Outdoor Nebraska
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY NEBRASKA GAME, FORESTATION AND PARKS COMMISSION Editor: Dick H. Schaffer Associate editors: Pete Czura, Jim Tische Photographer-writer: Gene Hornbeck Artist: Claremont G. Pritchard Circulation: Phyllis Martin NOVEMBER, 1958 Vol. 36, No. II 25 cents per copy $1.75 for one year $3 for two years Send subscriptions to: OUTDOOR NEBRASKA, State Capitol Lincoln 9 NEBRASKA GAME COMMISSION Floyd Stone, Alliance, chairman Leon A. Sprague, Red Cloud, vice chairman Don F. Robertson, North Platte George Pinkerton, Beatrice Robert H. Hall, Omaha Keith Kreycik, Valentine Robert F. Kennedy, Columbus DIRECTOR M. O. Steen DIVISION CHIEFS Eugene H. Baker, engineering and operations Glen R. Foster, fisheries Lloyd P. Vance, game Dick H. Schaffer, information and education Jack D. Strain, land management and parks PROJECT AND ASSISTANT PROJECT LEADERS Orty Orr, fisheries (Lincoln) Phil Agee, game (Lincoln) Clarence Newton, land management (Lincoln) Bale Bree, land management Malcolm D. Lindeman, operations (Lincoln) Frank Sleight, operations (Lincoln) Harvey Miller, waterfowl (Bassett) Bill Bailey, big game (Alliance) DISTRICT SUPERVISORS DISTRICT I (Alliance, phone 412) L. J. Cunningham, law enforcement Lem Hewitt, operations John Mathisen, game Keith Donoho, fisheries Robert L, Schick, land management DISTRICT II (Bassett, phone 334) John Harpham, law enforcement Delmar Borsey, operations Jack Walstrom. game Bruce McCarraher, fisheries Gerald Chaffin, land management DISTRICT III (Norfolk, phone 2875) Robert Benson, law enforcement Lewis Klein, operations Gordon Heebner, game H. O. Compton, big game George Kidd, fisheries Harold Edwards, land management DISTRICT IV (North Platte, phone 4425-26) Samuel Grasmick, law enforcement Robert Thomas, fisheries Chester McClain, land management Gale B. Mast, game DISTRICT V (Lincoln, phone 5-2951) Bernard Patton, law enforcement Robert Reynolds, operations George Schildman, game Richard Spady. land management Delvin M. Whiteley, land manager RESEARCH BIOLOGISTS Karl E. Menzel, coturnix quail (Lincoln) Raymond L. Linder, pheasants (Fairmont) AREA CONSERVATION OFFICERS William J. Ahern, Box 1197, North Loup, phone 89 Robert Ator, Box 66, Sutton, phone 4921 Cecil Avey, 519 4th Street, Crawford, phone 228 William F. Bonsall, Box 305, Alma, phone 154 H. Lee Bowers, Benkelman, phone 49R Dale Bruha, York Loron Bunney, Box 675, Ogallala, phone 247 Ralph L. Craig. Box 4«2. Chappell, phone 4-1343 Robert Downing, Box 343, Fremont Lowell I. Fleming, Box 269, Lyons, phone mutual 7-2383 Raymond Frandsen, P. O. 373, Humboldt, phone 2411 John D. Green, 720 West Avon Road, Lincoln, phone 8-1165 Ed Greving, 501 So. Central Ave., Kearney H. Burman Guyer, 1212 N. Washington, Lexington, phone Fairview 4-3208 Larry Iverson, Box 201, Hartington, phone 429 Norbert J. Kampsnider, 106 East 18th, Box 1, Grand Island, phone DUpont 2-7006 Jim McCole, Box 268, Gering, phone 837 L Jack Morgan, Box 603, Valentine, phone 504 Roy E. Owen, Box 288, Crete, phone 446 Paul C. Phillippe, Syracuse, phone 166W Fred Salak, Mullen, phone KI 6-6291 Herman O. Schmidt, Jr., 1011 East Fourth, McCook, phone 992W Harry A. Spall, 820 Clay Street, O'Neill, phone 637 Joe Ulrich. Box 1382, Bridgeport, phone 100 Lyman Wilkinson (unassigried) Richard Wolkow, 817 South 60th Street, Omaha, phone Capital 1293 V, B. Woodgate, Box 403, Fremont, Phone PArk 1-5715 Don. J. Wolverton, General Delivery, Rushville NEBRASKA FARMER PRINTING CO.. LINCOLN, NEBRASKAIN THIS ISSUE:
