Outdoor Nebraska

Vol. 34. No. 3 Editorial Staff R. L. Munger Editor C. G. Pritchard Artist Leota Ostermeier Circulation Commissioners Bennett Davis Omaha Frank Button Ogallala La Verne Jacobsen St. Paul Floyd Stone ..Alliance Leon A. Sprague Red Cloud Don F. Robertson North Platte George Pinkerton Beatrice Administrative Staff Melvin O. Steen Executive Secretary Glen R. Foster Fisheries Lloyd P. Vance Game Eugene H. Baker Construction and Engineering Jack D. Strain Land Management Robert L. Munger Information and Education HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OUTDOOR NEBRASKA is published quarterly at Lincoln, Nebraska, by the Game, Forestation and Parks Commission. Subscription rates are $1.00 for two years and $2.00 for five years. Single copies are 15 cents each. Remittances must be made in cash, check or money order. Send subscriptions to OUTDOOR NEBRASKA, Department C, State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please notify this department immediately of any change of address to assure prompt delivery of the next issue to the new address. All material appearing in this magazine may be reprinted upon request. NEBRASKA FARMER PRINTING CO. LINCOLN, NEBR.

Editorial

This Old Put and Take ...

The story's not new, but it's timely.

About the circuit-riding preacher who took his young son along with him on the circuit.

The two went from church to church on the route, the father preaching and the son listening, each with all his heart.

But the last church in the circuit had an extremely poor congregation, and as the preacher and his son came in the door that Sunday the minister dropped 50 cents into the poor box, a monumental sum for him.

When the services were concluded and the preacher's hand had been shaken by the attending church-goers, an elder of the church came past and whispered in the preacher's ear a moment.

"Son," the preacher said as he turned to his boy, "go empty the poor box. I'm told that is to be our pay for the Sunday's work."

The boy did as he was told but came back with a questioning look on his face and a lone 50 cent piece in his hand.

"But papa," he said, "all that was in the box was the 50 cents that you put in when we came into the church."

"Well, son," the minister answered, "maybe if we'd put a little more in we'd have gotten a little more out."

The old circuit rider's answer would hold true for most lines of endeavor, and certainly in the wildlife and conservation fields.

Maybe, like the preacher, all we need to do is put a little more Into it, and we'll get a lot better results.

—R.M.

THE COVER: This cover shows a Virginia whitetail doe and two fawns generally more common in the eastern section of Nebraska. The color drawing is by Staff Artist C. G. "Bud" Pritchard.

Table of Contents

Virginia White-tail Deer Cover This Old Put And Take Page 2 Outdoor Nebraska On The Air Page 3 This I Believe Page 4 Nebraska Has BIG Fish! Page 7 Pine Ridge Guardians Page 8 Historic Ft. Robinson Awakes Page 9 1956 Big Game Seasons in Nebraska Page 10 Unique Nebraska State Parks Page 12 It's Grouse Trapping Time Page 14 Soldier Creek Gold Page 16 Are 'Wormy' Fish Any Good? Page 19 Waterfowl Hatch Delayed! Page 20 Old-Time 'Novel Sport' Growing Rapidly Page 21 Reservoir Bonanza Page 24 Nebraska Fauna (Fox Squirrel) Page 26

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA ON THE AIR!

The voice of hunters and fishermen, produced each week by the Nebraska Game, Parks and Forestation Commission, is aired from 16 stations in Nebraska and one in Kansas.

Each week experts in Game Commission work visit with the sportsmen of Nebraska, explaining or describing some phase of sports life in the state.

Co-operating stations carrying the program are as follows:

KOLT Scottsbluff 12:45 p.m.Saturday 1320 kc KCSR Chadron 1:30 p.m.Saturday 1450 kc KGFW Kearney 5:30 p.m.Saturday 1340 kc WOW Omaha 7:15 a.m.Sunday 590 kc KRVN Lexington 7:45 a.m.Sunday 1010 kc KXXX Colby, Kansas 8:15 a.m.Sunday 790 kc WJAG Norfolk 8:30 a.m.Sunday 780 kc KBRL McCook 9:45 a.m.Sunday 1300 kc KMMJ Grand Island 10:15 a.m.Sunday 750 kc KODY North Platte 10:45 a.m.Sunday 1240 kc KOGA Ogallala 12:30 p.m.Sunday 930 kc KCNI Broken Bow 1:15 p.m.Sunday 1280 kc KFGT Fremont 4:45 p.m.Sunday 1340 kc KFOR Lincoln 9:15 p.m.Sunday 1240 kc KJSK Columbus 1:45 p.m.Monday 900 kc KSID Sidney 5:15 p.m.Monday 1340 kc KCOW Alliance 7:30 p.m.Thursday 1400 kc

Value of Fishing

Presidents all fish.

Ex-President Herbert Hoover once explained this by saying: "I have explained why Presidents fish; they all went fishing; they all have, even though they haven't fished before.

"And that is because the American people have respect for privacy on only two occasions: one of them is praying and the other is fishing, and the President can't be praying all the time."

SUMMER ISSUE 3

THIS I BELIEVE

By MEL STEEN

I believe Nebraska citizens have a right to know more about the man their Game, Forestation and Parks Commission selected for the position of Executive Secretary. Your Commission made their choice on the basis of experience, reputation and demonstrated ability in the conservation field, but that is only half the story. You are entitled to know more, and especially to know more about the basic beliefs of the new Secretary. There is no better way to inform you than to tell you, quite frankly and honestly, how and what I think.

I believe the greatest virtue any man can possess is integrity. I believe this virtue is especially important in a public servant. I believe the people are entitled to an impartial and honest administration of their public affairs. Governor Anderson recently summed it up as well as it can be said. When I inquired concerning his administration's policies, the Governor replied, "Above all things, we seek to give the people good government—as fair, honest, efficient and progressive government as we can provide."

NO SINCERE person can disagree with such a policy. I certainly do not—in these things I believe!

One of the important governmental functions of a wildlife management agency is that of law enforcement. This activity does not directly touch the average citizen but that does not minimize its importance. To those who do become involved, it is a very serious matter indeed.

In modern wildlife management, demand usually exceeds supply. Because of this it is necessary to impose many restrictions upon the individual hunter and angler in order that the total wildlife harvests, state-wide, may be held within safe limits. These restrictions must also be enforced, otherwise they cannot serve their necessary purpose.

The authority to arrest an American citizen, to take him into custody and thus deprive him of his liberty, is the greatest trust the people can put in a public servant. The arrest and prosecution of an American citizen should always be a careful and serious procedure, for it is the will of the people that the lowliest American shall be accorded his full measure of justice.

IN KEEPING with this, I believe in prosecution but not in persecution. There is a difference! Agents under my direction will be expected to vigorously pursue and prosecute law violators who deserve punishment, but I will not knowingly permit the persecution of any citizen. In making this statement I neither infer nor imply any misuse of authority in Nebraska, past, present or future. My only purpose is to present my convictions on the subject of law enforcement so all men may know that these are things I believe!

While we are on the subject of law, may I say that I believe we have far too many laws in the wildlife field. There is no real justification for any wildlife regulation unless that regulation is necessary (and I mean necessary) to the perpetuation or restoration of a wildlife resource.

There are a great many laws enacted in the name of conservation that can not meet the above standard. I believe we have no right to impose such restrictions upon the people—I believe all such laws should be repealed. I do not here refer to the Nebraska Code. I cannot do so because I have not yet had time to study it. I refer to the average situation as I have observed it in my long experience in the wildlife field, and state my beliefs on the general subject of nuisance laws.

I do know of one Nebraska law, however, which I believe ought to be changed. I refer to the legislation which establishes the fees for hunting and fishing permits. Let me explain.

In any well-managed wildlife agency there are certain fundamental costs or OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 4   "overhead" that must be met on an annual basis before any money or manpower can be devoted to those additional and tangible services and facilities that hunters and anglers appreciate most.

TO BEGIN WITH, it is necessary to inventory wildlife resources annually, to keep a running account of population levels and trends. It is not possible to manage wildlife intelligently unless we know, within reasonable limits, how much fish and game we have to work with.

Knowing this, and also knowing the approximate hunting and fishing pressure in the state, regulations must be set that will restrict the individual hunter and angler sufficiently so that the total annual take of fish and game (statewide) is held within safe limits.

Having set such regulations it is then necessary to enforce them, otherwise the regulations will not serve their purpose.

In addition, there are a number of other activities (fish hatcheries, game refuges, administration, etc.) that are an essential part of basic operations. Add everything up and the annual overhead is a formidable thing, yet all these activities are essential operations that must be financed before special services, activities and areas can be made available to the people.

The annual income of the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission is inadequate to do a first-class job in basic operation, so how can it possibly provide you with the many other services and facilities you would like to have? We might as well face the truth now as later. The truth is that the Nebraska Commission does not have the income needed to do a first-class job for you! I believe it only fair and honorable to tell you that I intend to do all I can to correct this.

