Volume 100, Issue 3, 2022
April 2022
- Identifier:
- nela.2022_100_03
- Title:
- Volume 100, Issue 3, 2022
- Issue Name:
- April 2022
- Date Issued:
- 2022-04-01
- year:
- 2022
- month:
- April
- Season:
- Spring
- PDF filename:
- NL_100.03_2022_Apr_Spreads_Entire.pdf
- Publisher:
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
- Format:
- Periodical
- volume:
- 100
- issue:
- 03
- number:
- 100.03
- Decade:
- 2020s
- Type:
- Rights Holder:
- Copyright Nebraskaland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, all rights reserved.
- Extracted Text:
-
magazine
$4.95
To renew your subscription or change your
address call 1-800-632-5263
April
A
prr il 2
2022
022
Volume 100
April 2022
No. 3
Cover: Larry Czolgos of Lincoln fishes from a kayak on a foggy morning at
C
Conestoga State Recreation Area. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
C
TThis page: A group of college students meet for a bonfire on a sandbar
near the Platte River in Sarpy County. JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
n
FEATURES
18
26
28
36
40
44
50
TURTLES AT HOME
IN NEBRASKA
Story and photos by Justin Haag
OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
What to Do in April
By Renae Blum
CONESTOGA
A Model Lake
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
FROM HIGH-WHEEL TO
SAFETY BICYCLE
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
WILDLIFE HABITAT
FROM THE BOTTOM UP
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
RARER THAN A
THREE-SPURRED ROOSTER
By Cassidy Wessel
HOW TO TELL A STORY
Remembering Dick Turpin
Edited by Nebraskaland Staff
DEPARTMENTS
6
10
52
60
62
Your Nebraska
In the Field
Mixed Bag
Portraits from the Past
The Last Stop
ON THE WEB
Nebraskaland (VOL. 100 / NO. 3 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 • April 2022
For more articles and
information, visit
NebraskalandMagazine.com
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
3
Magazine Staff
magazine
Published by the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission since 1926. The Commission is
dedicated to the conservation and protection
of all the state's natural resources and the
people who use them.
Communications Director Christy Firestone
Public Relations Manager Shawna RichterRyerson
Editor Jeff Kurrus
Associate Editor Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
Regional Editors Eric Fowler, Julie Geiser,
Justin Haag
Contributing Editor Michael Forsberg
Regular Contributors Renae Blum,
Chris Helzer, Chris Masada, Todd Mills,
Ryan Sparks, Gerry Steinauer
Art Director Tim Reigert
Graphic Designer Mel Severin
Photo Librarian Jaclyn Cruikshank Vogt
Administration
Director Tim McCoy
Commissioners
Chairman - Dan Kreitman, Wahoo
Vice Chairman - Pat Berggren, Broken Bow
2nd Vice Chairman - Rick Brandt, Roca
Robert Allen, Eustis
Ken Curry, Columbus
Donna Kush, Omaha
Scott Cassels, Omaha
John Hoggatt, Kearney
Doug Zingula, Sidney
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ADMINISTRATION (Lincoln)
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CENTRAL (Includes counties covered)
Mike Thome (Lieutenant)
308-293-8746
NORTH SUB-DISTRICT
Nebraskaland • April 2022
402-200-9597
(Thayer, Fillmore, Nuckolls)
Kelsey Glodowski
(Cuming, Wayne, Stanton)
4
Matt Taylor (Sergeant)
308-672-1824
(Kimball, Banner, Scotts Bluff)
SOUTH SUB-DISTRICT
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should contact the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, NE
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Inclusion and Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Interior, 1849 C Street,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.
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(Madison, Pierce, Stanton)
OutdoorNebraska.org
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
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Commission Offices
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The spring rains will signal barred
tiger salamanders to seek breeding
grounds.
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YOUR NEBRASKA
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Old House, Cherry County
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Nebraskaland • April 2022
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
7
YOUR NEBRASKA
Send your comments and
photos to:
Jeff Kurrus, Editor
Nebraskaland Magazine
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503
or email Jeff.Kurrus@Nebraska.gov
Please include your postal address
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may be condensed and edited.
Photographs are also welcome.
Cody Lammers, Kearney
Firearm Deer
Connor McClellan, Omaha
Treetop Raccoons
8
Nebraskaland • April 2022
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
9
IN THE FIELD
FLOCK FIGHT
Wild turkeys fight for
supremacy of the flock
at Rowe Sanctuary
on the banks of the
Platte River.
BRITTON
BRIT
TON BAIL
BAILEY
EY
10
Nebraskaland • April 2022
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
11
IN THE FIELD
ESTIMATING DUCK MIGRATION
By Cynthia Anchor, Waterfowl Biologist
Hunter opportunity is one of the many
considerations that go into developing
waterfowl hunting season recommendations. For
Nebraska waterfowl hunters, that largely means
recommending hunting season dates that overlap
with the highest concentrations of birds in the
state. Although Game and Parks does not have
a formal waterfowl survey during the fall, duck
migration estimations have improved through the
use of eBird.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New
York, developed the eBird platform to offer birders
a way to store and organize birding media, species
lists, counts for single birding events, and “life
lists”— complete lists of every bird species seen
by an individual — at county, state, national and
global scales. Since the release of eBird in 2002,
birders have contributed more than 60 million
checklists containing over half a billion bird
sightings.
A team of scientists at the Cornell Lab used eBird
observations from January 2006 – December 2020,
along with data on habitat, weather and birder
experience, to predict the relative abundance of a
species in a given location for each week through
the year. Recently, the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission used these data to estimate the
12
Nebraskaland • April 2022
migration chronology of ducks.
We used known life histories to group 13 of the
most common duck species found in Nebraska,
including early migrants: blue-winged teal and
wood ducks; mid-season migrating dabbling
ducks: northern pintail, American wigeon,
northern shoveler, green-winged teal and gadwall;
mid-season migrating diving ducks: canvasback,
redhead, ring-necked duck, lesser scaup and
common goldeneye; and late migrants: mallards.
At the statewide level, relative abundance of
blue-winged teal and wood duck numbers show
steep declines through October, with mallard
numbers peaking in December. Weekly relative
abundance for all species demonstrated two peaks
in migration that predominately represented
mallards and other dabbling ducks. We repeated
this process to estimate the timing of autumn
duck migration in each of the four duck hunting
zones in Nebraska. Average migration chronology
was one data stream used to inform waterfowl
hunting season date recommendations to
maximize opportunities for duck hunters.
Visit ebird.org to learn about collecting and
reporting birding data. Visit ebird.org/science/
status-and-trends/ to learn more about how
weekly relative abundance is estimated.
IN THE FIELD
Male and female ornate box turtles in a Sandhills blowout.
GERRY STEINAUER, NEBRASKALAND
TURTLE LOVE
By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist, NGPC
One morning last June, while photographing wildflowers
in the Sandhills blowout, I came upon a pair of ornate box
turtles. I determined, based on eye color — male box turtles
have red eyes, while a female’s are yellowish-brown — that
they were of the opposite sex, apparently an amorous couple
on a blowout tryst. And I was intruding.
I hated to be rude, but with no box turtle photographs in
my portfolio, this was, for me, a fortuitous photo opportunity.
So I crept in close to the couple and set up my tripod. The
male, either scared, shy or embarrassed, wanted nothing
to do with this botanical paparazzo and instantly retreated
to the safety of his shell, leaving only the tip of his nose
sticking out. He remained unwilling to pose and, after a
few photos, skedaddled, running as fast as a turtle can to
shielding vegetation, perchance a patch of sand lovegrass,
downslope from the blowout.
The female, on the other hand, was not the least bit
14
Nebraskaland • April 2022
camera shy. She stayed put, head exposed, the perfect model
of female turtleness. Perhaps she decided that dealing with
a camera-carrying botanist was less stressful than being
pestered by an aroused male. For a female box turtle, mating
is a rather trying event, as here described by one author: “The
male chases the female, biting her on the neck, head, and the
edge of her shell. He may even roll her over on her back. The
male eventually mounts the female … and hooks his toes into
the female’s shell.” The female’s only satisfaction appears
to be that pushy males sometimes fall on their backs while
doing the deed and, if they’re in a place where they can’t flip
themselves over again, die.
After posing for about 10 minutes, the female became
restless, her eyes seeming to say, “That’s enough old chap. I
need to get going.” So I folded up my tripod, thanked her for
her time and left. At the dune’s crest, I looked back to see her
sauntering downslope, perhaps to locate her beau. Or not.
IN THE FIELD
Walleye marinated in miso served over noodles and king oyster mushrooms.
JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
MISO WALLEYE
By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
If you’ve been to a sushi restaurant,
then you’re likely familiar with miso
soup. Miso is a Japanese seasoning
made of fermented soybeans, salt
and the fungus koji. Find it in the
refrigerated section, sold as a thick,
yellow-brownish paste stored in small
tubs. Although miso’s main flavor
is salty, it also can be nutty, earthy,
savory and slightly sweet. And its uses
far exceed just soup.
White miso enhances flavor
wherever it’s added and is not
overpowering. For this recipe, I used
the seasoning to marinate walleye,
which transforms this mild fish into
something that is delicious with plain,
hot white rice. Or, as pictured, you
can serve your miso walleye over
soba noodles lightly seasoned with
mentsuyu (Japanese noodle soup base)
and seared king oyster mushrooms.
This marinade also works with red
meats, such as venison. Wondering
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Nebraskaland • April 2022
what to do with the rest of that miso?
