Nobody likes to tell another hunter they are getting old and need to start acting like a sensible senior citizen. This kind of message is too personal for the ammo aisle and just a shade out of line among friends and family at the Thanksgiving table. It is also the last thing our outdoorsy grandmas and grandpas want to hear. They want recognition for their … Continue reading Slips, Trips and Falls Should Never End With A Bang
Today, it is pretty easy for hunters to get loaded down with equipment. While we’re moving to a simpler lifestyle, sporting goods retailers, it seems, have built assembly lines and supply chains that can move the latest gadgets from field to checkout lines at magnum speeds. My favorite outfitter is now a big box store with thousands of items for every kind of outdoor excursion. … Continue reading Leave Most of the Gadgets Home
Time flies when you’re hot on a deer that steps into your field of view in the last hour of legal shooting. So does situational awareness. Darkening skies, deep shadows and falling temperatures are ignored, if noticed at all. At least, until you have the deer on the ground and you’re looking for the headlamp or the flashlight mode on your camera! Waiting too Long … Continue reading Call It a Day at Sunset
Nebraska ranch hunters tend to ignore hypothermia in their hunt planning. They know that Nebraska’s far from the Yukon and that a warm hearth and cup of coffee are never more than a few hundred yards away. The only problem with this conviction, is that surviving hypothermia is not a matter of distance, but of time. Continue reading “Avoiding Hypothermia is a Matter of Time”
As a young hunter, I never paid much attention to camouflage clothing. In fact, almost no one paid much attention to it in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The popular camo brands we have today hadn’t been invented yet and the idea of concealment was something we tried to achieve on the cheap – by staying upwind and using natural cover. I usually went into the field with the same comfortable clothes that I wore hiking or fishing – jeans, a wool Pendleton™ topped by a coat or sweater and knit cap. This outfit was perfect for fall day hunts in Southern California’s San Bernadino Mountains. At least I thought so at the time. Continue reading “More to Camouflage Than The Pattern”
We support the NGPC’s 2022 decision to create a Pine Ridge Mule Deer Conservation Area (MDCA). Although we are eager to do our part for mule deer conservation, we are also dismayed that it throws a wrench into your deer hunting plans. Continue reading “Giving Muley’s A Break in 2024”
Use caution when you hunt the pine ridge. You’re in mountain lion country! This means a little extra caution is warranted when you venture into the woods this season. Continue reading “You’re in Mountain Lion Country”
I got an email yesterday that Senator Ben Hansen (Blair), submitted a bill (LB1247) on January 16th to open leased school lands to public hunting with an effective date of October 1, 2024! Making more public and private lands available for hunting is often touted as a way to stem the shrinking population of Nebraska’s hunters, which today is just 9.4% of Nebraska’s population. Unfortunately, … Continue reading Another Cockamaimie Idea!
In response to requests for book recommendations, I have attached a brief list of popular books that cover a wide range of topics. Most were recommended by our guest hunters and focus on the basics of deer biology, ecology and behavior. Others, however, address the really “big topics” of conservation, our hunting heritage and preserving hunting for future generations. Please take a look and send me your comments and recommendations. I’ll add them to our list.
Congratulates to Preston O’Dowd of Bennington, Nebraska on his harvest of an excellent whitetail. Preston had hunted western Nebraska many times before, but this was his first visit to our ranch. Preston had to work hard for this buck. It was a hefty but skittish 4×4 pointer that didn’t give us many looks at him during daylight hours. Preston described him as the largest buck … Continue reading Congratulations to Preston
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