NEBRASKA HUNTING and fishing permit fees are far below the nation's average, and this is more serious than it may seem because the national average is substantially lower than it ought to be. To make matters worse you have a "bargain" price-tag on your combination permit.

Permits are measures by which we seek to provide revenue enough for a good conservation program. May I point out that we cannot provide adequate revenue and run a bargain sale at the same time. The two are exact opposites—they are as incompatible as anything can well be!

I believe the great majority of Nebraska sportsmen want a bigger and better conservation program. I believe this majority stands ready and willing to support greater service, faster growth and more progress in Nebraska. I believe they are entitled to get all the service, growth and progress they are willing to pay for, and I believe it is our duty to see that this happens.

No conservation agency can do a good job without adequate financing. My long experience in the wildlife field has taught me that, despite appearances, rabbits positively do not come out of a hat! Wildlife, and all the other things people expect from a conservation agency, are produced in only one way — the hard way! On the stage magicians may perform seeming miracles, but in real life we do not move mountains with spades. It takes big equipment to move mountains. The more heavy equipment you give us the more mountains we can move. In the final analysis, then, it is up to you. We are willing and anxious, but you are the people who pay hence you are the ones who decide how fast and how far we can go!

I AM WELL AWARE that hiking permit fees is never a pleasant subject, but I cannot avoid this issue and yet be honest with you. Adequate income is the first and most important requisite of any good program. We will do our best, but we can deliver no more than you pay for. The best men in the world can not do a first-class job on thirdclass income. I repeat: no one can really pull rabbits out of a hat. I give you the raw truth about the inadequate financing of the Nebraska program because I believe that honesty is always the best policy.

This should be a good point at which to discuss disagreements. I believe disagreements are desirable so long as they involve issues and not personalities. I believe that, when an issue is under debate and a debater tries to justify his position by attacking his opponent, he does so because he has no real defense for his position. I believe that when grown men can't disagree on issues without resorting to personalities they are not grown men!

Disagreement on issues, however, is essential. New ideas spark all human progress. If there were no disagreement, if we all had the same ideas about everything, we would stay in the same old rut and keep doing the same old things forever.

HUNTERS AND ANGLERS are notorious disagreers; they will disagree on any and every wildlife subject that comes up for discussion. It is my observation that they tend to overdo the thing, especially on issues that are not very important one way or the other.

In the evaluation of ideas it is important to sift the wheat from the chaff, and there is no sifter like the sieve of experience. There are some issues that are so fundamental that they will shape the progress and welfare of the people for the next century and more. There are other issues that may seem important but which are not really significant. Long experience leads me to say that conservationists lose much progress because they disagree so violently over small issues that they fail to get together on the big ones. I hope we do not make that mistake in Nebraska!

I come now to a subject on which I have strong professional and personal convictions. That subject is the land and the significance of the land in all the activities and facets of our civilization.

It may seem odd that a wildlife manager should be concerned about land management. May I say that I have no choice in the matter; I can't possibly be concerned with wildlife management and not be concerned with land management. It happens, however, that I also have a very deep interest in the land resource of America, and real concern over American agriculture. I will tell you more about that later.

FOR GOVERNMENTAL and administrative convenience we separate the land and wildlife. It is possible to do that on paper but it is not possible to do so in fact. In Nature's scheme of things life is life, be it wild or tame, and all life must live and die by and under the same natural laws.

Environment is the key to the welfare and abundance of every form of life that lives on this earth of ours. Man's ability to manipulate environment is the key to human progress and civilization. Civilization rests on this environmental base. Civilized man always manipulates environment for his own benefit, but in so doing he also modifies environment for all other life.

Most of us are familiar with the fact that the production of food and fiber on the land affects wildlife in many ways. The plow and the disc can make it rough for the prairie chicken, but the pheasant may do well in this modified habitat. But just put enough cows on that land to graze off the cover left by the plow and the disc, and the pheasant SUMMER ISSUE 5   finds the going mighty rough, also.

I imagine most of you are familiar with this pattern of changing environment on the land but do you know that related things can happen in your water?

Environment for wildlife is made up of a number of things but the basic factor is the fertility of the land, in other words the kinds and quantities of nutrients that are available to grow plants and wildlife. Water areas get their nutrients from the land. Nutrients go into solution in the rains that fall on the watershed and thus are carried into streams and lakes by run-off.

So YOU SEE the basic ability of water to grow fish depends on the nutrients that are present in that water, and those nutrients came from the land in the first place. Of course there are other environmental factors that can reduce fisheries production in the water, but even if these other factors are all favorable production is still determined by the fertility level. In other words we can never produce more than the fertility factor will support no matter how good other environmental factors may be.

If we boil this down to a simple statement, we can say that a lake or stream can never be better than its watershed. It may be worse, but it can never be better!

Now let's go back up on the watershed. There we find essentially the same situation. The fertility factor is the basic limitation on all production. Here, too, there are other environmental factors that can (and usually do) limit production, but even where all these factors are favorable we can not produce any more plant and animal life than the fertility factor will support. That's why we use fertilizers to increase production.

The trouble is that we do not put back as much as we take out! We are losing far more nutrients than we return to the land. We lose some of them by erosion, we send a lot more down to the sea in sewage, and we ship still more abroad in wheat, corn, hogs, cattle and other agricultural products.

THE END RESULT is that we are steadily losing ground in our basic ability to produce living things (all agricultural products and all wildlife are living things), and that is a very dangerous trend for a people that are increasing as fast as we Americans now multiply. It is also a biologically unsound and hence suicidal trend, because one of Nature's fundamental laws requires that we put back into the soil the nutrients we "borrow." Nature is very patient, especially in an area that has great depth in fertility reserves such as we find in Nebraska, but if man does not pay back that which he borrows Nature will shut off all credit in the end!

In the meantime we go right on manipulating the land for the production of wheat and cattle, corn and hogs, and also (although we may not realize it) for bass and bluegill, prairie chicken and pheasant. That's how it is, and we are not going to change it! Man always has and always will produce the food and fiber he needs for his own environment no matter what the cost may be to other life. I believe that is how it should be, but I am greatly alarmed over the fact that we are doing this out of our capital (fertility) reserves and not on a stabilized-yield basis. Even these farm surpluses we currently groan under are being produced out of our capital reserves! We Americans are taking out of our land at least three times more nutrients than we put back. It is self-evident that this can not last —that it must collapse in the end!

NOW DON'T go blaming the farmer for this appalling situation. He can't do much of anything about it because the rest of us won't let him! The truth is that we do not pay him enough so that he can put back what he borrows and still stay in business!

With the exception of rare emergencies like a world war we have never paid our farmers for the raw resources that go into our agricultural factories. All we pay for is the labor and a meager return on the capital investment necessary to the manufacture of the products we buy. Wheat, cattle, corn and hogs are not raw resources, they are the finished products of our agricultural factories. Calcium, phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen, zinc, copper, cobalt, iron and a host of other nutrient materials are the raw resources from which our farmers manufacture the products we buy. We never have paid and do not now pay for these raw resources! We violate Article I of Nature's constitution and foolishly believe we can escape her penalties!

History reveals that all human civilizations have made this same fatal mistake, and all that have been around long enough have paid the penalty Nature exacts for biologically unsound living. This colossal mistake has been repeated time and time again. Man has not yet learned that Nature earmarks for ultimate destruction all things that are biologically unsound, despite the fact that he has been taught that bitter lesson over and over down through all human history!

HERE IN AMERICA we have just made a half-hearted start towards a solution to this problem through the inauguration of the Soil Bank. I believe there are two things wrong with the Soil Bank; first, it is a hundred years and more behind its time, and, second, it does not go far enough. But we have

made the start and that is a very important and significant thing. I believe the Soil Bank points the way towards a solution of our fertility-depletion problem, but that is another story. It is much too long a story to relate here.

Editor's Note: The author has been very active and effective in the development of the Soil Bank idea and enactment of that legislation. He was the first wildlife man in the nation to envision the conservation potential of the Soil Bank, and to advocate its enactment. We quote from the column "Conservation" by Harold Titus, appearing in the January, 1956 issue of Field and Stream: "Where this idea originated, I can't tell you. I do know that the first time I heard it seriously talked about by sportsmen was at the North American Wildlife Conference in 1954. Mel Steen of the Missouri Conservation Commission had made the proposal that set the wildlifers buzzing."

I believe the great agricultural state of Nebraska is in a key position to do much for the advancement of thinking and action on basic conservation problems. This is a young and fertile state with great potential in her tremendous fertility reserves. Nebraskans are a young and vigorous people who demonstrate in many ways that they welcome new frontiers. Here the spirit of the West still prevails; here people are not afraid of life. Nebraska's potential for progress, biologically and intellectually, is as great as any spot I know of on this earth, and the realization of that potential is limited only by the will of her people and the wisdom of her leaders. The situation is such that Nebraska may well make a major contribution to the welfare and progress of all mankind.