Stir a little bit in the mayonnaise
or mustard you might eat in your
sandwiches. Make a glaze for roasted
or grilled vegetables. Or, add a little
bit into soups and stews — Eastern or
Western recipes.
If you can’t find mirin, which is
sweet Japanese rice wine, you can
substitute with dry sherry or sweet
marsala wine.
Servings: 4
Prep Time: Overnight
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
4 walleye fillets
¼ cup white miso paste
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sake
4 tsp. sugar
4 tsp. soy sauce
4 servings of prepared white rice
4 green onions, sliced on the bias
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. In a small bowl, stir miso paste,
mirin, sake, sugar and soy sauce until
smooth. Place walleye fillets in a ziplock bag and pour in miso marinade.
Marinate in the refrigerator for at
least 1 hour, flipping the bag halfway
through.{
If serving with plain white rice, I
recommend marinating the fish
overnight.
2. When ready to cook, preheat oven
to broil and place the rack in the middle
position. Line a rimmed baking sheet
with foil and grease with cooking
spray. Allow excess marinade to drip
off fish before laying them onto the
baking sheet. Broil for 5-10 minutes, or
until fish is cooked through and flaky.
You may also grill or sear the fish in a
non-stick pan.
Serve with hot white rice and sliced
green onion or soba noodles and
mushrooms, as pictured.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
17
Turtles at Home
in Nebraska
The Sandhills region is tops for
Blanding’s turtle habitat and numbers
Story and photos by Justin Haag
G
rass-covered sand dunes accented by wetland marshes
and lakes as far as the eye can see. Humans and vehicle
traffic sparse. Vibrant community of turtles and other
wildlife.
If real estate advertisements targeted wildlife, such
words would catch the eye of at least one species. Thanks to
research at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, we know
many Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are already
living the good life in the Nebraska Sandhills — so much so
that the region is increasingly becoming known as Blanding’s
turtle capital of the world.
Meet the Blanding’s Turtle
Ask a naturalist to describe the Blanding’s turtle, and
chances are you will be told it appears to be smiling. Its dark
head with highly contrasting yellow chin makes it look that
way, and serves as its most significant identifier.
Its high-domed dark shell is usually accented with dots and
short streaks of yellow. The plastron, the bottom portion of
the shell, is hinged like that of a box turtle but does not close
as tightly. The turtle is mostly carnivorous, eating creatures
such as snails, insects, tadpoles, crawdads and frogs. It was
named for the first person believed to have described it, Dr.
William Blanding, an East Coast physician and naturalist
who lived 1773-1857.
A semi-aquatic species that loves marshy areas, the
turtle’s historical range is centered in Michigan and includes
18
Nebraskaland • April 2022
portions of states and
provinces that border
the Great Lakes. The
range also extends
into parts of the East
Coast, Missouri and,
of course, Nebraska.
It is a sizable
range, but the turtle’s
distribution is spotty.
Most populations are
small, numbering in
the tens, rather than
hundreds. Nebraska
is the only state in which the species is “apparently secure,”
a favorable ranking on NatureServe, the national nonprofit
that combines species data from state and federal sources.
In all other states and provinces, rankings range from
“vulnerable” to “critically imperiled.”
The Blanding’s turtle is listed as a “tier 1” species in the
Natural Legacy Project, Nebraska’s wildlife action plan. That
makes it Nebraska’s only turtle species designated to have
the greatest need of conservation.
The species is doing well in the Sandhills, but likely has
suffered in other parts of the state. While populations of
many wildlife species may fluctuate upwards in just a few
years, Blanding’s turtles are true to stereotype in this regard:
slow. They can live to be more than 70 years old, but do not
A Blanding’s turtle crosses a road at Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area. The low volume of vehicle traffic in the Sandhills
has helped the species survive there better than more populated regions of the continent.
reach sexual maturity until they are well into their teens and
up to 20 years old.
Conservation Challenges
While the Blanding’s turtle may appear to be smiling,
people who love the species have reasons to frown.
Throughout most of the turtle’s range in the upper Midwest
and East Coast, properties have been extensively developed
with farms, buildings and roads.
Roads serve as a primary enemy of all turtles, but
Blanding’s seem especially susceptible to being smashed by
rolling rubber.
That is what first brought Dr. Jeffrey Lang, a professor at
the University of North Dakota, to the Sandhills in 2002 and
2003. At that time, a lot of attention was placed on Blanding’s
turtles as U.S. Highway 83 was being straightened with
a widened right-of-way right through the east side of the
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.
Prior to coming to Nebraska, Lang had studied Blanding’s
turtles at multiple localities in Minnesota, including one
population near the Mississippi River that was considered
the largest in the world. An estimated 5,000 turtles were
living there.
Upon his arrival to Nebraska, Lang immediately observed
the remains of more than 50 dead Blanding’s turtles on the
blacktop of U.S. Highway 83. Given what was known about
the abundance of these turtles in Nebraska at that time, this
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
19
A Blanding’s turtle
encounters a chain
link fence along
U.S. Highway 83
at Ballard’s Marsh
Wildlife Management
Area. The fences,
installed in the early
2000s, direct turtles to
culverts to avoid traffic
above.
Dr. Jeffrey Lang and volunteer Alan Bartels check a turtle trap on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.
much road mortality seemed incredible.
Lang and other researchers later learned a lot more
Blanding’s turtles were in the Sandhills, and the highway
mortality, while certainly undesirable, was not as much
of a threat to the population as they originally suspected.
By trapping turtles, marking them and tracking them with
telemetry equipment, they later estimated just the refuge
population at more than 130,000 turtles — about 26 times
that of the one in Minnesota.
“The Sandhills total population is likely well over several
hundred thousand,” Lang said.
But despite their abundance, this is a difficult turtle to
study.
“They’re kind of shy,” Lang said. “They also live in habitat
which is really hard to make observations on. They don’t sit
out and bask as readily as painted turtles.”
Similar to other hard-shelled relatives, Blanding’s turtles
move between habitats depending on the season.
In May and June, the females travel as much as 1 mile
away from the marsh to each lay about a dozen eggs, and
that is when they are most vulnerable to becoming roadkill.
Thankfully, Sandhills roads are some of the most lightly
traveled in America.
“The magic here is that the turtles are basically surrounded
20
Nebraskaland • April 2022
The holes in the shell of this turtle indicate that it was
captured and marked when Lang visited the refuge two
decades ago.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
21
by almost perfect nesting substrate,” Lang said. “Sand is
what they like, and so they could almost nest anywhere. It’s
just a matter of picking the right slope; the right place where
the sand has drained and warmed. Basically they can hike
out of these lakes in almost any upland area, and it’s probably
10 times better than most Blanding’s turtles in the world
would find.”
Mark Lindvall, a retired manager of the refuge and
project volunteer, said Blanding’s turtles deserve special
consideration in road development. They seem to be more
timid than other kinds of turtles, a characteristic that he
believes may make them more vulnerable to traffic than
other species.
“They’re crummy at crossing the road,” he said. “Of all the
turtles, they’re the worst. The car comes by and they suck
in (their shell) and just stay there. Others, such as painted
turtles or snappers, will suck in, but then get out of there.
Blanding’s just linger.”
A couple of road projects have helped the turtles, he
believes.
During the Highway 83 project, sections of chain link fence
were installed along problem areas of the road, directing
turtles to cross in culverts that connect the expanse of lakes
and marshes.
Earlier, in 1999, Little Hay Road, which provides access to
Turtles are corralled in buckets during processing. Prior to
release, newly drilled holes in their shell will correspond to
an alphabetic code and provide a unique identifier.
22
Nebraskaland • April 2022
Lang measures a turtle before returning it to its habitat. The data is not only presently valuable,
but also may be compared by researchers who capture the turtle in coming decades.
many sites on the refuge, was improved from a two-track trail
to a graded gravel road.
“I think this reduced turtle mortality, as prior to the
improvements turtles were less visible to motorists and less
likely to linger on the road,” he said. “When it was a twotrack, water collected in the ruts and attracted turtles.”
With the ruts’ puddles largely concealed by grass, drivers
on two-tracks smashed turtles without even knowing it.
Nest predation also is a major threat to Blanding’s turtles.
Less than 24 hours after laying her eggs, the female returns
to the marsh leaving behind six to 21 buried prizes for skunks,
foxes, raccoons and other nest predators. The eggs have an
incubation period of 50-75 days, but are most exposed during
the first 48 hours when scent is strongest. Studies have
shown that Blanding’s and other turtles in their range face
more than 80 percent mortality because of nest predation.
Conversion of wetlands and uplands to agricultural and
other uses has been hard on the species, destroying habitat
and making it easier for predators to locate nests in what
remains.
“They get hammered like crazy on the East Coast,
mostly crossing roads, because their habitat has been all
fragmented,” Lang said.
Even though the Blanding’s turtle’s conservation status
forbids it from being possessed, transported or sold in
Nebraska, that does not always stop people from unlawfully
picking them up. Lindvall said there have been several
instances of such suspicious activity by visitors to the refuge.
The turtles are especially sought as pets overseas and are
sold for hundreds of dollars, Lang said. While Lang worries
that added attention could draw unlawful collectors to the
Sandhills, he knows the turtles’ story needs to be told in order
to protect them into the future.
“It cuts both ways,” Lang said. “If you don’t make it known
that it’s important, you could lose aspects of the region that
are important to the turtles.”
Return to the Refuge
When coronavirus restrictions sidelined plans for Lang
to return to India to study gharial crocodiles last spring,
he decided it was time to revisit the Valentine National
Wildlife Refuge. He got clearance from the refuge, loaded
the hoop traps — he’d been paying storage for them since
the Blanding’s project ended in 2003 — and headed south on
Easter weekend.
