SW Nebraska opener

B

Bird Buster

Active member
Hunted the opener yesterday and it was worse than I imagined. Most all of the CRP was mowed and the stuff they mowed last year didn't get tall enough to matter much. I heard one shot before the wind got bad yesterday morning around 9:30. Gonna be a tough season again there this year.
 
Ran into the same thing. Very few birds. Most CRP had been hayed. Ran into a varying mix of cut and standing crops. The wind didn’t help either. Sign was sparse as well.

Managed to put two roosters in the bag about 6 hours apart and separated by 60 road miles.

Encountered a few hunters including a lone dog less hunter who cut down in front of me then circled me and back out to the road. He was speed walking. Figured he must be new to the game due to his lack of manners.
 
Echo that, I hunted Saturday until it got too hot for the dogs, milo stubble, wheat stubble, and some CRP. I walked almost six miles and saw two hens. The game warden stopped me Saturday after I quit to check my license, he said I was the fifth guy he stopped and no one had a rooster.
Sunday, I went to my “never-fail” private spot, three quarters of CRP. I saw one hen. This is the worst I have ever seen it. One full section of CRP had been mowed, another one had cows on it. I’m not optimistic for the season.
 
I agree with prior posts, lots of cut CRP. Some corners were really skinny, some ok. Got 1 on the first patch and one on the 10th patch we ran. Yellow dog did great. Turned out to be a 560 mile round trip.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20211030_161705811_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20211030_161705811_HDR.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 51
  • IMG_20211030_093158056_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20211030_093158056_HDR.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 51
Bird Buster said:
Hunted the opener yesterday and it was worse than I imagined. Most all of the CRP was mowed and the stuff they mowed last year didn't get tall enough to matter much. I heard one shot before the wind got bad yesterday morning around 9:30. Gonna be a tough season again there this year.
Click to expand...
Have to agree Nebraska is not worth the license fee-time, worst season I can remember since 1981 (except for maybe 1985 when a blizzard killed 95% of the birds). CRP is getting taken out of the program, what's left is hayed-grazed, hoping CRP will make a comback under the current administration???
 
Well I would have to say that you were spot on. I didn’t think it could be as bad as you were saying until I tried for myself. One day I saw one pheasant and it was the correct sex so I shot it. Most days I would move less than 5 ,let alone get a shot. Did find enough cover to hunt, your cover looked way better than some farther north. Also found decent numbers of quail although very spotty. Was going to stay longer but heading back north.
 
NE. has a slick marketing campaign, but overall they are way short on huntable habitat.
waste of time, land management sucks.
 
hunter94 said:
NE. has a slick marketing campaign, but overall they are way short on huntable habitat.
waste of time, land management sucks.
Click to expand...
I actually talked to the upland bird coordinator out of Lincoln I think it was he blamed the enactment triggers which allow emergency haying on everything. It ended up my worst season ever there. Who knows if they will make a comeback this summer. No birds to reproduce and no cover to do it in.
 
I hunted 33 days in western Nebraska last year. I shot 11 roosters and lost one. Most of the time I just took the dogs for an armed walk. I don't have any confidence for next year.
 
Bird Buster said:
I actually talked to the upland bird coordinator out of Lincoln I think it was he blamed the enactment triggers which allow emergency haying on everything. It ended up my worst season ever there. Who knows if they will make a comeback this summer. No birds to reproduce and no cover to do it in.
Click to expand...
And the list for this year is already pretty long for both Kansas and Nebraska. I wonder if the trigger has always been the same. As I understand it, the trigger is reaching "D2" on the drought monitor.

Emergency Haying and Grazing

www.fsa.usda.gov www.fsa.usda.gov
 
it's always about money, therefore it is a subjective call as to what qualifies. your license money is of the last consideration.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top