This, all this, I believe!

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 6

NEBRASKA HAS BIG FISH!

7 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

8 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

HISTORIC FT. ROBINSON AWAKES

By BOB MUNGER

Historic old Fort Robinson sits sleeping in the sun of Northwestern Nebraska just west of Crawford, drawing her proud history about her like a battle standard.

But the buzz of saws and the sharp ring of hammers may wake her up soon, and when they do Nebraskans will have a vacation area second to none in the Midwest.

Like alert sentinels the sharp teeth of the Pine Ridge buttes stand in back of the fort, perpetually on guard, waiting perhaps for the Sioux War Chief Crazy Horse to rise from the ground and lead his people in one more desperate defense of their homeland.

BUT THE SIOUX War Chiefs are no more . . . Crazy Horse sleeps beneath the sod of Fort Robinson . . . and only a stone marker shows where the great leader gave his life for his people.

And the new activity at the fort is not surprising to the buttes. For centuries they've stood and watched change take place under their feet. First the Indian and his troubles was paraded in front of them.

On one of the buttes, now called Crow Butte, an early newspaper story says that a band of Crow Indians were surprised by the warlike Sioux, and the Crow fled to the top of the butte for safety.

But upon seeing the Sioux warriors surround the butte, and realizing that escape was next to impossible, the Crow hit upon a desperate scheme.

Building huge fires all over the butte, and leaving their old people to tend them and give the semblance of activity, the young people sneaked down from the butte and made their way through the Sioux lines to safety.

IN THE MORNING the Sioux came roaring and yelling to the top of the butte, but found only a few old people on which to vent their wrath.

Yes, the buttes could tell a fascinating story if only they could talk.

Of the first white trappers and settlers that made their way into the Pine Ridge country. ... Of the time when they first saw the white man's cattle. . . . And of course of the building of the original Fort Robinson.

Down through the years they were able to see tremendous changes wrought at the fort. How it changed first from a cavalry post to a remount station, then in World War I how it was used as a training camp.

Then came World War II, and the old fort got another lease on life, this time as a training camp for the K-9 Corps, where sled dogs and watch dogs were trained for the Army. Pack mules were trained at the fort during WW II also, to be used in mountainous country all over the world.

But perhaps the latest change is the biggest yet.

The old fort is getting her face lifted.

WORKMEN ARE BUSY demolishing a number of the buildings that no longer can be used. In a number of others they are rebuilding, refurnishing and cleaning.

By next summer the buttes won't know their old friend. She will have a hotel, restaurant, rental cabins for tourists, bridle paths through the buttes, a rebuilt swimming pool, an area for campers and trailers parking and a general air of new life.

Yes, a transfusion is being given to the old girl, and when she wakes up Nebraskans will find they have "the poor man's Estes Park" right in their own backyard.

SUMMER ISSUE 9

1956 NEBRASKA BIG GAME SEASONS

DEAR SEASON Area Season Dates Number of Permits Area Open Type of Firearm Season Bag Limit Upper Platte Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 2,500 Banner, Cheyenne, *Rifle 1, either sex Deuel, Garden, Kimball, Keith, Lincoln,Morrill and Scotts Bluff counties, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. Pine Ridge Nov. 28 to Dec.2 5,000 Box Butte, Dawes, Sheridan, *Rifle 1, either sex and Sioux counties, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. Sandhills Dec. 5 to Dec. 9 1,250. Brown, Cherry, Keya Paha, *Rifle Dec. 5, 6, 7, and 8: 1 antlered deer, with a fork on at least one antler. Dec. 9: 1, either sex and Rock counties,except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. Upper Missouri Dec. 5 to Dec. 9 500 Boyd, Cedar, Dakota, Dixon, *Rifle 1 antlered deer, with a fork on at least one antler. Holt, and Knox counties, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. Elkhorn Dec. 5 to Dec. 9 200 Antelope, Cuming, Madison, **Shotgun 1, either sex and Stanton counties, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. Halsey Forest Dec. 5 to Dec. 9 200 Antelope, Cuming, Madison, *Rifle 1, either sex and Stanton counties, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. ARCHERY SEASON FOR DEER Season Date Number Permits Area Open Season Bag Limit Sept. 15-Sept. 25 No Limit Bessey Division of Nebr. 1 deer, either sex National Forest in Blaine and Thomas Counties. Oct. 13-Nov. 11 No Limit Boone, Burt, Butler, Cass, 1 deer, either sex Colfax, Dodge, Douglas, Greeley, Howard, Merrick, Nance, Nemaha, Otoe, Platte, Polk, Richardson, Sarpy, Saunders, Thurston ,Washington, and Wheeler counties and those parts of Hall and Hamilton counties north of State Highway #2 except State or Federal sanctuaries and refuge areas. Special Archery Regulations 1. No firearms in possession of archer or controlled by archer. 2. Arrows to have hunting heads with blade at least 7/16th inch radius from center of arrow shaft, and a maximum radius of 3Ath inch, and a total cutting edge of at least 3 inches. 3. No barbed hunting heads on arrows. 4. No cross bows permitted. 5. Minimum bow weight to be 40 pounds at 28 inch draw.

Archery permit will authorize archer to hunt in either or both areas, subject to season bag limit restriction.

10 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA   ANTELOPE SEASON Area Season Dates Number Of Permits Areas Open Season Bag Limit I_ Sept. 8, 9, and 10 250 Those parts of Dawes and Sioux counties north of Highway 1, either sex No. 20 and west of Highway No. 2, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. II Sept. 8, 9, and 10 600 Those parts of Dawes and Sioux counties north of Highway 1, either sex No. 20 and west of Highway No. 2, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. III Sept. 8, 9, and 10 150 Those parts of Arthur, Box Butte, Garden, Grant, Keith, _ 1, either sex Morrill, and Sheridan counties north of the North Platte River, west of Highway No. 61, south of Highway No. 19, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges. IV Sept. 8, 9, and 10 100 Those parts of Cheyenne and Deuel counties south of- 1, either sex Highway No. 30, east of Highway No. 19, and west of Highway No. 27, except Federal and State sanctuaries and refuges.

Only rifles developing more than 900 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards may be used.

Opening dates for pheasant, quail, grouse and squirrel season in 1956.

Species Opening date Pheasant Saturday, October 27 Quail Saturday, November 3 Grouse Saturday, October 13 Squirrels Saturday, September 15 SUMMER ISSUE 11

UNIQUE NEBRASKA STATE PARKS

By Jack Strain

Nebraska's State Park system occupies a unique position in the varied activities of the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission; it is the only endeavor carried on by the Commission that is financed by the tax dollar.

All other activities of the Commission are supported by the proceeds of the sales of hunting and fishing permits and such miscellaneous incomes as are available to the Department.

Among these other activities are the State Recreation Grounds which unfortunately are sometimes confused with State Parks by the casual observer. He finds it hard to understand why the "state park" he visits on a fishing trip is not staffed and maintained as is the State Park where he takes his family for a vacation.

The difference is considerable, and the confusion entirely understandable. The seven State Parks are supported by general tax funds, each has a budget appropriated by the Legislature and is designed to meet recreational needs of the general public.

STATE RECREATION Grounds, on the other hand, are financed by fish and game funds, and in nearly all instances are built around a body of water, and hence designed to provide free fishing and hunting area to the hunting and fishing public.

On most recreation areas, minimum facilities such as water wells, picnic tables, fireplaces and toilets are provided for sportsmen and their families.

While it is obvious that many persons use these areas solely for the picnic facilities, as can be verified any summer holiday or week-end, and therefore actually contribute nothing toward their support, by far the greatest per cent of the users of State Recreation Grounds are hunters and fishermen who financially support them by their purchase of fishing and hunting permits.

A state-wide survey conducted by the Commission during the summer of 1953 revealed that over 70 per cent of the adult attendance at the State Recreation Grounds possessed a valid hunting or fishing permit.

ATTENDANCE at the State Recreation Grounds is unknown due to the fact that permanent personnel are not assigned such areas, but in 1955 it was conservatively estimated at 200,000. Actual attendance was probably much greater.

Attendance at State Parks is a more firm figure. Each park, with the exception of Fort Kearny, has a permanent staff. Their attendance estimates were aided in 1955 with the installation of automatic traffic counting devices, which have simplified attendance estimates considerably. They indicated a total 1955 attendance at the seven State Parks of 382,000.

Statistics, as such, do not mean much to most of us unless we can translate them into a more meaningful form. If we take the 1955 State Park attendance and divide it into the 1950 Nebraska census figure of 1,325,000, we find that one out of every 3.5 people attended a State Park during the year.

This figure, we know, is fallacious as many of the visits are repetitions, some are out-of-state tourists, and there are inaccuracies in the attendance figures.

Nevertheless, no matter how much we minimize it, a very large percentage of Nebraska's population uses and enjoys her State Parks every year.