“I kept the traps because I always dreamed about coming
back here,” he said, relating his goal to revisit turtles he had
handled in the past.
To mark the turtles, the researchers use an alphabetic code
that relates to scales on the outer edge of the carapace, the
top part of the shell. Holes are drilled in specific locations to
give each turtle a unique identifier. Lang is not the only one
who has marked Blanding’s turtles in the Sandhills. In 1991,
prior to Lang’s involvement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
biologist Bruce Bury marked dozens of them.
Lang set up camp, and the traps were set at lakes and
marshes throughout the refuge just as they were in the early
2000s.
“The main thing I was trying to do is get some idea of the
age distribution of the turtles,” he said. “The hope was that
we would recover the turtles that we marked and that were
marked in 1991. And we did that.”
Lang and volunteers captured 285 Blanding’s turtles, and
he was ecstatic to find 30 turtles with holes that he had
drilled about two decades ago, and more than 10 that Bury
had marked three decades ago.
“These adults are really homebodies, it looks like,” Lang
said, while relating a story about capturing a 42-year-old
turtle in the exact same place near Hackberry Lake that he
did 20 years ago. “She’s still there. Really, what we have are
these resident populations that seem to be spread all over the
refuge.”
He said evidence is showing that Blanding’s turtles are not
evenly dispersed throughout the refuge.
“We get turtles that are 3 years old, which are almost the
smallest turtles I’ve ever seen here, all the way to the full
adults that are 40 years old, and they’re all in the same trap,”
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
23
Aging turtles is
challenging, but growth
rings, similar to those of
trees, provide clues. At
left, the underside of the
Blanding’s turtle has worn
smooth, indicating it is
more than 20 years old.
At right is a “teenager”
with 10-14 growth lines
on every scute. Each scute
enlarges as the turtle
grows.
he said. “Even if we have two hoop nets in one small wetland,
all of the Blanding’s will be in one trap and there won’t be any
Blanding’s in the other trap. So, there’s some social thing
going on, too. They may be cuing each other in.”
From what he saw in 2021, Lang suspects the Sandhills
population is not only super abundant and stable, but likely
increasing. The Indian crocodiles are taking priority this
spring, but he plans to return to the refuge to study turtles
in coming years.
Beyond the Sandhills
Blanding’s turtles are doing best in the Sandhills habitat,
but the species can be found in other parts of Nebraska.
Thanks to another research project, we have a better
understanding of where those places are and how well the
population is connected.
Herpetologist Dan Fogell, a science instructor at Southeast
Community College in Lincoln, conducted a presenceabsence survey of the species that ended in fall 2021. The
project took him to 427 sites in the Platte, Elkhorn and Loup
valleys where he became proficient at looking through
spotting scopes and binoculars and differentiating the heads
of Blanding’s turtles from painted turtles and other species.
He found the distribution to be continuous along the
Niobrara River between Valentine and the community of
Niobrara. He also found them to be present in the Elkhorn
and Loup valleys. The research confirmed that Blanding’s
turtles were present at locales of many previous sightings,
but he also found them residing at more than 30 new sites.
“They are conspicuously absent along the Platte River
between North Platte and the confluence with the Loup
River,” Fogell said. “There are a lot of places that they should
be, but they aren’t there.”
He spotted the most turtles of any one location, 11, at
Memphis Lake State Recreation Area between Lincoln and
Omaha.
Oddly, he said, a couple of Blanding’s turtles have been
reported way out west in the Chadron vicinity, and one near
Fort Robinson State Park, in the past decade. Whether they
arrived there naturally, or if someone moved them there, is
unknown.
Tests indicated that a Blanding’s turtle found roaming near
Scottsbluff in 2017 had previously been kept as a pet. It is
now living at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center near Gering.
“It’s not unlikely that they could expand to the west,”
Fogell said. “They’re a lot more tolerant to the changes
in climate that we’re experiencing and will continue to
experience. It’s expected that their numbers will increase and
the distribution will expand as a result of climate change.”
If they are expanding west toward other “real estate,” it
will only solidify Nebraska’s claim as Blanding’s turtle capital
of the world. Let’s just hope they take roads less traveled in
the process. N
A young and old turtle await processing. Note that the old turtle sustained an injury to its left eye sometime during its many
years on the refuge.
24
Nebraskaland • April 2022
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
25
Outdoor Nebraska
By Renae Blum
Spring is here — how will you spend it? You could be exploring
the woods in search of morels, casting for crappie, hunting
turkey or attending a fun outdoors event. N
Youth shotgun
turkey season
April 9 – May 31
Statewide
Share
an
unforgettable
hunting adventure with a
young person: Be there for
the opener of the youth
shotgun turkey season on
April 9. With high hunter
success rates, turkeys in
every county, and $8 youth
permits for both residents
and nonresidents, Nebraska
has lots of opportunities
for hunters of all ages.
What To Do in April
Morel mushroom
hunting
Season typically begins mid- to late
April | Statewide in woodlands
Foraging for morels is a great way to spend
a spring day. Morels tend to be fickle, but
they often emerge on warm, sunny days
following spring rains, and can be found
in both moist floodplain and upland
woodlands. Look for them at the base of
cottonwoods and elms that have recently
died. DOUG CARROLL, NEBRASKALAND
Celebrate at Arbor Lodge
State Historical Park
April 29 | Nebraska City
Take a trip back in time to where Arbor Day first began. Tour
the beautiful mansion home of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling
Morton, featuring authentic furnishings and displays that
capture the life and times of the Morton family. Stay tuned to
Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov for details on special Arbor Day
events at the mansion. JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
JULIE GEISER, NEBRASKALAND
Fish for crappie
at Red Willow State
Recreation Area
As weather allows | McCook, Nebraska
Crappie populations at Red Willow are booming right
now, and spring is one of the best times of year to fish
for them. The lake offers prime crappie habitat, with
plenty of vegetation to attract fish. Pick a nice day
to go out: Fish will be seeking warmth in shallower
areas, and they’ll retreat during a cold snap or spring
snowstorm. JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
26
Nebraskaland • April 2022
Outdoor Adventure
event at Indian Cave
State Park
April 23 | Shubert, Nebraska
This popular event returns for its 11th year,
featuring a mushroom hunting contest, 5K
or 1-mile run, fish fry, black powder gun
demonstration and history reenactments.
There are plenty of hands-on activities
as well, including archery, kayaking, a
fish touch tank and Dutch-oven cooking
demonstrations. Learn more at
Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov.
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
27
Conestoga
A Model Lake
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
Conestoga Lake is a peaceful retreat.
But it’s not as quiet as it used to be. That’s what
happens whenever improvements are made to
a fishery near Nebraska’s capital city. And the
improvements made to Conestoga were many.
Larry Czolgos of Lincoln fishes from
a kayak on a foggy morning at
Conestoga State Recreation Area.
28
Nebraskaland • April 2022
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
29
L
ocated south of Emerald, Conestoga State Recreation
Area is one of 11 Salt Valley Lakes built around Lincoln
in the 1960s and 1970s by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. The dam on Holmes Creek that created the
reservoir was completed in 1963. The 230-acres lake and 486
acres of land around it were leased to the Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission in 1965.
Like the rest of the lakes in the area, it was an excellent
fishery when it was new, and a popular camping spot. But
time took its toll on the lake and sediment inflows from the
watershed and shoreline erosion, caused by wind-driven
waves, powerboating and ice, had consumed one-third of its
original volume. Water quality declined, algae blooms were
common, and the amount of lake capable of supporting fish
had declined. Considering carp and gizzard shad made up
most of the fish population in the lake, anglers had little
reason to visit. Some campers still did, enjoying a new RV
campground built in 1999. And speed boats and jet skis still
zoomed around the surface. But many found other places to
go.
Enter the Commission’s Aquatic Habitat Program. The
lake was lowered in 2014 and work on the $8.6 million
project, the biggest in the program’s 25-year history, began
in 2016 and was completed in 2018. The lake was deepened,
and structure was added to attract and support fish. What
anglers and campers see, however, are the numerous features
built to improve fishing access and protect the shoreline.
A new kayak launch includes a wheelchair accessible
dock equipped with a transfer system that allows
people to easily get in and out of their crafts. They
can then slide down ramps into the water and, after
a paddle, pull themselves back onto the dock with
handrails. The launch is equally popular with children,
seniors, and anyone else who wants to hit the water
without ever getting their feet wet.
An angler fishes from one of the new breakwaters built to protect a bay and a new boat ramp in the northeastern
corner of Conestoga Lake. Two fishing decks are found on the opposite breakwater.
Breakwaters protect a bay on the lake’s north shore from
southerly winds. In the bay, there is a new two-lane boat
ramp with a wheelchair-accessible dock which replaces
the single lane ramp that was located in the main arm. A
mooring dock, with room for 12 boats, gives people a place
to park while heading back to camp for lunch. It is also
wheelchair accessible, as is a kayak launch on the other end
of the bay.
One of two fishing decks on the main breakwater on that
bay and two fishing pads next to it are wheelchair accessible.
There are 12 other fishing pads and points spread around the
lake to get anglers closer to deep water. Access trails lead to
two other fishing breakwaters on the lake, including one on
the south side near a new parking lot and latrine.
The Angler Access Program, an offshoot of the Aquatic
Habitat Program begun in 2010, paid for these access
features, contributing $1.2 million of the overall cost of the
work at Conestoga.