FILLS FOR THREE Page 3 (Dick H. Schaffer) NEBRASKA'S OUTDOOR VIKING Page 6 (Mel Becker) SESAME TO HUNTING Page 8 (Pete Czura) EPICUREAN JACK POT Page 10 NEBRASKA'S BIGGEST BARGAIN Page 12 DECOYS TO FIT YOUR POCKETBOOK Page 14 SPEAK UP Page 17 PHOTO NEWS Page 18 PREPARING FOR WINTER Page 19 OPERATION DEER MARK Page 20 PHEASANT FOR-ME-NOT'S Page 22 (Gene Hornbeck) HOW FAR TO LEAD Page 24 OUTDOOR ELSEWHERE Page 25 NOTES ON NEBRASKA FAUNA (white-tailed deer) Page 26 (H. O. Compton)This month's cover shows the monarch of the waterfowl kingdom — the ever alert Canadian honker. Tough to find, he is tougher to bag. This fall, if you're lucky, you may come face-to-face with him, as did our photographer-writer, Gene Hornbeck. Jump shooting Canadas in cornfields—a favorite hangout—is the ultimate climax of all waterfowler's dreams.
FILLS FOR THREE
by Dick H. Schaffer Editor So many ducks, our host exclaimed, that you can club them with ball bats. Nevertheless, we used guns, and still his story proved outSHELL-SHOCKED teal, dazed by opening morning's shotgun barrage, traded overhead on whistling wings. For as far as the eye could see, dawn's breaking sky was blackened with ducks rocketing in full rout. Three loads of No. 6's from my anxious 12 gauge pump punctured only the air behind them.
Legs aching from long crouching in the marsh grass, and fingers numbed by fall's first freeze, I embarrassingly waited for a sure bird. I'd earlier missed several shots, and was losing face fast. Ducks were everywhere, and shotguns were reporting in staccato fashion.
From the west whizzed a single, riding the wind for added speed, and bearing down on my position. Hurriedly, hopefully, I lined on the bird. When the barrel of my shotgun blotted out the duck, I let go. The duck dropped abruptly from the sky, falling in dense weeds separating marsh and yellowing corn field.
Amid all the excitement of my first duck of 1958, I'd unknowingly crouched too low. Marsh water poured over the lip of my hip boots, drowning my double-stockened feet in four inches of cold water. But what concern are miserably cold feet when ducks are speeding overhead?
Duck traffic was so brisk I didn't take time to wade ashore for my downed bird. I'd marked him down well, so was in no particular hurry. A pair of hurrying teal bore down on my position, veering to the left at the last instant. Ducks Nos. 2 and 3 toward my bag limit, I thought, as I leveled off and blasted. But I was back to normal, shooting nothing but air pockets behind the skittering teal.
And that's the type of shooting my chums, C. G. "Bud"
Pritchard and Gene "Sureshot" Hornbeck also experienced
NOVEMBER, 1958
3
during the first 15 or 20 minutes of the duck shoot. There
were birds galore, and misses almost as plentiful.
The three of us had been ushered to this particular marsh in the state's fabulous rain-water basin, southwest of Geneva, by conservation officer and friend Roy E. Owen.
"I'll put you in paradise," he'd told us the afternoon before, "and you shouldn't have any trouble filling. Fact is you club them with a ball bat. Took me seven minutes to fill there last year."
The "paradise" description sounded great. We'd told Roy that we would prefer shotguns to ball bats. And we wouldn't mind if it took us two or three times as long as it did him to fill. We just wanted some early shooting. There was a fly in the ointment, though, and that was the time Roy said we should meet him in Crete on opening morning.
"Four sharp," he'd instructed us. "Got to get you boys placed, then get to work on law enforcement."