IF WE ADD the 580,000 estimated attendance at the State Recreation Grounds and the Reservoir Areas to the State Park users, the percentage of recreation seekers becomes staggering indeed.

A casual look at a map will seem to indicate that Nebraska's State Parks are well distributed throughout the state. Arbor Lodge is located at Nebraska City; Stolley at Grand Island Fort Kearny eight miles southeast of Kearney; Victoria Springs seven miles east of Anselmo; Chadron State Park nine miles south of Chadron; Niobrara State Park one mile west of Niobrara and Ponca State Park three miles north of Ponca.

In addition to the above, the park facility being developed at Fort Robinson is located about three and one-half miles west of Crawford.

This seemingly well distributed picture is misleading, however, as all of the parks having overnight facilities, with the excepton of the very small cabin development at Victoria Springs, are located on the northern fringe of the state. A very real need exists for a State Park with complete overnight facilities in the southeast part of the state, within short driving range of the metropolitan areas.

NEBRASKA HAS only three State Parks that compare favorably in size 12 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA   with those of other states. These are Chadron, Niobrara and Ponca State Parks.

ALL SEVEN BECKON TO VACATIONERS

The others: Arbor Lodge, Stolley, Victoria Springs, Fort Kearny, and the Fort Robinson development are more truly historical sites and would be so designated in many states. These latter areas are all under 65 acres in size.

While Nebraska's State Park system is small compared with many states, her parks are efficient and well maintained. In 1955, Nebraska's parks spent a greater percentage of their budgets for capital improvements than the national average, and consequently a less than average percentage for operation and maintenance expenses.

Operation and maintenance costs are the bugaboo of all park administrators, who wage an unceasing war against uneconomical operations, depreciation and wanton destruction.

A park administrator's operation and maintenance costs, or "0 and M" funds, consists of salaries, utilities, fuels, repairs, etc., and might be compared with the fixed items of the householder's budget such as food, rent, clothing and medical expenses.

A park's capital improvement expenditures, on the other hand, such as new buildings, swimming pools, and new items of equipment compare with the dream home, new car, or air conditioner of the householder's budget.

UNFORTUNATELY, few park administrators are able to realize "luxury" items in their budgets, with the greatest percentage of funds going for the "meat and potato" items, and " repairs to the roof."

Although Nebraska's 1950 population was still below the 1930 high, it has increased steadily since the 1940's and appears to be rising yet. With more industry moving into the state, increased leisure time, and improved highways and transportation facilities, it appears inevitable that Nebraska's outdoor recreation facilities are in for even heavier use than they now receive.

Attendance at the State Parks has leaped annually since the close of World War II. In 1945, total attendance at all State Parks was estimated at 81,996. In 1955, attendance at Chadron State Park alone was 84,780. By 1948 total attendance had jumped to 171,855 and climbed steadily to the 1955 figure of 382,803.

The last session of the Nebraska Legislature wisely took note of this trend, creating a new park development at Fort Robinson in Northwest Nebraska and provided funds for capital improvements at most other parks, including badly needed swimming pools at Ponca and Niobrara State Parks.

THE Ponca pool is in operation this summer and the Niobrara pool will be opened for the 1957 season. Some of the facilities at Fort Robinson will be ready for use this summer, with the remainder being opened for the 1957 season.

For the vacation minded, rental cabins are available at Chadron, Niobrara, Ponca, and Victoria Springs State Parks. Rental cabins are modern throughout, furnished with ranges, refrigerators, linens, cooking utensils, dishes and silverware.

Cabins are rented at a flat rate of $4 per day for singles and $5 per day for doubles. This minimum rate covers two persons and $1 is charged for each additional person twelve years of age or older.

Single cabins are not available at either Chadron or Victoria Springs State Parks.

Another activity of the parks that is little advertised but highly popular is the organized camp facilities at Chadron, Niobrara and Ponca State Parks.

These camps generally consist of barracks-type sleeping facilities for both men and women, mess hall, latrine and showers and study halls or chapels. These camps are used extensively by church youth groups, 4-H camps and others.

ALTHOUGH the facilities are considerably more Spartan than the rental cabins, only a nominal fee is charged that barely covers cost of operation.

Overnight camping is permitted at all parks except Arbor Lodge, and this activity is becoming increasingly popular each year.

Opportunities for many recreational pursuits exist at all State Parks and are too numerous and varied to be described in detail. Perhaps it is enough to say that more people every year are choosing one of Nebraska's State Parks at which to spend all or a part of their "two weeks with pay."

Nebraska is fortunate in having a staff of fine, professional park administrators as superintendents of her parks. These men, most with many years of devoted service, stand ready to serve you in your State Parks: Arbor Lodge State Park, Nebraska City, Grant McNeel, Superintendent; Chadron State Park, Chadron, L. M. Snodgrass, Superintendent; Niobrara State Park, Niobrara, A. G. McCarroll, Superintendent; Ponca State Park, Ponca, Dallas Johnson, Superintendent; Stolley State Park, Grand Island, John J. Tooley, Superintendent; Victoria Springs State Park, Anselmo, Howard E. Jones, Superintendent.

Inquiries about specific parks should be made directly to these men, or may be addressed to the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission, Statehouse, Lincoln.

Oklahoma Tries Coturnix Quail

Fifty pair of coturnix quail, smaller but similar in appearance to the bobwhite, were imported to Oklahoma from Missouri in April, according to a late issue of the Oklahoma Game and Fish News.

The quail are being held at a state game farm and their progeny will be released in certain grassland areas of Oklahoma.

The coturnix quail were purchased from the Missouri Conservation Commission. They will be tried in areas of Oklahoma that do not have an appeal to the native bobwhite quail.

In its choice of food, the article says, the coturnix is more like a meadow lark than a quail. It prefers open grassland country and will not compete for food and cover with the bobwhite.

Range of the coturnix is extensive and includes from England to Japan and from Scandinavia within the Artie Circle to southernmost Africa. Seven or eight strains are known, some migratory and others sedentary.

The birds to be released in Oklahoma are of the type not interested in travel. Coturnix usually nest twice each year in the wild, and average six young per brood.

SUMMER ISSUE 13

IT'S GROUSE TRAPPING TIME!

Out around the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge and in parts of Rock, Brown and Holt Counties the sharp-tail grouse and the prairie chickens lead a wild life.

Not only is the country rough and rugged, but man takes a hand in the proceedings now and then.

This last winter Harvey Miller, game manager; and Ken Johnson, land manager, of District II with headquarters at Bassett, got pictorial proof of the trapping of prairie chickens and sharp-tails

The pictures tell the story.

With a truck especially equipped with a battery of searchlights the two men set forth on the trapping expedition, driven by Ardys Keck, Illinois district habitat development manager.

When the birds were sighted it was a matter of slipping the net over them. From there the birds could be banded and re-released.

According to Miller some 10 pair of prairie chickens and 18 pair of sharp-tails were sent to Illiinois to be released in a 40,000 acre tract in that state that was a historic prairie chicken range. Although the area is filled with native grasses it did not contain prairie chickens at the time of the release.

14   15

SOLDIER CREEK GOLD

By BOB MUNGER

Fishing in the northwest corner of Nebraska is something like playing with a loaded pistol—you never can tell when something big will happen.

But it takes a trip to that country to prove it.

This "Eastern" Nebraskan got plenty of proof on a recent jaunt through the Pine Ridge country, and it certainly was an eye-opening experience.

Lloyd "Hoolie" Pipher, proprietor of a business establishment in Crawford, was playing host, and with commendable zeal he described the fishing possibilities of the Pine Ridge in glowing terms.

"I hate to take you out trout fishing," Hoolie said, "cause once I do it'll take a truck and two mules to pull you away from this country."

And he wasn't far wrong.

WE HEADED west from Crawford, out past historic old Fort Robinson and back through the hills to Soldier Creek, a typical Pine Ridge trout stream, meandering down through a canyon, glittering and gurgling as it sweeps over rocky shallow places and turning black as it deepens in scattered pools.

Trees hang over Soldier Creek—pine, cottonwood, willow, and many otherstrees that shade the little stream and help to keep it cool. And back in the dark holes lurk trout by the dozens.

Hoolie had said that it was impossible to come up to Soldier Creek and not see fish. If anything he was guilty of understatement. To one who had been strictly a bass fisherman it was a revealing experience.

For one thing whenever the fishermen saw the trout the trout were also able to see the fishermen. And once they spotted the men standing beside the stream—zoom! No more fish!

But in the best places to fish the 16 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA   stream swept back under the bank, undercutting it a little, and in these holes the "good ones" lurked, checking over the offerings swept down by the current.

FOR BAIT we used a "Sandhills Royal Coachman," more commonly known as an earthworm, and the little dears performed much better than could their regal namesakes, wriggling invitingly as they were swept downstream.

We worked the stream up from an accessible ford for a mile or so, hitting the pools and catching a few. But none of them were very big.