30
Nebraskaland • April 2022
One of those trails also leads to a wildlife viewing deck
on the sediment dam in the upper end of the main arm of
the lake. Grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust
and the Department of Environment and Energy paid for
the deck and much of the wetland work done above the
dam. The wetlands and the stream that flows through the
wildlife management area that covers 396 acres mostly west
and south of the lake attract thousands of migrating ducks
and geese in the spring and fall. The entire lake and WMA
are designated as a waterfowl refuge, so those birds can’t
be hunted, but hunters do enjoy pursuing white-tailed deer,
pheasants, quail and small game on the area.
And there are plenty of fish. Last year, anglers were
already catching 10-inch crappies. This year, they will be
catching 8-inch bluegills. And there will be plenty of 15-inch
largemouth bass to bend a pole, and a few walleyes and
catfish that have reached keeper-sized proportions.
The main area on the north side of the lake offers 25
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
31
The sun rises over Conestoga Lake on a fall morning.
Evelyn McArthur and Raven Trejo blast R.J. Trejo with water cannons while playing in the yard next to the RV
campground. The kids were three of several from Sprouts Child Development Center in Lincoln on a campout
hosted by staff.
32
Nebraskaland • April 2022
camping pads with electrical hookups and eight more
without electricity. There are another 24 designated
campsites without electricity for tent campers. Eight of
those tent sites and a day-use area are next to the lake, new
fishing pads, and a 100-yard-long sidewalk that sits above
water that is 3 feet deep and within casting distance of brush
and tree piles that attract fish.
Anglers are already flocking to the lake, some throwing
spinnerbaits from their boat searching for bass and others
content to watch from shore and wait for a panfish to pull
their bobber under. “There are always people there, any
time, even in the rain,” said Jay Woltemath, who manages
the Commission’s parks on the Salt Valley Lakes. “It’s an
outstanding place to take little kids with Barbie poles for
bluegill fishing. I had two of my own grandkids catch their
first fish there last summer.”
The trees planted around those RV campsites that were
added in 1999 have now grown up to offer plenty of shade.
None can be reserved. Visitors can no longer water ski at
Conestoga: a 5 mph speed limit was imposed to reduce wave
erosion and protect the investment. Still, the improved
fishing and other opportunities the lake offers has made the
Tayler Spickelmier of Lincoln holds up a green sunfish
she caught while fishing with her brother, Jarrett, and
grandfather, Pat Leichleiter of Harvard.
campsites more popular than ever.
“If you want to get in there you’d better not wait until
Friday,” Woltemath said.
That’s what happens when the Aquatic Habitat Program
breathes new life into aging waters. N
An Anniversary Celebration
Anniversary, Aquatic Habitat Program
• 25th
June
18,
p.m., Conestoga SRA
• Activities:3-7Fishing,
kayaking, boat
• tours, educationalbowfishing,
booths and food trucks.
complete:172
• Projects
Dollars
Spent:
million from Aquatic
• Habitat Stamp,$90
Federal Sport Fish
Restoration Program and other sources.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
33
Aquatic Habitat Program
F
lood control reservoirs aren’t expected to last
forever. Rivers and streams inherently carry
sediment from the watershed. Banks erode, adding
more sediment. Many are expected to fill in just
100 years.
Conestoga Lake was no exception. Completed
in 1963, it had lost one-third of its original storage
capacity of 2,400 acre feet to sedimentation by
2013. The maximum depth had dropped from
more than 20 feet to 16. The west half of the
reservoir was less than 6 feet deep, and much of
the lake was 2 feet deep or less.
“Shallow, muddy, full of carp and gizzard shad
and powerboaters,” is how Jeff Jackson, head of the
Commission’s Aquatic Habitat Program, described
the lake.
“Essentially it was a mud bowl,” said Aaron
Blank, southeast district fisheries manager for the
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Fast forward to today, and you will find a lake full
of fish that is already attracting anglers in droves
thanks to an $8.5 million Aquatic Habitat and
Angler Access Program project that began in 2014
and was completed in 2018.
Most of the work involved addressing the
number one problem: sediment. With little deep
water remaining, and no aquatic vegetation
growing in the shallows, there wasn’t much
habitat left for fish. Additionally, the sediment
also contained nitrogen, phosphorus and other
nutrients washed from farm fields that fueled large
algae blooms. “It was probably nearing the end of
its life expectancy as far as recreation sport fishery
at that point,” Jackson said.
Roughly 600,000 cubic yards of muck, enough to
fill three-fourths of the bowl of Memorial Stadium,
was scooped from the lakebed. Most of the
sediment was removed from the bays on the north
side of the lake and the perimeter of the main arm,
increasing the depth of water within casting distance
of where most bank anglers fish to 10 to 12 feet.
Keeping sediment out of the lake and protecting
the shoreline was the second priority. The
Commission had built two-stage sediment traps
in reservoirs it had previously rehabilitated. At
Conestoga, they added a third, creating three
fingers that come from opposite banks that
Holmes Creek snakes around before reaching the
A three stage sediment trap in the upper end of the reservoir will keep silt out of the lake and maintain water
quality, and also created wetland habitat for ducks, geese and shorebirds.
34
Nebraskaland • April 2022
main sediment dike. This shallow area also forms
a wetland that is being colonized with cattails,
bulrushes and an assortment of native pond
weeds and smartweed that filter sediment and
provide food for migrating waterfowl. Along the
creek in the wildlife area above the reservoir, three
wetlands were dug and the bank notched to allow
the stream to spread out, slow and drop more
sediment before it reaches the lake.
Smaller sediment traps were built on two smaller,
intermittent streams that flow into the lake from
the north. The reservoir had already lost some
of its surface area, and the sediment basins took
more, reducing its size to 160 acres, a worthwhile
loss to maintain water quality. The lake’s outlet
was modified to allow the lake to be lowered to
remove the silt that will one day fill in the basins,
rather than the lake, a process currently underway
at Wagon Train and Summit lakes, sites of previous
Aquatic Habitat projects.
Nearly all of the shoreline is now protected
from wind-driven waves by breakwaters or riprap,
addressing the other source of sediment. “Offshore
breakwaters create a calmer environment for more
wetland species to get established and they do
function really well,” said Jackson.
Hundreds of trees had to be removed to build
the structures and reshape the lake’s shoreline.
Most were moved to the lakebed to create fish
habitat. Some were cut and stacked like Lincoln
logs. Another 400 eastern red cedar trees were cut
and hauled in from the wildlife area.
There are also now a dozen underwater islands
or shoals dotting the lakebed. Some were built
with old riprap that had lined shorelines, others
with rock that was hauled in specifically for that
purpose. Some were built with soil and topped with
rocks, trees or gravel.
“If you add up the rock piles and trees, I know
you’re well over 500 or 600 structures in there,”
Jackson added
All of that structure will attract fish. “They like
protection,” Jackson said. “Small fish will congregate
around them. You’ll certainly get some bass around
those, and the crappies orient around those things
also.”
The number of angler hours fell to 18,000 per
year by 2012, half of what it had been 20 years
earlier. Based on what they’ve seen following other
projects on the Salt Valley Lakes, biologists expect
that number to quadruple soon.
As has been the case with other projects, the
417,000 fish stocked since the fall of 2018 are
growing fast. The lake received the usual dose of
Rock piles, gravel beds, trees and other fish habitat
added to Conestoga are now covered with 10 feet of
water within casting distance of the fishing points built
in the bay in the lake’s northwest corner.
largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegills and
crappies added to eastern Nebraska lakes. But
biologists also added redear sunfish, rock bass,
walleyes and, last fall, 1,150 17-inch tiger muskies.
Walleye and bass have reached 15 inches,
crappies 10 inches and bluegills 8 inches. “The
fishery has taken off,” Blank said, “and angler catch
rates were high last spring. I would expect the
crappie and bluegill fishing to be good out there
this year. I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t be.”
In all, the project is showcasing what commission
biologists and the engineers they work with have
learned during the first 25 years of the Aquatic
Habitat Program.
“This is the biggest aquatic habitat project that
we’ve ever undertaken,” Jackson said. “We tried
to create a balance between access and habitat
improvements.
“If you go to Conestoga, you say, ‘They did a lot of
things here.’ I think there’s some balance here. You
can’t just do everything under the water.”
But boy did they.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
35
From High-Wheel
to Safety
Bicycle
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
Right: Louise Pound with
her first bicycle, circa
1895. Pound went on to
a noteworthy career as
a linguist and folklorist
at the University of
Nebraska. History
Nebraska RG909-10-6.
Far right: Louise Pound’s
century pin. History
Nebraska 7134-30
To modern bicyclists, the bike’s leather seat looks familiar
but the handlebars seem odd.
ebraskans participated eagerly in the bicycle craze of
the 1890s, which began when the new “Safety” bicycle
became widely available.
Why was it called this? With a chain drive and two
wheels of equal size, the new bicycles kept the rider close to
the ground, no longer perched atop the high-wheel bicycles
of the 1870s and 1880s.
The high-wheel bicycle, shown below, was built by the
N
A resident of Osceola, Nebraska, owned this high-wheel
bicycle circa 1886-1895. History Nebraska 3197.
36
Nebraskaland
• April 2022
The bike has a kerosene lantern for riding after dark. Such
low placement better illuminated the road.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
37
Overman Wheel Company of Suffolk, Massachusetts,
and used by Ernest Peterson of Osceola, Nebraska, circa
1886-1895. It has solid rubber tires, a leather seat mounted
on springs, wooden grips on the handlebars and even a
little kerosene lantern between the spokes. A lever on the
handlebars operates a spoon-shaped brake on the wheel. But
don’t brake too hard — you’ll tumble over the handlebars!
