Flora & Fauna

It’s just my humble opinion, but I believe those of us involved in fish and wildlife conservation on a professional level are “wired” a bit differently than the rest of society. There’s some innate draw or attraction to wild and natural things and places that is difficult to explain, let alone understand. That attraction has led us down a path of life that isn’t just a job or a career, but a vocation that is inexplicably intertwined with our lives, …

It never ceases to amaze me that more avid hunters don’t buy a turkey permit in the fall. Hunters say a lot of things about why they don’t hunt North America’s and Nebraska’s largest upland game bird during autumn. They say there are too many other game birds and animals to hunt in the fall and they may not even see turkeys. They say the fall hunt for turkeys is merely an ambush and not as challenging as the spring …

Dollars. Your dollars. That’s what’s urgently needed to keep the Hunters Helping the Hungry (HHH) program going and to greatly assist those in need of a good meal and valuable protein. Funds in HHH are extremely low right now. In fact, the total amount of tax-deductible cash donations received are even 34 percent below last year. Despite the fantastic response and increase in deer donations by hunters, the program continues to struggle with getting enough cash donations to cover the …

Scott Frost has begun his second season as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but did you know that he really enjoys hunting (and fishing)? Here are two interviews that I did with the Husker gridiron head coach late last winter for my WOWT 6 Sports Outdoor Report at a charity hunt for Teammates about his enjoyment of hunting and his perspectives about Nebraska’s  outdoor scene. It is fun hanging out and hunting with Scott Frost. By …

Photographing Nebraska’s wild animals is always rewarding, but capturing imagery of those that reside only in specific parts of the state is especially gratifying. I was wading up the middle fork of Soldier Creek to capture trout video with Nebraskaland intern Emily Burch last week when this little character, not much bigger than a nightcrawler, caught my eye from its perch below a small overhang. The terrestrial garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) is one of four garter snake species in Nebraska. …

GERING, Neb. – The Gering Fire Department will again lead fire training exercises on public land in the Panhandle for the annual West Nebraska Engine Academy. This year, the training exercises will be at Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area in the Wildcat Hills on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15. Chris Becker, a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife biologist, said hunters should be aware that burning will be occurring at various locations on the property and should consider the event …

CHADRON, Neb. – A habitat restoration project at Bordeaux Creek Wildlife Management Area east of Chadron will soon get a boost by the use of prescribed fire. The burning is set to occur within an area comprising about 10 percent of the 1,841-acre property when conditions are favorable in the coming month. The projected burn area, which is just south of U.S. Highway 20 in the northcentral part of the property, is outside of the pine forest and consists primarily …

Everything is in place, isn’t it? Fully vetted, trained mentors/experienced bowhunters with transportation, check. Permission from parents or guardians for youth to participate, check. Young mentees who’ve successfully completed the Nebraska bowhunter education course and met the other requirements, check. The necessary equipment, check. Shooting proficiency on the target range, check. Wait, are we missing anything? Oh yeah, a place to go. Wait. What? A place to go. That is what is needed in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s …

Anyone who has watched a North American beaver (Castor canadensis) gnaw through a tree trunk has surely been in awe of its proficiency. Using teeth to whittle on wood, after all, is a task neither appealing to humans nor something the American Dental Association advises us to do. Those four orange incisors that protrude as much as one inch from the top and bottom of a beaver’s mouth comprise just one remarkable feature of North America’s largest rodent, and perhaps …

I have exciting to news to share with you. The popular Great Outdoor Radio Show I host is moving and going to a network! That’s right! After more than 25 years at one radio station, the Great Outdoor Radio Show, produced by Gerry Gray/Great Plains Marketing, is moving to the Omaha-based Boomer Radio Network of stations beginning Saturday, July 27th. Coverage is expanding! The Saturday morning, one-hour long, LIVE, interactive show will still run from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. …