The largest of the bunch probably was about 8 inches—not small enough to throw back certainly, but not a "lunker" either. But as we fished our way upstream we also fished it down back to the ford, and a surprise was waiting in the next to the last pool to the ford.

Three times the "Coachman" wriggled his way over rocks and sand through the darkest part of the underswept pool, and three times he had to be brought back to where the water poured in to try it again.

But on the fourth time through the pool the 4-pound monofilament line tightened suddenly like a steel trap snapping shut, and an "Eastern" Nebraska fisherman was converted to the West.

"He's snagged, Hoolie," this Easterner shouted as he swallowed his heart. "He's back underneath the bank and the line is snagged on something."

HOOLIE WENT to investigate, almost slipping into the creek in the attempt, but could find nothing upon which the line could be snagged.

"Try cranking on that reel. Maybe he's just sulking back there—they do that sometimes you know."

Well, I didn't know and I didn't believe it, because I was cranking away on that spinning reel like mad. As fast as I reeled, however, the brake gave line back to the sulking fish.

But about that time Hoolie's poking with the stick gave fruit, and the trout came swishing out from under that overhang, determined to find his way to newer water—water where worms didn't have barbed hooks in them.

"Turn him into shallow water or you're lost," Hoolie shouted, and with the luck of the ignorant beginner I got him turned into the shallows where he was easy to beach.

"Wow, for a little fish that is one scrapper," I exclaimed as we hefted the glowing brown. And on a measuring stick he turned out to be just 13 V2 inches long, not a "lunker" but certainly a "keeper."

IT WAS the climax to a wonderful afternoon.

As we headed back to Crawford the sun was just going behind the buttes west of town, and 25 or 30 deer were coming down from the hills to feed in the pastures and wheat fields.

Eastern Nebraska would have a hard time matching that.

Turkeys Imported

Twelve wild turkeys from the Geoigia Game and Fish Commission and twelve from the Alabama Department of Conservation were brought to Oklahoma for release, according to the Oklahoma Game and Fish News for May.

The turkeys are of the native stock of the two southern states and the same type which once ranged the country in southeast Oklahoma. According to the report some have been released in a large 8-foot high fenced enclosure in McCurtain County and others will be released in northeast Oklahoma.

For the past several years the Rio Grande wild turkey has been stocked in northwest Oklahoma and has increased in satisfactory numbers.

New G & F Director

Arkansas and the world of outdoor sport have suffered a great loss in the unexpected death of Thomas Arthur McAmis, Director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for the past fifteen years.

Mr. McAmis earned national recognition not only through the Commission's activities but by personal contributions to the progress of conservation, but he will be best remembered in Arkansas as the man who guided the state's new non-political Commission through its formative years.

Nelson Cox, who has been with the Commission since 1953 as Assistant Director and Public Relations Officer, has been appointed the new Director to succeed Mr. McAmis.

SUMMER ISSUE 17

Do You Fish With Rifle, or Shotgun?

Newest member of the Game Commission, George R. Pinkerton of Beatrice, was born and raised in Pawnee County on a farm near Pawnee City.

Pinkerton attended Pawnee City High School and graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture with a B.S. in agriculture and a major in agronomy. While attending college Pinkerton was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho, national agriculture fraternity.

After graduation Pinkerton was employed as a land appraiser for farm mortgage firms for 10 years, and he has been engaged in the professional farm management business for the the past 20 years, first for an insurance company and later in business for himself.

He is an accredited member of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.

At present he is a member of the Gage County Selective Service Board, on the Executive Board of the Cornhusker Council of the Boy Scouts of America, member of the Rotary Club and a member of the State Game Commission.

Pinkerton lives on a farm five miles south of Beatrice.

The mongoose is not immune to the venom of the deadly snakes it kills and eats. Keen vision and lightning agility enable it to evade their poison fangs.

* * *

For its size, there is no more savage animal in the world than the weasel, which measures only about ten inches in length. It can worm its way into the runs of rats and mice, hunts its prey by scent and will even fly at the throat of man.

You immediately wonder how firearms crept into this fishing game, but there is a parallel. It has to do with the premise that a bait caster using artificial lures covers a target area like a shotgunner, while a live bait fisherman is like a rifleman because he fishes more in a small area. It follows, therefore, that the bait caster usually will catch more fish since he covers more water.

But that's not all. The above is logical deduction, the following is based on facts and figures. The bait caster will also catch far bigger bass than the live bait fisherman. Who says so? Listen to Sam Welch, sage of Gamaliel, Arkansas, big bass statistician for Bull Shoals and Norfolk reservoirs, two of the nation's most famous impoundments. . . .

Welch's figures, kept accurately by checking with individual dock owners, revealed that during a 28-week period last season, 1,295 "hanker" bass were caught. A "lunker" is any bass weighing 4 pounds or over. Of these lunkers 1,029 were taken on artificial lures, while only 266 fell to anglers using live bait. Meaning that 79 per cent of the lunker harvest was reaped by artificial lures, compared to only 21 per cent by live bait. Why? Well, let's rationalize. . .

First off, the odds certainly are in favor of the bait caster catching not only more big fish but also more fish. Like a hunter, he is probing every likely spot with his lures, casting around lily pads, logs, pilings, weedbeds, brush, stumps, rocks, weedy shores, deep holes, dropoffs, etc. He finds bass like a good hunter finds rabbits, by working over various types of cover with his lures.

Then, he spaces his casts about three feet apart, combing each area in a fanlike pattern. He works his lures fast, then slow; reeling, jerking, then stopping momentarily, followed by a quick snap of the rod tip, next a series of short jerks, etc. Giving lifelike motions to his lures teases big bass into hitting where a motionless lure wouldn't merit even a second glance.

Robert Munger, new Supervisor of Information and Education for the State Game Commission, has been working for the past three years as a sports writer and outdoor writer for a Nebraska daily newspaper.

Most of that time he has written a weekly column on outdoor living.

Before going to work as a newsman Munger taught journalism and English at Lincoln High School in Lincoln for four years, sponsoring the school newspaper and yearbook. While at Lincoln High he was also sponsor of the school writers' publication for one year.

Munger graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1949 with majors in journalism and English, and did graduate study in English literature until 1950. In 1950 he took another degree, a Bachelor of Science with a major in education and history.

The new member of the Game Commission personnel was in the Navy for three years during World War II, and after his discharge in 1946 he went to college at Northwest Missouri State Teachers College at Maryville, Mo., and at St. Joseph Junior College at St. Joseph, Mo.

He is married and has one son, Mark, age two. Both he and his wife are from Missouri, moving to Nebraska in 1947.

It has been estimated that there are anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 different species of fishes.

* * *

The "jack rabbit" of America is really a hare. This animal—more correctly called the prairie hare—is famed for its "spy hops," when it leaps several feet into the air to get a view of the surrounding landscape.

18 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

Are 'Wormy' Fish Any Good?

Frequently the Game Commission gets inquiries regarding "wormy" fish. Fishermen want to know if these fish are safe to eat and why the fish are wormy. Quite often these fish are simply thrown away, in the belief that they are unfit for human consumption.

The parasites that infest fish and give them the appearance of worminess are usually tiny animals such as crustaceans, flatworms and sometimes leeches. When a fish has spots or grubs on the outside, particularly near or on the fins, it is usually caused by tiny leeches, or crustaceans which are also known as copepods.

THESE MINUTE parasites are attached on the outside but often penetrate the skin of the fish. When such a fish is prepared for cooking, the parasites are removed with the scales or skin; and with some extra care, the marks of the parasite can easily be eliminated.

The small leeches and crustaceans have a relatively simple life cycle. Since they are always found at or near the outside of the fish, including the gills, they present no problem. When prepared for eating, all the fish needs is a good cleaning and cooking.

When the "worminess" of a fish is caused by a tiny fluke, the story is somewhat different because these tiny parasites penetrate not only the skin, but also the flesh of the fish. Although harmless to man if eaten, these wormy fish do create a psychological barrier that prevents many people from utilizing the fish for food.

THE TINY parasites, technically known as trematodes, present a more complicated life-history story. In their cycle of life, that is from birth to reproductive maturity and death, they need three hosts on which to live and draw food. These three hosts usually are first, a water bird; second, a snail; and third, a fish.

The snail is the most important host for the parasite. There is where the greatest amount of reproduction takes place. When the parasite's offspring leave the snail they become attached to a fish or they perish. The fish becomes an intermediate host in the life cycle, and it is only when the parasitized fish is eaten by a fish-eating bird that the parasite can continue its life cycle.

In the bird, the full grown parasite produces eggs; then dies. The eggs, deposited into waters by droppings from the bird, develop into free swimming organisms which start hunting for snails to which to attach themselves. They burrow into the snails and undergo more changes. While living in the snail, in a sort of larval stage, they reproduce many larval offspring.

AFTER CERTAIN development, the offspring change into new forms which leave the snail and swim about with the purpose of finding new hosts to attach themselves to. This time the new host must be fish. The parasites on the fish again change into a different form; this time into that of adult flukes.

