has been
wanting.
“Look what I found!” she exclaimed.
Within the wad of paper towels, she held a lump of thick,
gray hair. When she saw my confusion, she added, “It’s an
owl pellet! I’ve dissected dozens of these in science class but
never found one in the wild!”
“The wild? This is Omaha. We don’t have ‘wild’ here.”
“Sure we do! I mean, an owl left this present for me right
on my car!”
“Owl vomit is a present to you?” I pondered suddenly that
I may have been trying too hard on birthdays and holidays.
“How do you know it’s even from an owl?”
She set her bag down on the coffee table and joined me on
the couch with the pellet still in her hands. “See that sliver,
there?” From one side of the lump, a tiny, cream-colored
shard of something poked out. “It’s a rodent bone. Other
raptors, like eagles or hawks, can digest bones. Owls can’t.”
Knowing her for the science teacher I married, I sighed
heavily and said, “I suppose you want to cut it open?”
Her wild-eyed grin widened. “For science! Let me just put
it in the microwave for a bit to sanitize it first.”
She was out of the room before I could protest, but
somewhere deep inside of me, my curiosity wanted to join
her upstairs.
Through the windshield, I can only see its beak. I cannot
hear its call.
Raptor is the classification given to birds of prey, such as
eagles, falcons and owls. Their pellets, also called castings,
are a vital part of their digestive system and overall health.
Anything the bird cannot digest becomes wrapped tightly in
what closely resembles a gigantic grayish or brown cotton
ball that is later regurgitated. The casting process allows
them to purge any impurities that they may have in their
bodies. Without these castings, a raptor would quickly
become ill from the bacteria that grow within its food. If a
raptor in captivity is fed only meat with no fur or feathers, it
is unable to form pellets, and will likely become too ill to be
released into the wild.
The bird, turning away
from our intrusion, spins its
head toward the field. Its
neck bobs back and forth.
Quietly, we open the car
doors and step out onto the
road.
“And you’re sure this
thing will be okay on our
table?” I stared, only slightly
horrified, at the paper towel
Deanna had set out on the
table. In the kitchen, the
microwave beeped at us to signal that the pellet had been
prepared for dissection.
Deanna simply rolled her eyes at me, removed the thumblength pellet from the microwave and placed it on the paper
towel. Her fingers worked gently, delicately feeling for any
natural cracks that she could exploit in order to pull the
wad of hair apart. She felt around the small bone protrusion
she had noticed before. Tiny, lint-like hairs clung together,
and every pull made the wad look more like a dark gray
cotton ball, until finally tufts of the hair came loose from the
main body of the casting. Slowly, she pulled at the shard of
bone. A thin rib slid out, and she set it gently on the towel.
Other pieces of bone followed: chunks of a tail with hair
still attached, an errant vertebra, a few more ribs. When she
uncovered part of a skull, the empty eye socket stared back
at us.
“This must have been a small mouse; look at the size of
the skull.” She removed more hair, delicately freeing the
teeth, which looked like tiny bone combs. The pile of loose
cottony bits grew. Beneath the skull, claws poked out at
us. Deanna sucked in a breath. “Look at that,” she said. As
she pulled at the fur, more of the digits became apparent,
revealing an entire paw, the bones still set perfectly beside
one another. My initial apprehension disappeared at the sight
of the tiny paw, still preserved and fully intact. Enchanted by
the process, I whispered beneath my breath for her to keep
going.
After she had dug through the remaining hair and
uncovered the rest of the treasures the owl had left for us,
Deanna looked up at me and said, “We only live two blocks
away from Chalco Hills. We should go owling – tonight.”
Its wings spread wide and full with the feathers tipped
outward like long fingers. Dark stripes can be seen in the
blinking orange light from my car.
I remembered why I was out there. Some part of me
wanted to find another pellet or even glimpse an owl in
its nest. Deanna and I walked farther into the hollow. We
skirted the long grass, keeping our lights on the trees. The
air was still hot and humid. The glint of opossum eyes shone
back at us from within a thick bush. We kept searching the
trees until a voice came over the park’s loudspeaker. “The
park will close in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes until
closing.”
“Should we go?” I asked.
Deanna looked back
at me, and even through
the darkness, her
disappointment at not having
seen an owl was apparent.
“If you want to.”
“Well, I guess we still
have some time.”
Farther down the trail,
another opossum spooked us
as it rustled the long grass
beside us. As we caught
sight of its tail disappearing
into the bushes, I realized
how easy it is to forget
that wildlife lives just down the street from my house. I’m
always so busy with work and school that I never notice how
much life exists beyond the concrete.
