december hunt

U

uplandnut

New member
I am wondering about the hunting oppertunities in nebraska in december and january? I figured if South Dakota and Kansas are great bird destinations why not Nebraska? I'm kind of thinking it might be a sleeper state? So what can a person expect, on a general basis when coming to hunt Nebraska, dog friendly hotels, any mixed bag oppotuninites, and anything else I'm not thinking of. Thanks for any input, in advance, and good hunting to you all.
 
The state of Nebraska only holds, 2% public land. The rest is all private. With lots of huge corn fields that are impractical to hunt with just a small number of guys. There are quite a few quail and the turkeys are many, however, you have to make good contacts with land owners. Fall turkeys are tough and you mainly only see hens. Places I have stayed I had to sneak my dog into the hotel because they did not allow pets. They were cheap though so what the heck? haha. I hunted areas that used to hold pheasants and now do not. I hunted by Merna and only saw one rooster!!! No hens at all. I would not venture to the middle portion of the state. It was dissappointing to me to say the least since I dreamed of an epic pheasant hunt all my life but Nebraska did not produce. I was told there used to be alot of pheasants but a couple bad winters killed them all.
 
Nebraska has plenty of birds, well at least the SW area of the state does and the landowners almost seem to invite you on. I've got nothing but good things to say.
 
Winchester 21- Feel free to PM me where you are talking about as I hunt SW NE and this year there is a record number of new No hunting signs. I have never seen so many in 15 years of hunting there. Tracts that no one used to post are now plastered with them. Last year I saw a lot of groups I suspect didn't ask permission so now they have billboarded the area practically.
 
I hunt around Imperial (usually NW of town). I wouldn't let "no hunting" signs deter you. Most landowners just want you to ask permission.
 
Nebraska just doesn't have the cover that Kansas and South Dakota have. My dad grew up in Fremont, where my Grandma still lives. He estimates that area has less than 10% of the birds it held in the 50's and 60's. We'll still hunt for a day or two when we're in Fremont for the holidays, but we're usually lucky to get a bird per person. That's with maximum local knowledge of the honey holes and access to pretty much any private property within 20 miles. We also used to hunt every year in Hastings, which used to be prime Nebraska pheasant country. You could see the habitat loss every year. Now it just looks like a lunar landscape out there when the crops are down. I still hunt extreme SW Nebraska because I live in Denver, and you can get into birds out there. It's similar country to NW Kansas. One difference I've noticed with most of Nebraska and Kansas is that the prime pheasant areas in Kansas seem hillier. You've got areas that can't practically be farmed, ranch pasture that provides cover, and more wooded bottoms. The farmers can plow every inch of the area around Hastings, and they do. Also, Kansas and South Dakota prioritize pheasant hunting and habitat preservation because they recognize the economic impact. Nebraska only seems to care about farming. One thing that I will say about Nebraska is that it is much easier to get access by knocking on doors than in Kansas and South Dakota.
 
i grew up in Lincoln and the hunting was great 40 years ago.......now, except for the SW, it is horrible. the farmers plant fence row to fence row, habitat is nearly extinct, except for creeks and roadside cover. the upland hunting in Nebraska is gone forever...forget about it.
 
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