The adult flukes then reproduce only in the bird after the parasitized fish has been eaten by the bird. Then the life cycle starts all over.

The grubs found in Nebraska are chiefly of three kinds. The most common is known as the white or yellow grub, and this is the one in which the grubs penetrate the deepest into the flesh. In the black grub, the parasites appear as black dots and are found most often near the skin. They are, therefore, easy to clean. A third grub is known as the white grub of the liver; it is usually restricted to the entrails and does not effect the looks of the fish or its flesh. So far it has been found only in minnows within Nebraska.

The grubby fish may be abhorrent but they are not harmful to people if the fish are cooked. The grubs are only a part in a cycle of life, in which the basic organism changes its form about six times, and alternately has to live off a snail, a fish, and a bird.

SUMMER ISSUE 19

WATERFOWL HATCH DELAYED!

Heavier-than-usual concentrations of ducks and geese along the principal rivers in the Upper Mississippi Valley, blizzard conditions which not only stopped the northward flight but in some instances forced the ducks to head southward, and the general lateness in the spring break-up are noteworthy characteristics of the 1956 northern waterfowl migration, field men for the Fish and Wildlife Service report.

All of which means that waterfowl hatching will be delayed from two to four weeks and that the completion of the first of the annual breeding surveys will be somewhat later than in 1955 and may approximate the schedule of 1954.

The unusual concentrations on the main streams were due to two thingsthe dry weather in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and parts of Minnesota, which forced the birds to the rivers, and the continued ice conditions northward which held them there. In contrast to the dryness of the southern portion of the Prairie States, North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and the Canadian provinces report plenty of water.

THE migration on the Mississippi Flyway got under way early in March and by March 9 the peak of the migration had passed the southern boundary of Missouri. By mid-March large flocks were gathering along the Platte River in southern Nebraska, on the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Missouri and even up to Ft. Madison in southern Iowa.

Bad weather bottled up the birds along the Missouri River on the South Dakota-Nebraska line and on the Mississippi in northwestern Illinois but by the end of the month the birds were on the wing again, some of them getting as far north as Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in northern South Dakota.

Then the blizzards hit, driving the birds back again to the Missouri River as far south as Sioux City, Iowa.

Early in April, the waterfowl started north again and for the second time the blue and snow geese poured into Sand Lake Refuge and the peak of the migration for most species of ducks had moved from Nebraska and Iowa, only to be temporarily halted in South Dakota and southern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin.

WITH the moderate weather of midApril the flooded Red River Valley and ice-free Saginaw Bay as well as numerous other open waters in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin beckoned and the birds were definitely on the move again.

All during the latter part of April the northbound birds moved into big concentrations in northern Minnesota and North Dakota and in the southern end of the Canadian provinces. Then winter hit again and on April 26, zero temperatures were reported in Saskatchewan and other prairie provinces.

What appears to be the first productive nesting in Saskatchewan began about May 1 but it was May 8 before the ice permitted the waterfowl to move into the Delta marsh in southern Manitoba.

Farm operations have been held back somewhat but there is little hope held out for any exceptional brood production in the stubblefields, where in some years the mallards and the pintails nest, hatch and move out before the spring plowing starts. Waterfowl will usually nest a second time if the first nest is broken up but the chances of successful late nesting during a season which is already some weeks behind schedule are not too bright.

BECAUSE of the lateness of the nesting the conditions on the breeding grounds in the next few months are highly important to successful production. As things are now, indications are that there will be a good duck hatch in the eastern parklands of Saskatchewan while the picture in the grasslands is quite spotty. In the Redvers area in southeast Saskatchewan the breeding populations seem to be larger than in 1955 but somewhat smaller than in 1952 and 1953; there will be some losses by predation due to the late season. From Manitoba comes the report that nesting is under way and that unless some further unusual weather conditions develop there should be a good hatch, two or three weeks later than normal.

The waterfowl breeding ground surveys include a breeding ground count to determine the relative number of mating birds, and a later inspection to ascertain production success. At the time of the latter survey approximately 30,000 young waterfowl are banded. The Fish and Wildlife Service, the Canadian Wildlife Service, fish and game departments of about 30 states, the Canadian provinces and personnel from private conservation agencies cooperate in these surveys. Normally the breeding population survey starts May 1, but it was delayed this year.

20 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

Old-Time 'Novel Sport' Growing Rapidly

By BILL BAILEY

Not so many years ago deer hunting in Nebraska was given little consideration by many big game hunters of the state. Some Nebraskans participated in deer hunts of other states but few gave thought to some day being able to hunt deer within their own state.

To many other Nebraskans who were not able to make out-of-state hunting trips, it was considered a novel sport. Today deer hunting is no longer a novel sport to resident sportsmen and more Nebraskans are entering the ranks of "big game hunters" each year. We have been able to enjoy limited deer hunts for the past several years and, although Nebraska can never provide deer hunting comparable to some of our western neighbors, it is providing sport to an increasing number each year.

Let's take a brief look at the history of deer in Nebraska and some of the events leading up to the 1956 open season. We might also look into the future and project some thoughts for the future of deer hunting in Nebraska.

In the Past

THE history of big game in Nebraska follows much the same pattern as that found in many of the other states. During the early years of settlement there were no restrictions for hunting game animals and big game provided a ready source of food. Of necessity, early settlers were quick to utilize the game resource and under constant hunting big game numbers dwindled rapidly.

People of the state soon recognized that deer and other big game would be lost as a resource unless something was done to curb the constant hunting pressure. Protective legislation was the result. Some legislation was enacted prior to 1900 which limited the taking of deer to certain periods of the year. By 1906, big game numbers were apparently very low and the legislature passed a law which prohibited the taking of deer at any time.

Deer remained under complete protection until 1945. Under continued protection and a greater public understanding of the conservation of our wildlife resources, deer numbers gradually increased, although increases were not so spectacular as in many other states with more typical deer habitat.

Apparently increases were more rapid in the Bessey Division of the Nebraska National Forest than in many other areas of the state. During the early 1940's, personnel of the Nebraska Game Commission and the Forest Service recognized a rapid increase in deer within the forest. By 1944 the situation had become critical and there was immediate danger that the numbers of deer would destroy the seedling nursery which supplied the Clarke-McNary trees to Nebraska farmers. Following browse studies and aerial surveys of the forest by Game Commission personnel in 1944, action was initiated which prompted the legislature to allow the Nebraska Game Commission to hold limited seasons on deer. In 1945, the first legal hunt since 1906 took place on the Bessey Division of the Nebraska National Forest.

DURING the 1940's increased populations were also evident in other parts of the state and in 1949, an open deer season was declared for parts of western Nebraska. Open seasons have been held each year since 1949. The area open to hunting has been extended gradually and, in 1956, hunting with rifles or shotguns will be permitted in 29 of the 93 counties of the state. Special archery seasons have also been declared so that some type of deer hunting will be available in more than one-half the area of the state.

Briefly, recent history of deer in Nebraska can be summed up as follows: Unrestricted hunting depleted populations during the period of early settlement. Complete protection from 1906 to 1945 allowed deer numbers to increase so that deer are again an important resource in Nebraska with populations capable of providing annual recreational harvests by sportsmen of the state.

In the Present

WHAT can the sportsmen expect for the 1956 season?

Fortunately, more information has been acquired about the herd with each successive open season. Each year check stations have been in operation and, through the co-operation of hunters, data has been obtained on age composition, weights, antler measurements and location of kills. These records provide SUMMER ISSUE 21   information on what has happened and what is happening in the deer herd. Age composition gives an indication of the reproductive vigor of the herd. Physical measurements, such as weights and antler measurements, provide information on physical condition of the deer which in turn may reflect whether or not the numbers of deer are in harmony with available food supplies. Location of kills gives a picture of distribution of deer within areas open to hunting.

This data, when related to other studies, provides information from which the status of deer in Nebraska can be determined and in turn allows the Commission to formulate management regulations along sound biological lines.

Let's take a look at some of the basic data gathered for the Panhandle herd during 1955 and see what can be expected for 1956.

Hunters harvested 3,630 deer from the Panhandle herd in the 1955 season. The percentage of successful permittees was 83.3 in the southern counties, (Banner, Scotts Bluff, Morrill and Garden Counties) and 84.5 in the northern counties (Sioux, Dawes, Sheridan and Box Butte Counties). Age data obtained at the check stations revealed that young deer (IV2 years to 3V2 years of age) comprised the bulk of the population, indicating a herd with good reproduction. Approximately 25 per cent of all deer checked in the southern counties were fawns and about 27 per cent were fawns in the northern counties.

THIS suggests an annual increment to the herd of about 25 per cent. The estimate of annual increment can be considered a minimum because of apparent hunter selectivity for larger animals on the first day of the season. Weights of deer checked were good with only local areas yielding deer of below average weight.