At 10 minutes until closing, I elected to push just a little
farther. Suddenly, off the side of the path, I caught the tiniest
glint of yellow eye shine in a patch of brush. In the beam of
my flashlight, four eyes shone back at me. There, underneath
a small tree, a doe and her fawn nestled in the grass. I stared
at them, and in that moment, everything else around us faded
away. Perhaps we were not meant to see any owls that night,
but we would still have the memory of this moment and its
peacefulness. The doe blinked back at me, and I apologized
for shining my light on them and interrupting their rest.
Five minutes after closing, we decided to head back to
the car. Considering that we were not experienced in the
art of owl-spotting, a squawking bird, a pair of opossums,
and a mother deer with her fawn seemed like acceptable
alternatives. Off in the distance, we could hear the sounds
of what we thought might be owls, but they refused to come
out for us.
At the car, I promised Deanna that we could try again
another night, that maybe we had come out at the wrong
time. “They’re probably out hunting. They’d have been
roosting at sunset maybe,” I said. She smiled, but the
disappointment was heavy in her eyes. I felt it too. On the
road back to the entrance, we saw a park manager pulling
his truck onto the side trails to move along any stragglers.
We slowly rounded a bend in the road, and Deanna put her
hand up to my shoulder. I saw it seconds after she did.
Perched atop the 15 MPH sign, with its reddish eye-shine
glinting back at us in the headlights, a great horned owl
opened its beak to complain about the silver Hyundai that
had spooked its quarry. Before I could think, I had pulled
the car off to the side of the road, shut off the headlights,
and flipped on my hazards. The orange pulse lit up the field
every few seconds. We stepped out of the car, abandoning
the engine clicks and air conditioning of the world from
which we had come, and watched as the owl spread its
wings. Without a sound, it dove headlong into the tall grass
after its unseen prey, leaving us to strain our
eyes against the darkness, hoping for one last
glimpse or hoot. ■
Sam Anderson is a writer living in Omaha.
This is his first essay in NEBRASKAland.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 47
Plank Grilling
A Mountain Lion Timeline
A new way to push the flavor of food on the grill.
After years of research, Nebraska’s first mountain lion hunting season will begin in 2014.
By Julie Geiser
By Jeff Kurrus
I
I
Plank grilling works well with a variety of foods, including meat, fruit and vegetables.
veggies and fruit with my meals.
Creating a bed of orange and apple
slices along with fresh veggies for
the meat to sit on top of is sure to add
flavor. Beds of onion, mushrooms,
fresh sage and other spices are also
options. If you prefer, place the meat
directly on the plank and garnish the
tops and sides of the meat instead.
To cook, pre-heat the grill to around
300 degrees Fahrenheit – try to keep
the temperature constant for the
duration of the grilling time. Using
a grill thermometer will help keep
temperatures even.
Pick one side of the soaked plank to
be the top and pat it dry. Lightly coat
the top surface with olive or vegetable
oil. You can also rub the top of the
plank with sea salt, garlic and fresh
herbs during this step for extra flavor.
Finally, load the plank with your
ingredients of choice.
Once the grill is up to temperature,
place the loaded plank on the grill,
close the lid and cook. For fish, plank
grill for about 15-25 minutes. For
beef, depending on how you like it
done, grill it about double the time you
normally would. Keep in mind that the
thicker the meat, the longer the grilling
time. Do not turn the meat over on the
plank; it will cook completely as is.
Keep the grill lid closed to capture
smoke from the plank and to retain
heat. Although it is tempting to open
the grill lid several times, just peek
in every so often to see if the plank is
on fire. While you don’t want to stop
the plank from smoldering, you want
to keep it from catching into flames.
Keep a spray bottle close and apply
just enough water when needed to
extinguish any flare-ups.
When the food is grilled to your
taste, transfer the plank from the
grill using hot pads to a cookie sheet,
cooling rack or serving platter. You can
eat directly off the plank, which will
also serve as a great conversation piece
for guests. ■
Julie Geiser is a
regional editor of
NEBRASKAland
Magazine. She is
originally from
North Platte,
Nebraska and
enjoys life outdoors.
n January of 2014, Nebraska will open its first mountain
lion hunting season after years of research by Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission biologists. But Nebraska’s
relationship with this apex predator spans more than 100
years, from the time in the early 1900s when this species,
native to Nebraska, was extirpated because of unregulated
hunting, trapping, poisoning and decimation of prey species.
