Nebraska not worth the trip

Bigdave

Bigdave

New member
I’ve been hunting Southwest NE for 35 years. Last 3 years have been the worst. Poor management by Game and fish and then the drought wiped them all out. The Nebraska Game and Fish need to go to school in South Dakota, learn how to manage habitat. Never thought I would say this cause NE is my home State, but don’t waste your money going there. If you wanna see habitat and lots of pheasants go to S.D.
 
As we are all aware, there's a lot of variables in producing plentiful wild pheasant, the weather being a key one.

I had hopes that Nebraska's Berggren plan would work well and be an example that other states <cough> Kansas </cough> could follow.

I know the drought hurt and a lot of CRP has been lost. NE started on the Berggren plan back in 2016 I think and put out Berggren plan 2.0 in 2021 or 2022. I surely wish it had been amazingly successful.

Apparently not.
 
I hunt this area also and agree the SW region is very poor right now. A lot of CRP has been converted to harvestable ground. The drought from 2022 decimated the population. I hunted for 3 days there a few weeks ago and got 2 birds. Both were old ones and didn't look like much of a hatch happened for younger broods. Probably will be a few years until things improve here.
 
Chestle said:
As we are all aware, there's a lot of variables in producing plentiful wild pheasant, the weather being a key one.

I had hopes that Nebraska's Berggren plan would work well and be an example that other states <cough> Kansas </cough> could follow.

I know the drought hurt and a lot of CRP has been lost. NE started on the Berggren plan back in 2016 I think and put out Berggren plan 2.0 in 2021 or 2022. I surely wish it had been amazingly successful.

Apparently not.
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Take a stand for habitat before it’s too late…oh it’s too late.
 
Bigdave said:
I’ve been hunting Southwest NE for 35 years. Last 3 years have been the worst. Poor management by Game and fish and then the drought wiped them all out. The Nebraska Game and Fish need to go to school in South Dakota, learn how to manage habitat. Never thought I would say this cause NE is my home State, but don’t waste your money going there. If you wanna see habitat and lots of pheasants go to S.D.
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Grew up in Hastings and hunted every year until Viet Nam came along and IM with you. They dont manage habitat at all just grow corn from section to section. The last few years I hunted there was a waste of time and money. North and South Dakota are the place to go, maybe Iowa and Minnesota too. If you want ethanol, Nebraska is your state but I do believe quail populations are up.
 
Good evening my friends. Planning a trip to southeast Nebraska after Christmas. Hunted there many times over the years. Pheasants used to be off the charts. Unfortunately that has changed the last 10 or so years. Some years the quail hunting can still be good to great. Already been to North Dakota for pheasant, Sharptail and Huns. It was really good. I just don’t want to put the gear away for another year and want one more good hunt. Anyone know how the quail and possibly pheasant are looking this season in southeast Nebraska this season. I would appreciate any info anyone can provide. Thanks
 
Dixieman said:
Good evening my friends. Planning a trip to southeast Nebraska after Christmas. Hunted there many times over the years. Pheasants used to be off the charts. Unfortunately that has changed the last 10 or so years. Some years the quail hunting can still be good to great. Already been to North Dakota for pheasant, Sharptail and Huns. It was really good. I just don’t want to put the gear away for another year and want one more good hunt. Anyone know how the quail and possibly pheasant are looking this season in southeast Nebraska this season. I would appreciate any info anyone can provide. Thanks
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We have seen more wild pheasants this year than the last 3-4. That being said the pressure has been high. Quail numbers are through the roof especially if you have some private access.
 
Thanks so much for your response. Yeah I have plenty of private ground. This sounds like a promising hunt. Thanks again
 
Poor Bob Whites. Just got back from a great quail hunt in Nebraska. More Bobs than I have seen in several years. It’s a real shame. They have just really starting to bounce back and they are really going to suffer the next few days. I hope they can find some open patches where they can feed. Winter can be cruel on those little guys. We can just hope for the best.
 
Hi everyone. Just curious. Does anyone out there now how the quail and pheasant made it through the the January storm and extreme cold. The bobs were really starting to come back. Hope they didn’t get wiped out. Any response would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
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