After the season a survey of landowners was conducted in western Nebraska to obtain an estimate of the per cent of deer harvested and the approximate population level of deer during 1955. Reports of the land operators indicated that only eight to ten per cent of the herd was harvested. In Banner, Scotts Bluff, Morrill and Garden Counties, 71 per cent of the landowners responding reported the occurrence of deer on their farm or ranch. Only 39 per cent of these reported some harvest of deer. In Sioux, Dawes, Sheridan and Box Butte Counties, 75 per cent reported the occurrence of deer and about 50 per cent of these Technician Shows Browse Line indicated a harvest of deer from their ranch or farm.

Now——to use the data for making predictions for the 1956 fall populations. Landowner reports indicated that approximately eight to ten per cent of the herd was harvested in 1955. Less than half of those reporting deer also reported a harvest of deer from their ranch or farm. Hunter success was high during 1955. All this data suggests that the herd was definitely not overshot during 1955 and that a considerable portion of the herd was not even subjected to shooting pressure. Age data revealed an annual increment to the herd of at least 25 per cent—considerably more than the eight to ten per cent harvest which the landowners reported.

WHEN all these facts are considered relative to each other and considering the reproductive potential of deer, only one conclusion can be drawn. Hunters taking to the field in 1956 can expect even higher deer populations in the Panhandle than those encountered in 1955. Deer taken during 1955 were in good physical condition and for the present there is no reason to suspect that physical qualities of those harvested in 1956 will be any poorer. Permittees should again have a successful season in the Panhandle.

Data for the Missouri River herd and the herd in the Sandhills is not so complete. Age composition of the buck kill, however, revealed a high number of young animals and the physical condition was on a par with those taken in the Panhandle. It appears that the Sandhills herd is continuing to increase and hunters should experience good success during 1956. Hunting along the Missouri River should be about the same as for 1955.

It is difficult to estimate the number of deer that will be harvested in 1956 since it is doubtful that enough eligible applicants are available to utilize all the permits allotted. In 1955, 6250 permits were allotted for all areas open to hunting but only 5,597 permits were issued. Too few applications were received to fill permit quotas in the Pine Ridge and Upper Platte areas of the Panhandle. For 1956, the number of allotted permits has been increased again and the areas open to hunting extended. It is likely that too few applications will be received in 1956 to meet the permit quotas. If all 9,650 permits are taken, however, the 1956 deer harvest should be in the neighborhood of 6,500 deer for approximately 70 per cent of the 22 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA   permittees can expect to get their deer.

In the Future

WHAT can we expect from future deer seasons in Nebraska? How many deer can we expect to harvest in the years to come?

One may place himself on a very small limb by making predictions too far in the future but certain factors are now recognized which may enable us to project a few thoughts.

Nebraska is in a rather fortunate position. We have a relatively young herd that is for the most part still in balance with its range requirements. We are in a position to profit from the experience of many other states with relatively older deer herds. Considerable information has been published on various deer herds and we now know what to expect from deer populations and what can happen if deer should become too numerous.

There are certain basic principles that we must recognize as a background for looking into the future. Definite biological and economic limits exist and we should not expect to build a deer herd beyond these limits. In some areas, economic limits may be reached before biological limits depending upon the dominant land use. Most of our deer hunting is on private lands and if the population becomes too great, many landowners will be subject to excessive crop depredation. The landowner depends upon his land and produce for a livelihood and we must recognize and consider these economic limits.

What about the biological limits? It is now generally recognized in wildlife circles that a given area can support only a certain number of animals depending upon the amount of food and cover and the location of food and cover relative to each other. The number or upper limit which a given range can support is usually termed carrying capacity. Most ranchers realize that they can carry only a certain number of cattle on a given pasture and to exceed this number results in deterioration of not only the physical quality of their herd but also of their pasture.

IT IS much the same with deer. If this limit is exceeded we can expect decreased reproductive rates, increased mortality from causes other than hunting and the physical qualities of our deer to decrease. Some species of native browse plants could be seriously injured so that the number of our deer which can be supported in the future is actually decreased.

What management implications do Plenty of Deer in Pine Ridge Country. biological and economic limits convey? In some areas, where it is consistent with the primary land use, it may be possible to increase the carrying capacity by increasing the available food supply. But at the present time this is impractical in Nebraska and little is known about suitable and practical techniques for increasing the food supply.

Another and more practical alternative is to keep deer populations within bounds of biological and economic limits through adequate harvests. If we do not control the herd by hunting, nature will surely exert forces of her own and her method of harvest can be far more drastic than our harvests.

THERE are indications that the herd has already reached the maximum number of animals that can be safely carried in certain areas. Parts of the Pine Ridge and the Bessey Division of the Nebraska National Forest appear to have the maximum population that can be tolerated. In these areas, if we are to maintain a healthy herd compatible with their range and other land uses, we will have to gear our hunting regulations so that surplus deer are removed each year. If surplus deer are not removed we can expect the same results experienced by so many other states — excessive crop depredation, overbrowsed ranges, and poor quality deer with low reproductive rates. To many this may sound like so much theory, but it has been demonstrated in many other deer herds in other states. Since we have a young herd and background information from experience of other states, we are in a position to avert many of the management problems encountered in other areas.

Before looking too far into the future we should also consider our present and potential deer range.

There are four basic types of deer habitat in Nebraska: (1) Natural growth ponderosa pine; (2) river breaks and stream courses; (3) artificially forested areas; and (4) the Sandhills.

OUR PRINCIPAL deer range at present is the areas supporting natural growth ponderosa pine—the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills. Both of these areas now support high populations of deer. In most of the Pine Ridge we are probably carrying the maximum number that is economically and biologically feasible. Management within these areas will have to be directed toward SUMMER ISSUE 23   controlling the herd and harvesting the annual surplus.

We are now realizing a limited harvest of deer from some of the river courses such as the North Platte, Niobrara and Missouri Rivers. The Elkhorn River in Antelope, Madison, Stanton and Cuming Counties will also provide a limited harvest in 1956. Several other streams systems also support small deer populations but are as yet not open to hunting. In future years we can expect some harvest from the Platte River in the central and eastern part of the state and from the Republican River system in south-central Nebraska.

In considering our river systems for future deer hunting, we must consider some of the factors that may tend to decrease the potential. The backwaters of Gavins Point Reservoir have inundated much of the Missouri River bottoms from Yankton, South Dakota, to Niobrara, Nebraska. This loss of habitat will be reflected in the number of deer which the area is capable of supporting. If the Missouri River dams are successful in controlling flood waters we can expect to lose some additional habitat downstream. In some of the stream bottoms where it was once risky to farm because of fluctuating water levels, landowners may find it feasible to clear the woody cover and put the land under cultivation. If so, the potential for deer will surely decrease.

THE SANDHILLS comprise a large area in the state. It is not typical deer range and little is known about the basic ecology of deer that occur in the choppy hills. Consequently, we hardly know what to expect in future populations. Some counties in the Sandhills are now open to deer hunting and are yielding limited harvests.

A considerable portion of the area has not been opened to hunting as yet. From the meager information at hand it appears that we have a healthy growing herd in the Sandhills and one that offers considerable potential for the future. Much more information will have to be gathered, however, to determine how great the potential actually is.

From this corner, the future of deer hunting in Nebraska looks bright. In some areas we have reached the economic and biological limits of the deer population and management will have to be geared to controlling the herd and utilizing the surplus. In other areas, such as the Sandhills and some river systems, we have populations that promise to increase future harvests considerably. We are in a position to utilize much of the information gained through experience of other states on basic deer management and have the advantage of being able to avert many of the management problems which they encountered. Within the next few years Nebraskans should realize an annual harvest of 8,000 to 10,000 deer.

RESERVOIR BONANZA

By ORTY E. ORR

The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, which was formed and chartered in 1933, set the stage, as it were, for a reservoir system which has provided some excellent fishing in Nebraska.

During the middle and late '40's fishermen experienced a fishing millennium for such species as crappie, perch and walleye. This "golden age" of biological prosperity, which is so characteristic of the first few years of man-made lakes, soon declined to a lower level which is the present condition. Reasons for high original biological productivity in lakes made by man are basic.

First and probably most important, large amounts of organic matter in the form of grasses, herbs, and woody plants are broken down and their nutrients taken up by minute plants and animals which in turn provide food for myriads of fish food organisms. Secondly, the adult fishes present had ideal spawning environment and the young experienced optimum conditions, food was plentiful and there were few predators

FOR the same reasons, the little northern pike and walleye which were stocked did well and became established. As these first year classes of game fish grew older they made rapid growth as they were able to feed on the following year classes of fishes. After four or five years, the productivity of the lakes declined, the first year classes were present in great numbers and dominated the fish population. They were hungry and a population of large hungry fish makes for good fishing.

Such was the case of crappie fishing during the late 40's. Although large crappie were caught in great numbers, it is more likely that more died of old age and as they died off many fishermen were of the opinion that the crappie were being fished out and that bag limits should be lowered.