Would you ride such a bike? Would you race one on a
crowded indoor track? An Omaha woman named Lillie
Williams did so professionally starting in 1889. She and
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dec. 5, 1897.
Lillie Williams in the National Police Gazette, May 18, 1889.
38
Nebraskaland
• April 2022
other racers switched to Safety bicycles within a few years,
but women’s professional sports remained controversial. An
1897 illustration from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shows one
of their opponents’ biggest concerns. (Williams is second
from right.)
Williams excelled as a multi-sport athlete during her long
professional career, competing in bicycle and motorcycle
racing, swimming, fencing, horsemanship, rowing and
shooting. She even raised fine show animals. After moving to
Los Angeles, she made headlines when in 1912 she applied —
unsuccessfully — to join the police department’s motorcycle
squad.
Back in Nebraska, meanwhile, both men and women joined
bicycling clubs. Some bicyclists rode tremendous distances
on the dirt roads of the day. Have you ever done a century
ride? That’s 100 miles on a bicycle in a single day. Louise
Pound of Lincoln completed three such rides along dirt roads
on a heavy, single-speed bike in 1895-96.
Like Williams, Pound was a talented multi-sport athlete —
she twice won the men’s tennis tournament at the University
of Nebraska — but she was far from the only Nebraskan
riding long distances for fun. In fact, bicycling was so popular
that it led to a movement to improve the condition of rural
roads. The Good Roads movement began in the 1890s as an
alliance of bicyclists and farmers who wanted better farm-tomarket roads for their wagons. Only later did the movement’s
focus shift to the needs of the growing number of automobile
drivers. N
Visit History Nebraska’s website at history.nebraska.gov.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
39
Wildlife Habitat
from the Bottom Up
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
B
illy Chromy is a big picture kind
of guy when it comes to wildlife
habitat.
That likely comes from his
background, which includes growing
up on his family’s farm in the hills
near Linwood, and working as a
conservation technician, game warden
and park ranger before returning home,
where he now farms with his father
and is also a contractor who helps
landowners implement conservation
practices on their land.
An avid hunter, Chromy has been
managing the woodlands, pasture
and croplands on their farm with
white-tailed deer in mind. To improve
things for deer, he manages the
Billy Chromy stands beneath a tree he hinged and toppled into a stream on his family’s farm in Butler County as part
of a NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program project to add woody debris and increase aquatic life.
An American bullfrog rests on a log in a pool that formed above debris
deposited in the stream by Chromy.
40
Nebraskaland • April 2022
ground for quail.
“The white-tailed deer, he can live
anywhere,” Chromy said. “He’s proven
that he’s adaptable. I didn’t say he
will thrive anywhere, but if we can
grow our property for quail, you have
10 times the minimum for what the
white-tailed deer needs.”
With that kind of thinking, it’s
no surprise that Chromy is enrolled
in many programs offered by the
Natural Resources Conservation
Service, including one that might be
considered an oddity: placing woody
debris in a stream to improve habitat
for aquatic insects, amphibians and
other creatures. He is one of just five
Nebraska landowners enrolled in the
practice through the Conservation
Stewardship Program, and the only
one outside of the Panhandle, where
work typically involves a trout stream.
Chromy removed overabundant
hackberry, elm, ash and eastern red
cedar trees while leaving oaks and
walnuts. He “hinged” some larger trees
along the creek, cutting them halfway
and then pushing the top into the
stream while leaving it attached to the
stump, insuring they wouldn’t wash
away. Others were placed directly in
the stream. With more sunlight hitting
the ground and less competition, he is
seeing oak regeneration and a flush of
grasses and forbs.
Chromy said aside from dry years,
the small spring-fed stream flows
year-round on its way to the Platte
River Valley. It also carries surface
runoff and catches some sediment
from farm fields, but not as much as
it did before they implemented no-till
farming practices on the farm 15 or 20
years ago. “It was just kind of existing
and not thriving,” he said.
Adding the woody debris will
provide a spark to the aquatic food
chain from the bottom up. It will
slow flows and create pools above
the debris and scour holes under and
below. Algae on the wood will feed
macroinvertebrates and the wood will
provide habitat for insects, all of which
will feed amphibians and crayfish.
“The nice thing there is you add
crawdads or other water-based
species,” Chromy said. “That way the
raccoon isn’t always raiding nests,
because he’s got other stuff to eat as
well.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
41
Conservation Stewardship
Program
Since it was launched as a pilot program in 2004, the
Conservation Stewardship Program has grown into the largest
conservation program for working lands offered by the USDA’s
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The program offers 87 different practices and another 167
enhancements to those practices. While many are focused on
improving crop and grazing land, it also has offerings that provide
financial assistance to help landowners or managers create or
improve wildlife habitat. Those practices include: planting trees,
shrubs, cover, food or pollinator habitat; conducting prescribed
burns; establishing wildlife corridors; leaving grain standing;
managing woodlands to promote oak regeneration or ponds for
fish; changing harvest practices to benefit wildlife; and building
wildlife-friendly fences.
“It’s like almost anything under the sun can be done,” said Eric
Zach, Farm Bill Program manager with the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission.
In Nebraska, there are currently 1,361 active CSP contracts
covering nearly 3 million acres — twice as many acres as are
enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program in the state. With
higher crop prices, landowners have been hesitant to tie up
ground in 10 or 15 year contracts, and enrollment in traditional
CRP practices has been on the decline for more than a decade. In
2021, there were just 22.1 million acres enrolled nationally, well
below the 25.5 million acre cap. The latest general signup period
ended in March. Grassland CRP signup runs through May 13.
Zach said CSP, which is open for continuous signup, is helping
make up the difference in declining CRP acres, and that there is
plenty of room for growth.
“There’s a lot of potential,” Zach said. “It’s just getting the word
out and getting landowners to understand that opportunities exist
beyond CRP to create wildlife habitat.”
“This is a voluntary, incentive-based conservation program. It’s
totally up to the landowner. It’s all about what we can do to help
the landowner with wildlife resources.”
To learn more about the Conservation Stewardship Program or
other opportunities offered by the FSA, contact your local NRCS
office and ask to speak to a Farm Bill Biologist. These individuals
work one-on-one with landowners under a unique partnership
between Game and Parks, the NRCS and Pheasants Forever.
Walk along Chromy’s stream and turn over wood and you can find a variety of aquatic life.
Pictured clockwise from top-left are: water strider, leech, mayfly larvae and millipedes.
“So then an added benefit was the
fact that it was mature forest all the
way around the stream, and by taking
these trees down and hinging them
into the water, it opened up a ton
of diversity for more wildlife species
outside of just the aquatic side.”
The project paired well with other
habitat work he was doing in the
woodlands above the stream. There,
42
Nebraskaland • April 2022
he cleared a solid stand of cedars from
beneath a stand of oaks to restore a
savannah. He was able to place most
of the trees in the stream rather than
piling it and later burning it.
“I got three things accomplished for
one area,” he said.
He can now find 30 species of
grasses, forbs and shrubs growing
where there were only cedars, all of
which can feed deer throughout the
year, especially when leftover grain
in crop fields is covered in snow. And
he regularly finds deer bedded in
the regrowth, including the Boone &
Crockett-class bucks he’s managing
the property for.
Chromy and his father are enrolled
in several other CSP practices, as
well as more in the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program. They plant
cover crops, manage their grazing to
promote warm-season plants, plant
trees and shrubs, created grassed
buffer strips and waterways, and have
created pollinator habitat, all while
continuing to farm.
“There’s a place where they can
definitely coexist and you can make
a better living at your profession at
the deer and the quail and turkeys
and pheasants and bugs can make
a better living at their profession,”
Chromy said, touting the benefits of
the program and his desire to see more
people involved for the sake of wildlife
and not one of his jobs.
“I’m a contractor by design. I do
this for a living elsewhere, habitat
improvement ag land restoration. So
it’s self-fulfilling because of what I do
for a living.
“But 60 to 70 percent of the people
I contact about stuff don’t know that
they could be getting funding to go
to the project. Build your property for
the least common denominator. Fill
in the lesser species and everything
else will come. The biggest thing is do
something.” N
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
43
Rarer Than a
Three-Spurred Rooster
By Cassidy Wessel, Wildlife Biologist
can remember the first rooster
pheasant I ever held as a kid,
standing over the trash can in our
garage helping my dad clean birds
and thinking that this brown, purple,
blue, red and green iridescent thing
might just be too pretty to pluck. And
I’m sure I did think “pluck” — skinning
a bird at that time would have been
completely foreign to me. Pheasants
were rare table fare.
Being the fifth generation in a town
in eastern Nebraska where the Platte
and Loup rivers meet, our family first
and foremost hunted ducks. Sure, we’d
sit in the deer stand once in a while.
And we might abandon the duck
blind now and again to walk a weedy
towhead and answer the taunt of a
ringneck crowing across the channel
on a bluebird day. But until I took a
job as a Pheasants Forever Farm Bill
biologist in northeastern Nebraska at
age 23, the only thing I could have told
you about pheasant hunting was that
hunters wore bright orange and had to
walk through the field in a line.
I
Birds of a Different
Feather
As duck hunters coming of age
in the early 2000s, my siblings and
I were reaping the benefits of the
conservation efforts of generations
before
us.
Regulated
harvest,
management
and
international
44
Nebraskaland • April 2022
cooperation to benefit migratory
waterfowl had begun with the
landmark passage of the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act in 1918. When the
droughts of the “Dirty Thirties”
helped underline that sciencedriven habitat management and
protection
were
an
essential
part
of
the
equation,
we
got the Federal Duck Stamp, the
expansion of National Wildlife
Refuges and Ducks Unlimited.