Below is a timeline of what has followed.
1900s – Mountain lion prey species, including white-tailed
deer, slowly recover because of protection offered by game
laws.
1960s-1970s – Mountain lion receive protection as
game animals in most western states.
1990s-2000s – Mountain lion populationss
expand in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
1991 – Mountain lion shot in the Pine
Ridge of northwestern Nebraska, marking
first documented presence in recent
decades.
1991-present – Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission documents 92
instances of mountain lion presence
outside of the Pine Ridge population.
1995 – Nebraska Legislature adds mountain
ain
lions to statutory list of game animals, affording
rding
protection for species under game laws.
2004 – Nebraska Game and Parks Commission adopts the
Mountain Lion Response Plan detailing the Commission’s
processes for various mountain lion situations and identifies
criteria for confirming presence of mountain lions in
Nebraska.
2006 – Resident female, which had been ear-tagged in the
Black Hills by researchers with South Dakota Game, Fish
and Parks, documented in Pine Ridge.
2007 – First evidence of reproduction by mountain lions
in Nebraska is documented by trail camera photographs
of kittens as well as a roadkilled kitten. This signifies to
biologists that a resident population is present in Nebraska.
2008 to present – Presence of mountain lion kittens
documented each year in Pine Ridge.
2009, 2010 and 2013 – Presence of female mountain lions
documented in Scotts Bluff County.
2010 – The Commission begins conducting research
to assess the number of mountain lions in the Pine Ridge
and to estimate suitable habitat across the state. Using scat
detector dogs, eight males and five females are detected in
the Pine Ridge.
2012 – Scat surveys detect six males and eight females
in Pine Ridge, and the Commission estimates 15 to 22 total
mountain lions in the Pine Ridge, depending on the effects
of historic wildfires in 2012.
2012-2013 – Female mountain lions documented in
Cherry County.
2013 – Genetic evidence from the Niobrara River Valley
indicates a resident population is present.
2013 – Commission approves Nebraska’s first mountain
lion season.
2014 – Nebraska’s inaugural mountain lion hunting season
will take place. Up to four mountain lions may be harvested
next year in Pine Ridge, the area of the state with the most
established population. The Prairie Unit, which covers the
largest portion of the state, will have an unlimited harvest
quota.
Four units have been defined to manage mountain
lions, although
only two will be open to hunting
alt
in 20
2014. The Keya Paha and Upper Platte
units,
uni located in areas determined to have
suitable
mountain lion habitat in the northsu
central
part of the state and southwestern
c
Panhandle
respectively, will be closed
P
pending more population data, while an
unlimited number of mountain lions may
be
b harvested in the Prairie Unit, which
mostly
consists of agricultural land and
m
makes
up the remainder of the state not
ma
included
in the other three units. The Pine
inclu
Ridge, Keya Paha and Upper Platte units have
the same boundaries
as the deer management units
bo
that go by the same names.
The objective for the Pine Ridge Unit is to provide a
harvest opportunity while allowing a slight to moderate
reduction in the mountain lion population. The Pine Ridge
Unit will have two seasons, with harvest quotas of two
mountain lions each. The first season is Jan. 1-Feb. 14. One
permit will be issued by auction to a Nebraska resident or
nonresident and one will be issued by lottery to a resident.
Each may hunt with dogs. The first season will close
immediately once the quota of two mountain lions or subquota of one female is met. The second season in the Pine
Ridge Unit is Feb. 15-March 31. There will be 100 lottery
permits, which allow hunting without dogs, available to
residents. The season will close immediately once the quota
of two mountain lions or sub-quota of one female is met.
The objective of the Prairie Unit is to provide unlimited
hunting opportunity in the part of the state that is unlikely
to establish a breeding population of mountain lions. The
season is open year-round and an unlimited number of
permits are available. Permits will cost $15. Hunting with
dogs is allowed only Jan. 1-March 31 and the use of traps or
bait is prohibited while hunting mountain lions.
The application period for the Pine Ridge Unit is Sept.
3-30. Applications for the Prairie Unit will be accepted Dec.
16, 2013-Dec. 31, 2014. The nonrefundable application fee
is $15. ■
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 49
PHOTO BY JUSTIN WAMBOLD
48 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
PHOTO BY JULIE GEISER
love grilling, and I’m always
looking for new ways to push the
flavor of different foods. One of my
favorite methods is plank grilling,
a simple technique that gives meat
and veggies an impeccably moist,
smoky taste.
