Nebraska Trophy Whitetail Hunting - Private, Public, or an Outfitter

 

Located in the Midwest, Nebraska offers a variety of trophy whitetail hunting opportunities, including whitetail deer. Spread throughout the state in the river bottoms, sand hills, agricultural fields and pine ridges, Nebraska’s landscape offers food, cover and shelter resulting in a large deer population. Deer hunters from around the nation travel to Nebraska every fall in search of deer.

 

 Nebraska Trophy Whitetail - Outfitter

Geography

1. The highest concentrations of whitetail deer in Nebraska can be found in the river bottoms and surrounding agricultural fields. Nebraska Game and Parks controls the deer population by splitting the state into deer management units. Each deer management has a specific quota intended to manage the overall population and quality of bucks.

Regulations

2. Nebraska whitetail hunting seasons open on September 15 with an archery season, followed by several management hunts in October. The management hunts, taking place between October 2 and 11, allow you to harvest antler-less deer with any weapon. An eight-day firearm season occurs in November with a muzzleloader season taking place during the entire month of December. Before hunting a specific season, you must purchase the appropriate deer permit, habitat stamp and have proof of hunter education.

Considerations

3. The rut, or breeding period, typically takes place during the November firearms season and is one of your best opportunities for shooting a deer. Be ready to use a variety of hunting methods based on the time of year, weapon and surrounding terrain. Use a tree stand or ground blind positioned along travel routes or feeding areas during the early archery season. During the muzzleloader season in December, the deer will be focused on feeding after the rut to prepare for the winter. Look for deer to enter the agricultural fields as they feed.

Public Land, Private or an Outfitter

4. If you are interested in a do-it-yourself hunt, Nebraska offers several public land hunting opportunities, however, less than two percent of the state is available for public use. The most productive public areas are wildlife management areas and walk-in areas. Current maps can be obtained through the Nebraska Game and Parks. However using an outfitter often will put you where the deer are.

Potential

5. Realtree, a camouflage and hunting company, ranked Nebraska as the ninth best whitetail hunting state for a record book buck. Seven of the top 10 counties--Otoe,Gage, Sarpy, Lancaster, Douglas, Cass, Nemaha and Pawnee--are all in the southeast corner. The other three counties include Dakota, Lincoln and Clay.

Nebraska Hunting Accidents Down In 2010

LINCOLN (AP) — The number of hunting accidents in Nebraska is down.
The Nebraska Games and Parks Commission on Monday says there were eight accidents in 2010, including one death. There were 12 hunting accidents, including two deaths, in 2009.

Officials say seven of the accidents in 2010 involved the discharge of a firearm. In October, a man died after he was shot by a 14-year-old boy while hunting in Washington County. The teen was carrying a loaded and cocked muzzle loader, and it discharged as he was crossing a log, hitting the other hunter in the back.

The other accident in 2010 involved a hunter falling from an elevated stand.

The commission says hunting accidents are rare in Nebraska, but safety remains a concern.

Light Goose Conservation Action Begins Feb. 6

(LINCOLN, Neb.)- Efforts to control the light goose population continue with the Light Goose Conservation Action, which begins Feb. 6, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The dates for the conservation action are: Zone 1, Feb. 6-April 18; Zone 2, Feb. 6-April 1 and Zone 3, Feb. 6-April 18. White and blue-phase snow geese and Ross' geese may be taken statewide during the conservation action, but different regulations apply in each zone. Read the 2009 Nebraska Waterfowl Guide, which includes regulations for the 2010 conservation action, at Considerable effort has been put toward the reduction of the mid-continent snow goose population. This population attracts attention because of the damage to Arctic habitats it has caused. The use of methods to increase harvest has resulted in more than a million snow geese being harvested annually since 1998, with nearly 1.5 million taken in 1999. It is estimated that 1.4 million snow geese would have to be harvested annually to reduce the population. There are no bag or possession limits during the conservation action and hunters may shoot 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Hunters may use unplugged shotguns and electronic calls during the conservation action. Hunting is allowed statewide except for several state wildlife management areas and federal waterfowl production areas in the Rainwater Basin region of central Nebraska. In Zones 1 and 2, hunting will be allowed only on Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. Beginning March 24, hunting will be allowed seven days a week. In Zone 1, it is illegal to hunt within a half-mile of the outer channel of the Platte River between U.S. Highway 281 and Nebraska Highway 14. In Zone 2, it is illegal to hunt light geese within a half-mile of the outer channel of the Platte River between Feb. 8 and March 10. The no-hunting area expands to 3 miles (changed from 5) between March 11 and April 1 to provide protection for endangered whooping cranes. Conservation action hunters age 16 and older are required to have a Nebraska hunt permit, Nebraska Habitat Stamp, Nebraska Waterfowl Stamp, Federal Migratory Bird Stamp, and a Harvest Information Program number. Permits may be purchased at OutdoorNebraska.org.

Platte River Valley Report - Nebraska Hunting

Lot of geese in Platte valley. River has a lot of ice and water, so use caution. No snow geese in valley yet. The rain water basin is also frozen with NO snow geese.

Deer Hunters Free Bucks With Antlers Locked Together

Hughesville, Mo -- A deer hunting party armed with ropes and a battery-powered saw began tracking their quarry on Jan. 21 with hopes of helping two large white-tail deer live.

The night before, two bucks were spotted on Alan Meyer’s farm with their antlers locked together, about 12 miles north of Sedalia in the Hughesville area. They apparently became entangled during a fight, exhaustion and starvation their apparent fate.

But Meyer, along with family and friends, began tracking the two deer in the snow. They didn’t want to see animals they respect suffer.

“Quite a few us, we’ve all deer hunted together, and everybody just wanted to see them turned loose,” he said.

Luckily, they snow help them track the bucks.

“Sometimes the tracks were jumbled,” Meyer said. “At other times, you could hardly tell anything was wrong and they were walking side by side.”

They found the tangled 8- and 10-point bucks, but the deer ran from the rescue party, crashing through a few fences and at one time being astraddle a fence with antlers locked.

The deer fell down a few times and the hunting party tried to put a rope around their rear feet to hold them still, but the deer managed to get up.

Finally, the deer fell and Blake Meyer and Aaron Clark grabbed the bucks’ rear legs and stretched them out. The weary deer then lay still. Gary Clark used a portable battery-powered saw to cut off a main beam from one buck’s antlers. It was enough to free the deer. The dazed bucks staggered away from one another and quietly walked their separate ways into the brush.

Also helping to track and hold the deer down were Ryland Chamberlain, Trent Templeton, Justin Thomas, Jason Chamberlain and Dustin Meyer of Pettis County.

Alan Meyer, 54, said there was a time or two when the party thought they might have to kill the deer to end their suffering.

“But we stayed with it and got ‘er done,” he said. “It was a once in a lifetime experience.”