Waterfowl management and habitat
development and protection picked
up again after World War II and have
gained momentum since.
By the time I was old enough to
shoulder my grandpa’s old .410, the
only thing most Platte River duck
hunters felt they really needed to do
was buy their duck stamps and permits
every year, spend some money at the
DU banquet, pick a good spot for the
blind and get the decoys ready to go.
Every fall, when the weather turned,
ducks and geese would show up from
some magical place up north.
Pheasant hunting, however, has
a far different backstory. Pheasants
aren’t magically created in a faroff place and delivered to us on a
cold north wind. Pheasants are
homegrown, intimately tied to how
economy, policy and technology shape
the landscape right here in our own
neighborhood. We don’t get to share
the load with other places, as is the
case with waterfowl: letting Canada,
Alaska and the Dakotas handle nesting
and brood-rearing, while the southern
United States and northern Mexico
handle wintering needs. The average
home range of a pheasant is 1.5 square
miles, so places where people want
pheasants need to have it all.
The Good Old Days
In my 12 years of learning to become
a pheasant hunter, early lessons
included opportunities to hunt over
pointing dogs, how and where to look
for birds in different types of weather,
and the value of good boots and
wearing something just a little thicker
than plain old jeans. I also learned that
in many ways, pheasant hunters were
a lot like the duck hunters I had grown
up with — there was the passion
and dedication, the appreciation of
camaraderie and tradition, and sharing
good stories and memories. Of course,
a day with lots of action never hurt.
In some ways, pheasant hunting
was duck hunting flipped on its head.
Where I had grown up listening to
stories of scarcity in the old days of
waterfowl hunting — of waiting all
morning, morning after morning,
and being excited just to see a flock
or a Canada goose fly that stretch of
river for the first time — pheasant
hunters’ stories of the “good old days”
JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
45
The Goc family first and foremost hunted ducks. The author (right), age 11 or 12,
hunting waterfowl on the Platte River with her father Tom, little brother Colton,
family friend Terry Kostinec and springer spaniel Wiley circa 1998.
COURTESY TOM GOC
survival needs. Furthermore, we could
also create places where we knew
birds would want to be throughout the
hunting season. In today’s landscape,
our responsibilities have grown from
simply getting birds through the
winter. Today, we also need to provide
places for hens to be productive
nesters and places where broods can
successfully forage for insects. And we
have to do all of it on far fewer acres.
The Conservation Reserve Program,
initially created in the 1985 Farm Bill
to reduce soil erosion, has always
been a great tool to put winter cover
on the landscape. CRP has since
adopted wildlife benefit as one of
its program objectives, and many
of today’s enrollments are tailored
toward providing quality habitats. In
Nebraska, starting in 2008, a special
CRP practice called State Acres for
Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) was
designed to meet all the life cycle
had birds boiling out of Soil Bank
fields by the hundreds in the 1960s.
When Conservation Reserve Program
enrollment peaked in the mid-1990s,
everyone remembers the big hunter
breakfasts and town fundraisers on
opening weekend and, if you didn’t
have your limit by noon on the first
day, then “Buddy, your gun barrel must
be bent.”
Most people age 60 or older can
remember a time when eastern
Nebraska still grew wheat, oats and
other small grains, and grass pastures
were more common. Most people age
40 and older can recall the time before
weeds in ag fields were controlled
with chemicals. Today’s landscape
is different. Without small grains in
cropping rotations, we lose nesting
potential, and without weeds, high
quality brood-rearing areas are fewer
and farther between.
From left to right: The author Cassidy Wessel, brother Colton Goc, father Tom Goc and brother Rogan Goc. This photo was
taken after the family’s last hunt of the 2021-2022 pheasant season on CRP. COURTESY TOM GOC
needs of upland game birds: nesting,
brood rearing and winter cover.
However, asking one piece of land to
do three jobs takes intentional design
and heightened management effort.
All these challenges combined made
for a discouraging group rhetoric when
I was starting to learn how to be a
pheasant hunter:
“We have no pheasants, and we
have no habitat!”
“If I want to have a good day
pheasant hunting, I just cross the river
and spend it in South Dakota!”
Focus on Pheasants
CRP and Bird Numbers
Before we lost these landscape
features, all we had to do was add
winter cover to meet the birds’
46
Nebraskaland • April 2022
A young-of-the-year ring-necked pheasant near a cornfield in Scotts Bluff County.
JUSTIN HAAG, NEBRASKALAND
Then, in 2014, there was a twist in
the story. CRP experienced an increase
in annual per acre payments at about
the time commodity prices were
dropping. This, combined with good
incentives for establishment made CRP
SAFE acres a popular option. Between
2015-2017, landowners enrolled or reenrolled over 20,500 acres in three of
the same counties that had recorded
some of the highest rates of grassland
loss in the nation from 2009-2012.
Clusters of habitat began to pop up
on the landscape, and all of a sudden,
learning to be a pheasant hunter
became a whole new ball game.
The timing of increased interest
in CRP enrollments was good. In
response to hunter concerns, many
state agencies poured resources into
improving pheasant habitat through a
number of named initiatives. The Focus
on Pheasants Initiative in Nebraska
soon morphed into our statewide
Berggren Pheasant Plan, and biologists
had financial resources to incentivize
greater management efforts on private
land. At the same time, Pheasants
Forever celebrated its 30th birthday
in the midst of unprecedented
organizational growth by adding more
biologist positions. With more CRP
available, many landowners chose to
allow public walk-in hunting access for
an additional payment.
As a result, my experiences in
the field were no longer mirroring
what people had been telling me.
We suddenly had birds to pursue and
places to pursue them. For the last few
years, it’s a rare day when we decide to
go walk for a few hours and don’t come
home with dinner. On the days we
don’t, I’m pretty sure it’s because my
gun barrel must have been bent.
New Chapter
In this new chapter of learning
to become a pheasant hunter, I find
myself gravitating toward places
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
47
Berggren Pheasant Plan 2.0
Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners recently
approved the Berggren Pheasant Plan 2.0, which
gives biologists and landowners another five years
to partner toward efforts of habitat management
and creation. Lower CRP rental rates will make it
tougher for farmers to dedicate additional acres
to habitat, but in a new research effort with the
University of Nebraska, Game and Parks will gain
an even better understanding of creating functional
habitat complexes for sustainable pheasant hunting
in eastern Nebraska. If we can learn to identify those
places better, there could be a lot of complexes just
waiting to be created. But it’s important that this
knowledge is shared beyond just biologists. Just like
the sportsmen who advocated for the conservation
actions that made a difference for waterfowl
Rooster ring-necked pheasant in a tree in Scotts Bluff County.
where hunters who spend the most
time talking about the glory days
would walk on by.
“Look at that fence line!” a hunter
once told me on opening day. “I’ve been
doing this since I was 10 years old, and
now I’m 60, and if there was a bird in
this whole country, it would have been
sitting right there! I’ve been walking
all morning, and I haven’t seen a thing.
There’s just no birds here!”
I didn’t have the heart to tell that
hunter that a mile away, the last
group of hunters I had interviewed all
had birds in hand; they had seen at
least 40 roosters, and that field didn’t
look anything like his fence line. This
hunter isn’t the only person who has a
hard time believing there are birds to
be found.
And yet, with intentional habitat
placement, good design and active
48
Nebraskaland • April 2022
JUSTIN HAAG, NEBRASKALAND
management, we see glimmers of
hope.
Last Hunt of the Season
On the last Sunday of the 20212022 pheasant season, I joined a few
family and friends for a year-end hunt
in an area where significant effort had
been put into habitat development and
management during the first round of
the Berggren Pheasant Plan. It was
hot, almost 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and
there was definitely no snow. When
I showed up at 12:30 p.m., the four
people who had walked the first field
already had five birds between them.
The landowner, a friend of his, and I
made seven of us for this next walk.
We walked the high-diversity CRP
and saw lots of roosts, but only bumped
a few birds — all too far out ahead of us
to take a shot. Next, we walked some
newly seeded CRP, a long narrow piece
along a draw, and again, lots of sign, but
no birds. Our final option was about 10
acres of CRP, so new that the perennial
grasses had not yet begun to establish.
The 10-foot-tall annual weeds were
so thick that in some places, you
had to get a running start to make it
through. As we rounded the south end,
it thinned out a bit, and the dogs’ tails
started doing helicopter whirls.
One rooster got up — “bang, bang!”
The landowner made a great shot and
30 more pheasants rose into the sky.
They flew to the north, too far for most
of us to take a poke, but a few coasted
toward our blockers at the top of the
hill. I heard gunshots and another bird
fell from the sky.
“Who shot grandpa?” my husband,
Scott, joked when we all got back to
the truck and lined up the birds on the
tailgate. As we gathered in to have
a look at the 23-inch tail feathers,
someone else said, “Wow, look at those
spurs! That bird has triple spurs!”
Pheasant hunters perhaps aren’t
as religious in their communications
as duck hunters with morning flight
reports, but news spreads quickly,
nonetheless.
“Three spurs? Not likely possible.
In 50 years, I’ve never seen it,” was at
least one of the replies from long-time
pheasant hunter friends.
We hunted one more field that day
and put two more birds in the bag. As
we lined up birds, people and dogs for
the end-of-the-day photo, my dad said,
“You know, I spent three days in South
Dakota earlier this month, but the
hunting was nothing like this. Who’d
have thought one of my best hunts of
the year would be right here in eastern
Nebraska?”