Plank grilling is easy – begin with
a clean, untreated piece of wood that
is at least ¼ to 1 inch thick. I prefer a
plank that is thicker so it can be reused
several times. Planks can be purchased
in the grilling section of most stores,
online, at specialty stores, or you can
make them yourself through your local
lumberyard to customize fit and desired
wood. Cedar and apple are woods of
choice, but oak, maple and cherry are
good for planking as well.
To start, the planks must be soaked
prior to grilling to prevent them from
catching fire. You want the board
to burn a little but you don’t want it
to incinerate. The smoldering wood
creates the smoke that will give
your finished dish its great flavor.
Submerging the planks overnight in
a kitchen sink, bucket or cooler will
ensure that the planks are completely
saturated before being thrown onto the
hot grill. Recommended soaking time
for the planks is 2 to 6 hours.
A trick I quickly learned was to soak
my planks in warm water; this helps to
open up the pores in the wood, aiding
in the saturation process. Using warm
water to dissolve your favorite spices
is another trick to enhancing flavor.
For a different twist, try adding white
wine, beer, whiskey or apple cider and
fresh herbs to the water for a flavorful
soaking solution.
Almost any type of meat can be
plank grilled. My favorites are fish,
chicken, turkey breasts and pork chops,
but I have been known to plank grill
elk and deer steaks as well. Meats can
be marinated ahead of time or seasoned
before being placed on the plank – it’s
your choice; prepare the meat as you
normally would before grilling.
Along with meat, I like to grill
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issues, PLEASE send address changes to NEBRASKAland
Magazine to Outdoornebraska.ne.gov/nebland/contact/
changeaddress.asp, email donna.robinson@nebraska.gov
or contact us at 800-632-5263.
NEBRASKA WILDFLOWERS. It’s back. Out of print
for 21 years, the second edition of Jon Farrar’s Field
Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains
is now available. This 6-inch by 91/8-inch paperback
is a must have for anyone interested in learning more
about wildflowers in Nebraska and the Great Plains
region and makes a great gift. Richly illustrated with
color photography and ink drawings. To order this
publication or to learn about other great gift ideas, visit
NebraskalandGifts.com or call (800) 742-0056.
EXPLORE NEBRASKA art, history, culture and the
great outdoors with a subscription to Nebraska Life
Magazine. One year (six issues) for $21 or two years
(12 issues) just $38. Phone (800) 777-6159, write us at
206 W Norfolk Ave, Norfolk NE 68702-0819 or visit
NebraskaLife.com. Makes a great gift.
Training, puppies and stud dogs available for all levels of
hunt tests and gun dogs. Chris Jobman (308) 249-0707,
Flatlanderkennels.com.
FISH/FISHING
GET YOUR FISHING PERMIT online today! Don’t
wait until tomorrow to enjoy Nebraska’s great outdoors
by going fishing with the family. To purchase a permit
from the comfort of your own home, go online to
OutdoorNebraska.org and click on Purchase a Permit
under Licenses and Fees.
FISH FOR SALE. Catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth
bass, perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye, rainbow trout,
grass carp, minnows. Pleasant Valley Fish Farm, 72645
U.S. Highway 83, McCook, NE 69001. (308) 345-6599.
NEBRASKA LAKE MANAGEMENT. Biological lake
surveys, fish stocking, rough fish control, lake aeration,
algae control, aquatic weed control. Rob Hofpar, Aquatic
Biologist, licensed, insured and qualified. (402) 784-6005
Valparaiso - (888) 850-2460 Nelakes.net.
NEBRASKANS ARE READING “The Boys of
Bloomfield: How They Survived the Great Depression
and Won WWII.” $18.50, Ramon D Hansen, 109 Thorpe
St., Carthage, NY 13619.
CRESCENT LAKE FISHING – Blue Creek Lodge,
located seven miles south of the best panfishing in the
Sandhills of Nebraska. The lodge offers bass boat rentals
for your fishing excursions and a five-star lodge with
additional fishing and hunting on the property. Visit
Bluecreeklodging.com or call (308) 772-9912.
DOGS
FOOD/GIFTS/HOME
DUCKDAWG RETRIEVERS - Raising exceptional
yellow and black Labradors. 30 month written health
guarantee. Duckdawg.com North Platte, NE (308) 5343659.
HOMEBREWING/BEER AND WINEMAKING.
Fermenter’s Supply, 8410 K Plaza, Suite #10, Omaha,
NE 68127. Phone orders only, (888) 655-2739. Advice
line (402) 593-9171. Fermenterssupply.com.