A similar situation developed in regard to yellow perch fishing. During the late 40's and early 50's perch fishing in McConaughy Reservoir was exceptionally good, then declined sharply within a two-year period. It is most likely that the decline marked the passing of the first large year-classes produced in the lake. The imposing of bag limits on yellow perch has probably served no useful purpose to benefit the perch fishery.

THIS premise becomes more valid in view of the present condition of perch fishing. Perch can still be taken in large numbers but the average size is much smaller than that of five and six years ago. Overcrowding and excessive competition for food are likely the causes. It would seem, therefore, that bag limits would not be helpful in alleviation of such conditions.

The walleye has occupied an interesting and somewhat controversial position in the sport fishery of Nebraska reservoirs. They were first introduced as fry, then after a few years the emphasis was shifted to the stocking of fingerlings. Walleyes became important in the sport fish catch shortly after the stocking policy was shifted to fingerling and the credit was given to the plant of fingerlings.

It is, on the other hand, quite possible that the fry stocking was responsible for establishing a breeding population of walleyes that began to reproduce about the same time that fingerling stocking began. For some time it has been a controversial subject whether or not walleye reproduce in appreciable numbers in Nebraska. Evidence is increasing that they do.

DURING the summer of 1955 extensive collection of data of the fish populations of some reservoirs was initiated and the work is continuing in 1956. Sampling of the walleye population of McConaughy in June, 1956, indicates that the 1955 spawn of walleyes was good. They composed 36 per cent of the walleye sample and stocking of fingerlings in 1955 was so small as to be considered negligible. In general, walleye fishing on the reservoirs, during the spring of '56 has been somewhat below that in 1955.

An interesting note regarding walleye fishing is that this fish is not one 24 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA   that is easily caught the year around. The better catches are made in late spring and early summer because the natural, favored foods are in short supply. Probably the reason that many fishermen say that they have not caught walleye with eggs is that few are caught until after spawning.

The species spawns when water temperature reaches 40°, usually in early April. After spawning the fish seem to feed heavily and many are caught by fishermen. By mid-summer the young of the year, of such favored forage species as the perch and shad, have grown to provide abundant food and walleyes are no longer easily caught. They continue to feed heavily as evidenced by stomach samples collected during investigations through the summer and fall.

THE white bass has become established in many of the reservoirs in Nebraska. This fish is an interesting species, aside from its being the only true bass in the state (all others so called bass belong to the sunfish family), it continues to confound fishery workers. In some lakes where a few adults have been introduced they have produced large populations while in other lakes few appear.

In general, the species is fast growing, very prolific and short lived, usually 4 or 5 years. These factors combine to make wide population fluctuations. In lakes where the species is well established there will likely always be white bass fishing with periodic fluctuation of population strength. It is also likely that white bass fishing in Nebraska will increase as they become established in the newer reservoirs.

NEBRASKA If you like the rolling prairie And the cattle grazing there you like the smell of clover And wild flowers everywhere, If you like the sun-dried corn shucksAnd the growing wheat and rye, And you like to see the summer birds Go soaring through the sky; If you like changing weather, With the heat and rain and snow And you like the country farmhouse Where your children live and grow Then as a friend I tell you That the only thing to do Is to come to dear NEBRASKA And make all your dreams come true. —Nancy Brockman, 14, Center, Nebraska

What Is A Geese?

The following essay, according to the Ducks Unlimited Quarterly, was turned in to a teacher:

"Geese is a low, heavy-set bird which is mostly meat and feathers. His head sits on one side and he sits on the other. Geese can't sing much on account of the dampness of the moisture.

"He ain't got no between the toes and he's got a little balloon in his stomach to keep from sinking.

"Some geese when they get big has curls on their tails and is called ganders. Ganders don't haff to sit and hatch but just sit and loaf and go swimming. If I was a goose I'd rather be a gander."

Audubon Camp Ready For Visitors

Appointment of six well-known naturalists and conservationists as instructors at the midwest Audubon Camp in Wisconsin has just been announced in New York by John H. Baker, president of the National Audubon Society.

Instructors in birds and other wildlife at the camp, which is a nature and conservation training center for adults, will be Alfred Grewe of Minneapolis and Alexander Sprunt IV of Charleston, South Carolina. Grewe is in the zoology department at the University of Minnesota and has spent four summers on the staff of the University's biology station in Itasca State Park.

Sprunt has been an instructor at Audubon Camps in California and Texas. He is a leader of Audubon Wildlife Tours into the Florida Everglades.

Instructor in plants will be Jacque D. Vallier, chairman of the biology department at Washington High School in Milwaukee. Vallier is president of the Milwaukee Audubon Society.

Instructor in soils and geology at the Audubon Camp, which is located near Spooner and Rice Lake in northwestern Wisconsin, will be Robert D. Burns of Detroit, Michigan. He is teaching at Michigan State University in the department of zoology.

Instructor in insects and fresh-water life will be Dr. Jeff Swihebroad of the zoology department of Rutgers University. He formerly was an instructor at the Audubon Camp of Maine.

SUMMER ISSUE 25

Fox Squirrel By GEORGE SCHILDMAN This is the twenty-seventh of a series of articles and drawings depicting Nebraska wildlife. All drawings are prepared by staff artist C.G "Bud" Pritchard. Classification

Nebraska has two species of tree squirrels living within her boundaries. The gray tree squirrel occurs only in the Missouri River bottoms in the extreme southeastern corner. The other, the western fox squirrel, is the one we all know. His scientific name is Sciurus niger rufivenior, and he belongs to the order of mammals known as rodents.

Description

The fox squirrel is the largest of North American tree squirrels. The western fox squirrel (the subspecies occuring in Nebraska) is somewhat smaller than the fox squirrels in the southeastern United States. The total length ranges generally between 19 and 21 inches, the tail comprising about 9 to 9V2 inches of that total. Mature individuals may weigh nearly two pounds (average IV2 to 1% pounds.)

The fox squirrel is distinguished by its general fulvous coloration mixed with gray or blackish on the back and sides. The underparts are yellowish. Occasionally a black or partially black specimen is seen.

Distribution

The western fox squirrel is found in most of the Mississippi Valley from northern Louisiana to southern Wisconsin and westward over nearly all of Nebraska. He might be classed as abundant over most of the eastern fourth of Nebraska and farther west along the stream courses.

Habitat and Home

These busy bushy-tails prefer the open stands of timber, shelter belts, and stream bottom timber adjacent to cropland. They adapt themselves readily to parks, cemeteries, and are common in most towns of Nebraska.

They quickly become accustomed to people, and learn to take bread, peanuts or other parcels of food from a window ledge, or even from your hand. Some make real pests of themselves by entering houses and nesting between the walls. Sometimes a squirrel will make This is the twenty-seventh of a series of articles and drawings depicting Nebraska wildlife. All drawings are prepared by staff artist C. G. "Bud" Pritchard. a nuisance of himself, when he discovers a flower garden containing some tasty bulbs.

Home is generally in the cavity of a tree or in a leaf nest built in the branches of a tree. The nests are lined with leaves and shredded inner bark and leaves. Leaf nests are made of leafy twig tips with a small entrance hole. The broad leaves that line the inside of the nest cavity are capable of resisting both wind and rain.

For those Nebraskans living on the fringe of fox squirrel habitation, who would like to encourage their year round tenure in a shelter belt, a nest box nailed to one of the trees may provide the necessary enticement. A box two feet high and a foot square with a three-inch hole does very well. A perch in front of the entrance will be useful but not necessary.

Reproduction and development of young

Old females (more than one year old) generally produce two litters a year. The first litter is born in March and the second about July. Young females (about a year old) in their first breeding season usually produce only one litter. Females from the spring litter have a litter in March or April of the following year, and those from the summer litter produce their young in July or August. The number of young ranges from two to five, and average about three.

The breeding season begins with the mating chase which takes place in the trees and on the ground with the male pursuing the female. Mating begins in late December, but the peak of early season mating probably occurs in mid or late January. The second peak occurs in May or June. The gestation period is 44 or 45 days.

The young at birth weigh about onehalf ounce. They are hairless, dark pink in color and helpless. Their eyes open at about five to six weeks of age. At seven to eight weeks they first venture outside the nest. The young probably do not become completely independent until they are in their fourth month.

Habits

The fox squirrel is considered an arboreal (inhabiting trees) animal, but spends a considerable part of his time on the ground in search of food, burying nuts, and traveling from one wooded area to another. A high percentage of the nuts he buries in the fall are recovered through the winter and eaten. He is able to locate and dig out the nuts, even when covered with a foot of snow —apparently by smell. Field corn is one of his important staple foods in Nebraska. This curious bushytail enjoys a wide variety of foods in the duration of a year's time, including insects and grubs, nuts, corn, buds and bark of trees, many kinds of seeds, all kinds of fruit and berries, and even birds' eggs and young when the opportunity presents itself.

26 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA  

THE CHALLENGE --