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last
12 years talking to pheasant hunters,
first with Pheasants Forever and
now as a Nebraska Game and Parks
biologist. That comment, right there,
has been a long time coming. I’ll bet
it has to be rarer than a three-spurred
rooster. N
decades ago, we upland hunters also have a job
to do.
The CRP fields we walked for our last hunt of the
season were intentionally built and intentionally
managed with assistance from the Farm Service
Agency’s CRP program, Game and Park’s Berggren
Pheasant Plan, the Natural Resources Conservation
Service, Pheasants Forever and neighboring
landowners who had common conservation interests.
How many more places like this can we create? Not
just for pheasants and pheasant hunters, but for all
wildlife — grassland birds, butterflies, mammals and
reptiles — that also need these places to exist.
Learn more about Berggren Pheasant Plan 2.0 or
check out public access pheasant hunting locations
at OutdoorNebraska.org/PheasantPlan/.
When lining up pheasants on the truck tailgate after the last hunt of the 2021-2022
season, the hunters noticed a rooster with three spurs on one of its feet.
COURTESY TOM GOC
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
49
How to Tell a Story
Remembering Dick Turpin
Edited by Nebraskaland Staff
alling
Dick
Turpin
a hunter education
coordinator, turkey call
maker,
conservation
officer, entertainer, songwriter
or any of his other titles fails
to describe who he was — a
person who made you feel
good when he was around.
Regardless of what hat Turpin
was wearing when you met,
you would forever remember
one of his greatest gifts was
that of a storyteller. Longtime staffers at Nebraskaland
agree that while PG-rated
Dick Turpin stories were good,
his R-rated tales were the
best.
A master of language and
creativity, Turpin displayed
his
extensive
outdoor
experience with his Turpin
Time videos from 2004-2010.
While we’ll never be able to
do justice to how well Turpin
could tell a story, we can pass
along some of our favorite
tips from his Turpin Time
video segments about a subject he
remained passionate about his entire
life — the Nebraska outdoors. See more
at NebraskalandMagazine.com.
water when you cleaned up
that silver.
I got to thinking with all the
grandkids I have and them
throwing those 3- to 5-dollar
lures out and snagging them
up, that homemade lures was
a more economical approach
to teaching kids how to fish.
You could sit down and make
50 of these so fast it would
make your head swim.
I got some fishing buddies
who tell me: “Sometimes
you’ve got to spoon feed those
bass.” So that’s what I do.
C
Spoon Lures
While I was cleaning my camping
gear awhile back and shining up the
silverware, I got to thinking how those
silver-plated spoons would make good
fishing lures. So I took some of them
50
Nebraskaland • April 2022
Save That Safety Pin
Dick Turpin
home, and I drilled holes in the ends so
I could hook my line in and of course,
my hook. And then I took a grinder,
took the spoon handle off, and I ground
that smooth, and I narrowed it up so it
made a little more of a spoon shape
like the commercial fishing lures —
like a Daredevil or something like that.
After I put the split ring and the hook
in the end ... boy, they made a terrific
spoon lure that really flashed in the
If you’re one of those
fishermen who has a little
trouble with backlash in a
spinning reel or bait casting
reel or those little knots in
monofilament line, here’s a
good tip: Carry a large safety
pin.
When you unsnap the
pin, you’ve got a sharp
point that will pop them
knots right out. It works well. Some
people use a round toothpick, but
I think the safety pin works better
because you can hook it to your shirt
or wherever.
Also, you can use a regular safety
pin if you want to, but I kind of like a
personalized snag catcher. I’ve got a
little teddy bear on mine that, with my
worsening eyesight, it’s easier to find
when I drop it.
Turkey Beard Momento
Just as antlers represent the memory
of a successful deer hunt, spring
turkey hunters enjoy displaying the
bird’s beard. Here’s a little craft idea
that preserves that gobbler’s
Wood plug
growth — a turkey beard
or sawdust
mixed with momento.
Epoxy glue for
Take that casing you shot
filler
and
that bird with and punch the
beard
primer out on the top with a long nail
and hammer. It leaves you a hole to put
your strapping into because that’s the
next thing you’re going to do.
Tie a loop knot in it and leave
yourself enough loop to make a hanger
with it. Then, take a little piece of
wire, or a long nail, and shove this loop
down into the casing out through the
primer hole.
Next, get a little dowel plug as a
spacer and push it down against the
knot. Then fill the rest of the shell
with five-minute epoxy, and you’ve got
yourself a little piece of memorabilia.
I wonder if an old turkey like me
could grow a beard that long.
Starting Fire
Two things here — to start a fire
quickly, take the lint out of your dryer
and stick it in a small container with a
lid. Stick that in your pocket and when
you want to build a fire, jerk about half
of that out of there and put it down
inside your little wood tipi. Strike that
and it’ll burn hot for quite a little while
but not very long. But this next tip
does.
Sprinkle a little sawdust in an egg
carton and take hot paraffin and pour
that in the egg carton. It saturates the
sawdust. Once it starts to set up, I put
a little more sawdust on top of it and
kind of scrunch it down. Don’t burn
your finger.
When that sets up all you have to do
when you want to start that fire is tear
a chunk of that off and throw it in your
fireplace where you got your stick tipi.
Strike that carton and get it going, that
wax burns, that sawdust burns, and it
burns hot and it burns for a long time.
The 5-Gallon Bucket
I’ve lost count, but you can re-use
five-gallon buckets for about 400
purposes. Here’s one that dog owners
and gardeners might find useful.
Take a sharp knife and cut the
bucket into two parts, about four
inches from the bottom. The bottom
of these buckets make good dishes to
water the hunting dog. Just throw it
in the back of your truck, and you’ll
alway have it. But what are you going
to do with the top part? When I put my
tomatoes in, I’m going to put the top
part of the bucket over one of those
plants so it’ll keep the bunnies out.
They have enough to eat — they don’t
need to eat my tomatoes.
Air Freshener
You can freshen up your vehicle by
using scented laundry dryer sheets. I
place them around on the floor and up
in the vents. My old truck holds a lot
of memories for me and the missus. If I
get it smelling good again, I might ask
her out for an ice cream cone ... take
her for a little ride.
Fishing Boat Magnets
A handy item to have in your
fishing boat is a magnet. I have a
100-pounder. Hook a sturdy line to it
— say 25 or 30 feet — and boy, howdy,
use these things around a dock and
you’d be surprised by the things you’ll
pick up just dabbing around.
I’ve picked up wrenches,
cigarette
lighters,
fishing
lures,
pliers
... just a
myriad
of things.
It’s fun,
but be careful. I was out once on a
lake and hooked onto something that
almost felt like fighting a fish. When
I got it up, I had a beautiful mermaid
hooked right by the belt buckle. My
wife made me throw her back.
Fun for Kids in Wintertime
Here’s a little game you can
do in the wintertime to get the kids
out of the house:
Take some half-inch plywood
and cut out a few big feet like
Sasquatch. Then, go out in the
timber and lay out a trail in the snow
— weave it — and then at the end of
the trail, build a nice big bonfire and
have all the materials you need for
s’mores.
While you’re following the trail
with the kids, you can show them
squirrel, rabbit, deer and turkey tracks
… whatever you run onto. This activity
provides great outdoor education.
Backing Up Trailers
Boat ramps and camping pads can
be frustrating on a busy Saturday or
Sunday because some people have
difficulty backing up a trailer or boat.
Let me give those folks some advice:
Don’t concentrate at the top of the
wheel or edges, concentrate on the
bottom of the steering wheel because
my guarantee is whichever way you
turn that steering wheel from the
bottom is the way your boat is going.
Keep your hand on the bottom of that
wheel and that’s how you’re going to do
a better job of backing that trailer in.
A Secret Compartment
Is there a message from the past or a
tiny piece of memorabilia in your gun
stock? Your granddad’s old gun, for
example, may have a hollow place in
the stock. They’d put shot in there to
keep it from kicking or they might put
a note or some little trinket in there, so
check that old gun.
Keep from Falling on Ice
I suffer from ice elbow, like tennis
elbow, anytime I slip on the ice and
fall. I have cleats and everything else,
but here’s another addition. I fill an old
coffee can with sand, and then when
I’m on the ice, I’ll scatter this around
those areas where I walk a lot to keep
me from falling. N
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
51
MIXED BAG
BS, NOTHING BUT BS
By Roger Welsch
For many years, I had an old friend here on the Middle
Loup River who showed up once a year with an uncanny
sense of timing. It was always about the same time of year,
but he seemed to know exactly the point at which I would
forget about his last visit. I would be walking my usual path
down toward the river, go through the dip where a slough
used to run, and there he would be. He would hiss loudly, coil
menacingly, rear back with a clear intent of killing me with
his venomous fangs, and then, I imagine, chuckle to himself
when he saw me jump
10 feet in the air and
land with my feet in full
bicycle motion, only
to stop about 10 yards
down the path when I
realized it was just my
old friend, the same old
“BS” — bullsnake — up
to the same old tricks
he had used to scare me
about this time every
blasted year.
I’ve missed the guy the
past few years. I think
he may have figured out
that scaring me wasn’t
nearly as much fun as
it was sending Linda,
Antonia, or one of our
dogs or cats straight into
the traditional vertical
take-off and horizontal dash, but now complete with sirenlike sound effects. On one occasion when my old friend Bull
pulled his annual gag on Linda, I was out of town. So Linda
got her camera and took photos because she knew I would
doubt her report of having been attacked by a fire-breathing,
40-foot dragon right in our driveway.