PREMIER GUNDOGS TRAINING KENNEL, Inc:
Nebraska state licensed gundog training kennel specializing
in training programs for waterfowl and upland hunting
retrievers, spaniels, pointing Labradors and all gundog
pointing breeds. Dale-Kris Taylor (402) 787-2048,
Premiergundogs.com.
GUIDES/OUTFITTERS
FLATLANDER KENNELS INC, Scottsbluff, Ne. This
region’s premier full-time retriever training facility for
the serious hunter or AKC and HRC hunt tester. Trainer
of NE, CO, KS and SD’s first and only GRHRCH’s!
50 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
CANOE - KAYAK - TUBE RENTALS on the
beautiful Niobrara River with Dryland Aquatics
at Sparks, Nebraska. Your Niobrara River Specialist.
(800)
337-3119.
Drylandaquatics.com,
info@
drylandaquatics.com.
GUNS/SHOOTING/ARCHERY
OLDER DOUBLE BARREL SHOTGUNS, Hammer or
Hamerless shotshells & related items. Larry Golden, PO
Box 1504, North Platte NE 69103 (308) 534-4242
VACATIONS/RESORTS
THE OLDE MAIN STREET INN. A historic bed and
breakfast listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Beautiful dining room with fireplace. Headquarters for
General Nelson Miles, Wounded Knee Incident, 1890-91.
115 Main Street, Chadron, NE 69337 (308) 432-3380.
Chadron.com/oldemain.
BIG BLUE RANCH & LODGE – Enjoy fishing,
horseback riding, hunting, hiking and birdwatching on
working cattle ranch in southeastern Nebraska. Beautiful
log lodge with fireplaces, kitchens and big covered
porches, overlooks 20 acre lake. Bigblueranch.com (402)
865-4335.
BLUE CREEK LODGE - Oshkosh, NE. 13,000-acre
farm and ranch resort. Located by Crescent Lake National
Refuge and State WMA. First-class lodging, fishing and
hunting, boat rentals, waterfowl, upland bird, coyote
and mule deer hunting, family reunions, meetings and
getaways. Visit Bluecreeklodging.com or call (308)
772-9912.
STONE’S COUNTRY CABIN: Open year-round,
minutes from Harlan County Reservoir. Fully furnished
two bedroom, w/d and full kitchen. Families, hunters and
anglers are welcome. (308) 799-4475 or (308) 920-0027.
Harlancountymeatprocessors.com/html/stones_country_
cabin.html
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, NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370,
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Telephone (402) 4715473. Fax: (402) 471-1984. E-mail: ngpc.ads@
nebraska.gov.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 51
Please Don’t Say “Boo”
Why I Can’t Wait for November.
By Jeff Kurrus
I
t in 1957.
e snow geese he sho
Helgenberger, with som
ert
rry's
Hilb
Ha
,
on
dad
ek
my
Cre
is
e
d
▲ Picture
geese on Pebbl
Harry Smeal, shot the
the geese down
ed
forc
and
day
Dad and our neighbor,
t
tha
in
Dad said a storm blew
property near Snyder.
Scribner, Nebraska
on the creek.
– Curt Helgenberger,
Send contributions to: Portraits from the Past, NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Or e-mail to
Tim.Reigert@Nebraska.gov. Photos should show people enjoying Nebraska outdoor activities, such as camping, boating, hunting or
fishing, and must have been taken before 1980. We will give priority to unusual photos or activities. When possible, please include a story
about the photograph and identify the people, places and approximate date it was taken. Photos will be returned.
52 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
This is the
room I mostly
stayed in during my visit because an adjoining living room
had just as many ceramic dolls, all smiling for no good
reason with blank, lifeless eyes. Thank God the third room
over didn’t contain clowns. I might have passed out dead on
the spot without ever firing a shot that week.
So while many of you will dress up yourselves, or your
kids, this month for any number of Halloween activities, I’ll
be right there beside you wearing a mask of my own.
And while I might say “boo” to your little one to further
along the holiday spirit, I certainly hope no one will do it to
me. I might not be able to take it. ■
Jeff Kurrus is the editor of
NEBRASKAland Magazine. Originally
from Memphis, Tennessee, he started with
the magazine in August of 2006. His goal is
to somehow become a native Nebraskan.
OCTOBER 2013 • NEBRASKAland 53
ILLUSTRATION BY TIM REIGERT
▲ This photo is of my dad, Clarence Stiehl
(right) and Charles Kadlecek (left) hunting
ducks and geese at Walgren Lake south of Hay
Springs.