I know and understand that a lot of people have aversions
about snakes, and I’ve come too close to rattlesnakes often
enough that I understand that creepy feeling, but snakes
here in central Nebraska are — let’s be honest about it —
frauds. The eastern hognose puts even a bullsnake’s bluff to
shame with his theatrics of make-like-a-rattler, but then has
an even more hilarious comedy act if his threats don’t work:
He rolls over and says in his most convincing body language,
“Honest! I’m dead! No kidding. Dead, dead, dead!” And tiny
ringnecks with their beautiful olive skin and bright orange
necklace, are, well, downright cute — a disgrace to the
52
Nebraskaland • April 2022
serpent world where intimidation and threat are supposed
to be de rigeur.
I cringe as I recall a time a neighbor drove into town
and announced that she had killed six rattlesnakes in her
backyard, not a quarter of a mile from our place. I went
out to her truck to see the evidence of her garden spade
butchery and was dismayed to find that her “rattlesnakes”
were actually bullsnakes. A common mistake, perhaps, but
geez, if you don’t know what you’re killing, don’t kill it! No,
it can’t be easy for reptiles on the Plains as long as there
are the timorous with shovels in hand, but I was cheered
last fall when Linda reported that the dragons had returned
to our driveway, this time in multiple numbers and much
smaller than the “boa constrictor” she had seen the time I
was not here to defend her. She saw not one but four young
bullsnakes warming on our gravel pile.
I’ll be watching for them next spring. No, correction: Sure
as heck, I won’t be watching for them. I’ll be walking along,
guileless, feckless, when all at once there’ll be a loud hiss, a
frantic coiling, and a baring of fangs, and same as always, I’ll
go straight up in the air 10 feet!
Roger Welsch is an author, humorist, folklorist and a former
essayist for CBS News Sunday Morning. He is the author of
more than 40 books and has been contributing to Nebraskaland
Magazine since 1977.
April 2022 •
Nebraskaland
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April 2022 •
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COMPARING FORECASTS
By Jeff Kurrus
A comparison among the fishing forecasts, both past and
present, reveals the following:
Must Fish Now
Elwood and its wiper fishery highlight my “must fish
now” list. Fish surveyed in the 15-20-inch range and above
20 inches make it an ideal location for trophy and numbers
fishing. Another destination would be Whitney Lake for
crappies. Not only did the lake survey the highest number of
crappies the past two years, it also didn’t survey a single fish
under 8 inches, with the majority of its fish in the 10- to 12inch range.
Excited to Try
Maybe because of Maple Creek’s high percentage of
channel catfish above 24 inches, or the memory of catching
a couple of these catfish on a buzzbait a couple of summers
ago, makes me want to visit this reservoir and target these
fish specifically. Further west, for the past three survey
years Winters Creek Lake on the North Platte National
Wildlife Refuge has the highest number of walleyes
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Nebraskaland • April 2022
surveyed
statewide,
with more
than half of
those fish measuring above
15 inches. What also
intrigues me about this
waterbody is its “non-powered
ed boats
only” requirement, equaling the
h playing
l i field
ld ffor
those small boat anglers.
Old Favorites
I will re-visit Ravenna this year. It boasted one of the
highest number of bluegills above 8 inches, and about half of
its largemouth bass measured more than 12 inches. Another
old favorite is Grove Lake. Its largemouth bass population
shows fish above 12 inches year to year, but its trophy
northern pike and nearby rainbow trout fishing at Verdigre
Creek make this destination more than a distant memory.
Keep those old fishing forecasts, and turn last year’s “I’ll
pass” lake into this year’s “must fish” destination.
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CAMPSITE GAMES
By Monica Macoubrie
The campsite has been located, the gear unpacked and
dinner is being prepared. Now what?
dash. Pronghorns can run up to 60 miles per hour. How do
you compare?
Scavenger Hunts
Pool Noodle Target
What better way to explore the area than a scavenger
hunt? Plan it before arriving or spend a few minutes scouting
the area upon arrival. Each campsite has unique trees, rocks
and landscapes you can include in your scavenger hunt. Add
tangible items such as ant, flower, lady bug or rock, or make
an “experience” scavenger hunt with items such as “climbed
to the top of a hill” or “helped start the campfire.” No two
scavenger hunts ever have to be the same.
Animal Olympics
If your family likes competition, play out an animal
Olympics at your campsite. See who can flap their arms the
most in 20 seconds — hummingbirds can do it 1,400 times.
Or, see who can jump the highest — a mountain lion can leap
18 feet. Or, see who is the fastest in the group doing a 25-yard
Grab your pool noodles, some duct tape and stakes or posts.
After using them at the lake, pond or pool, turn them into
a target. For your target’s frame, place stakes or posts into
the ground and put pool noodles over the top. Then, shape
the noodles into circles and duct tape the two ends together.
Finally, attach all noodles together using duct tape. Try using
another pool noodle as a spear to throw through your target.
DIY Disc Golf Baskets
If there isn’t an actual disc golf course at the campground,
make your own. Using only old tomato cages, round baskets
and zip ties, you can make portable disc golf baskets. Place a
basket inside a tomato cage and fasten them together using
zip ties. Create several baskets and space them out over a
large grassy area to create your own course.
Games, including scavenger hunts, are a great way to pass the time at Nebraska’s state park system.
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JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
April 2022 •
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PORTRAITS FROM THE PAST
Knox County Farm Pond Catch, 1973.
These bass were caught during the summer of 1973 on my uncle
Donald Barta’s property. My uncle is on the right in the picture
holding my new Lab, Zeke. My soon to be brother-in-law, Barry Routh
from South Dakota, is on the left, and I am in the middle. At that
time, we lived in Omaha and I was employed by the City of Omaha
Fire Department. We were never disappointed fishing at these farm
ponds.
– Erik Palle, Spearfish, South Dakota
Platte River Hunt, 1955.
This photo was taken Dec. 11, 1955, after a successful
hunting trip on the Platte River north of Bertrand. The
hunters left to right: Don Leffler, LaVern Palmer, Dick Person
(my father) and Royle Carlson. When the northern flight of
mallards came in, a limit of ducks was easy, but the geese were
rare in 1955.
– Kent E. Person, Holdrege
Pheasant Hunt, 1947.
This is my grandpa, George Nolda (far left); his
oldest son, Herb (my dad); and other brother, Virg.
And Duke the Lab.
Circa 1947 in Ravenna.
Grandpa and his sons loved to hunt pheasants.
Virg got married on the first day of pheasant
season in 1945. His wife wanted the ceremony in
the morning, but it had to wait until the afternoon
because Virg couldn’t miss opening day.
– Valerie Vierk, Ravenna
Harvesting Racoons, 1997.
This picture was taken on our farm during the
1997 trapping season. From left: Jim Barjenbruch
(me) and my three sons — Craig, Jared and Brian.
The boys’ excitement could not be held back,
because when we checked traps, there would be an
an all-out sprint to the creekbank to see if we had
caught anything in that set, and so on, as we went
down the line. In years past, I enjoyed hunting and
fishing with my dad, Otto, who also was an avid
trapper and loved hunting coons with his coon dogs.
Lots of good memories were made in the past and
more will be made in the future with my grandsons
as they are starting to fish and coming with us out
to the deer stands.
– Jim Barjenbruch, Leigh
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 2000. 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. Text may be edited and photos adjusted for reproduction. All photos will be returned.
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Upland Hunting Near Burchard, 1966.
This picture was taken in the fall of 1966 near
Burchard. Pictured left to right: Walt Pleiss, Ron Lahm
(me) and Jerry Anderson. We hunted in this area quite
often. Birds were plentiful, and we would usually go
home with our limit, especially quail.
– Ron Lahm, Omaha
Gavins Point, June 1970.
John Steinman and Jon Fisher (me) grew
up in Falls City. We enjoyed the outdoors,
especially hunting and fishing. Fishing
was done in the Nemaha River. We often
went to Gavins Point Dam and fished on
the Nebraska side of the river. We always
camped and made “standard” dough
balls and “strawberry” dough balls and
caught lots of carp and, once in a while,
catfish. We always enjoyed this trip on the
Missouri River.
I still enjoy the outdoors and have
received Nebraskaland Magazine for over 50
years.
– Jon Fisher, Hot Springs, South Dakota
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4ŘĬƓƈƧćɠ
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THE LAST STOP
Share the joy of hunting!
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LAST STOP
By Jeff Kurrus
Part of my job at Nebraskaland Magazine is to capture a
variety of photographs to accompany my stories. While I
may never be able to match the technical knowledge of many
photographers I work with, I do know what a good photo
spread — and a bad one — looks like.
So after a day of catching crappies in the spring of 2020,
I started photographing. One might assume after 15 years
with Nebraskaland, I would have run out of ideas. Quite
the opposite. You can almost always come up with a new
composition or a different way to use natural or studio
lighting to illuminate your subject. Especially if you study the
work of others and keep challenging yourself and adapting.
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The “cleaning” shot is another in my never-ending attempt
to make game cleaning photographs interesting. The night
and day shots of these fish were taken minutes apart — one
shot properly exposed and the other using off-camera flash
and underexposed two stops to make it look like night.
The problem, and blessing, with photo shoots like these
are the images that completely fail in some way. Who flyfishes at night? I’m sure some do, but that wasn’t my intent
with this image. The mistake simply didn’t occur to me until
I was eating my photo subjects later that evening.
Oh well. There’s always next time. As long as I can catch
some more fish.
GRAND PRIZE
John Deere
XUV590M Gator
in Camo
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īĴƑƄɢ
LEARN MORE AT
OutdoorNebraska.org/TakeEmHunting
April 2022 • Nebraskaland 63
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