This was taken in about 1932 after a
successful hunt. There was not a limit to the
number of ducks you could shoot. I counted 32
ducks and one goose in the photo. I remember
hunting ducks with them in the 1940s and we
would sit in a duck blind around the lake and
hunt the ducks as they took off from the lake
and landed. Cloudy and stormy days were
always the best. The lake had thousands of
ducks and geese every fall and they would stay
until January or February and would continue
south for the winter. There were so many
ducks that they could keep the water from
freezing. Now there are very few ducks that
migrate through the flyway and stay for very
long.
– Gary Stiehl, Colorado Springs, Colorado
t’s a wonder why I deer hunt at all. I’m scared of
the dark, heights and most things that crawl through tall
grass. However, being a father forces me to put on a
brave face for my four and one-year olds, which has
led me to traipse through waist high cattails looking
for turtles and pull up rocks hoping a snake shoots
out so we can catch it. I can name a hundred other
things I’d rather do.
The direct cause for these fears is one person –
my father. The earliest known story I remember
him reading to me was Edgar Allan Poe’s
“The Tell-Tale Heart,” whimsical bedtime
fodder for any seven year old. Or when he introduced
me to the finger knives of Freddy Krueger and his
Elm Street shenanigans.
These stories, and the imagination that is created with
them, eventually led me to what was probably my lowest
moment. While living in San Angelo, Texas, shortly
after Laura and I were married, I fell asleep watching
John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”
While I can truly claim – no polygraphs
necessary – that the movie did not scare me, I
woke up not knowing what was real and what
wasn’t. Every time I opened my eyes I became
more scared that I was part of someone else’s
dream, and my paranoia continued to increase.
“Laura,” I called out, who had fallen asleep on the couch.
“I need you to help me.”
“What?”
“Can you come hold me?”
“Huh?”
“Come hold me. I’m scared to open my eyes and
need to feel something real.”
On most days, she would have seen this as nothing more
than a ploy for a hug. But she must have heard the fear in
my voice, and she was able to stifle most of her giggles as
she crossed the room and held me as if I were a child.
Since that night, and my re-acclimation to the physical
world we live in, she has warned me against all scary movies
because I will annoyingly curl up too close next to her at
night when we turn off the lights and refuse to check any
3 a.m. sounds we hear for the next couple of weeks.
This month is always interesting in our house as daylight
continues to shorten and I spend more and more time in the
field. I can remember, more than once, counting the number
of feet from a flashlight while walking to the duck blind, and
I am constantly looking over my shoulder when sneaking to
the deer stand. But my unfortunate imagination is not limited
to these times afield.
One time, while pheasant hunting in Kansas, our group
stayed with a woman we nicknamed “The Chicken Lady” for
the large amount of ceramic roosters she had in her kitchen.
Leftovers
W
e all have to make tough choices in life. And there are times when choosing the
photos to fill the pages of NEBRASKAland can be tough.
You see, for every story in NEBRASKAland, there are only so many pages.
And on each page, you can run only so many photos. And in a story on the Platte
River, for example, you really only need one photo of the sun rising over the river.
So what if you happened to capture several great images of a sunrise on a particular day
when the light was simply magical? Or if you captured great sunrise images on different
days? You simply pick the best one, a task that sometimes involves flipping coins or arm
wrestling with editors, and you eat the rest. Not with barbecue sauce. And not with some
fava beans and a nice chianti. No, they are served plain, and can be hard to swallow.
We don’t just eat photos of sunrises here at NEBRASKAland. We eat sunset photos, photos
of kids playing in our state parks, of grown men hunting and fishing, of bugs on flowers,
of deer in the woods, of great random photos we stumbled upon while on the way to shoot
others … and the list goes on. We’re left hoping that someday, someone will find a need for
some of the others, the leftovers. It’s the nature of the beast. When your goal is to showcase
Nebraska in photographs, you keep shooting and sort them out later.
Still, you’re often left wishing you could run more photos. But every time, you’re thankful
you got paid to capture them in the first place.
See you out there, hopefully when the light is sweet, so I can make
more leftovers.
Enjoy Fall on the Missouri
Reserve your cabin or campsite today
Online at www.OutdoorNebraska.org
Or by calling (402) 471-1414
Eric Fowler, regional editor, NEBRASKAland Magazine
August 20, 2013
Nebraska State Parks.
v
See You
Out There
54 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2013
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