Rendezvousing with Roy at 4 a.m. meant we would leave Lincoln at 3:30 at latest. And to leave Lincoln at that ghastly hour meant getting up at 3. We managed to roll out at 3 a.m. O.K., and felt our way to Crete, arriving at the designated time. Roy was already waiting in his car when we pulled in.
Blurried eye, Gene, Bud, and I followed in our car for 30 hungry miles to Fairmont, where we stopped for breakfast. Highway 6 had looked like a downtown street during rush hour. A steady stream of headlights had shown us the way, as seemingly half of Nebraska was out to take the lid off the waterfowl season.
A couple dozen other hunters had beaten us to the punch at the roadside cafe, and rather than wait an hour or so for a full breakfast, we settled for coffee and sweet rolls. Not too full in stomach but loaded with enthusiasm, we boarded our cars and headed for our destination.
Soon we left the blacktop for a graveled county road, and 20 minutes later took to a tractor trail paralleling a corn field. Roy's car stopped, and he piled out.
"This is it boys," he said. "The rest is up to you."
The marsh was just 40 or 50 yards to the west, and duck chatter filled the air.
We thanked Roy, and sympathized with him that he couldn't help us open the season. His law enforcement, though, had priority.
The three of us loaded our shotguns and ambled excitedly down to the marsh, taking scattered positions in the shallows.
Cold was in the air, and the season's first frost whitened field and grass. Duck weed, marsh grass, cattails, reeds, and smart grass abounded, so much so that finding dropped birds in some areas would be virtually impossible. We knew then we'd have to carefully mark down all birds and hightail it over to those spots as soon as possible or chance losing them.
Ducks were having a gabfest. Nervous teal lifted from the marsh in small but increasing numbers, pushing our hunting fervor to the boiling point. The time was now 6:08, several minutes past the opening time—one-half hour before sunrise. Still, though, none of us wanted to fire that f'rst shot. Two minutes—and they seemed an eternity passed before a volley of shots sounded from the neighboring marsh.
As the sound reverberated, wings slanped, water lifted, and duck talk loudened as literally hundreds of ducks rose skyward from our marsh. The three of us, Bud to the far right, Gene in the center, and I on the left, responded with crashing fine shot. Were it numbed finders, opening morning jitters, swift, erratic flying teal, or what, I don't know. But we just couldn't hit. Five minutes passed before I dropped my first duck, a solo teal about 25 yards out. My second teal fell 20 minutes later.
Gene, I learned later, pitted the sky with seven loads of No. 7V2 super trap loads before tumbling a green-winged teal. That, though, signaled the end of his woes, as he lost little time in bagging three more ducks to fill out. His mixed limit included a blue-winged teal, two greenwings, and a hen mallard. He was shooting a 12 gauge pump with a modified choke.
Sureshot, by the way, was the only intelligent hunter in our group. He came decked out in breast waders, whereas Bud and I chanced the marsh in hip waders. Like myself, Bud drew water when he crouched in the marsh. Fact is, Bud's hip boots were so inadequate that Sureshot had to wade out and retrieve all of his birds. But that wasn't until Bud had found his shooting eye.
Twelve straight misses at side-slipping, jetting teal had pushed even Bud's normally cool temperature to the 212° mark.
"Nuts," we heard him shout after the teal whitewashing. "I'm going to work farther out and try jump shooting some mallards. Those teal have my number."
Strange thing, this shooting. Both Gene and Bud had
warmed up for the waterfowl opening with a week-end
dove shoot in a neighboring state. Both had returned with
4
OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
20-bird possession limits. And doves are not easy targets
to hit.
"I hit seven straight," Bud had told men, "and I thought I couldn't miss. But then the table turned and I missed as many shots, some easy ones included. Finally I found the range again and scored repeatedly."
Sureshot Gene, too, had found the going hot and cold. He'd dropped doves with regularity, including the difficult ones, but then missed easy ones with comparable regularity.
Same thing happened here. The shots seemed easy, but birds were hard to drop.
Bud's decision to jump shoot was his turning point. While wading in water dangerously close to the top of his waders, he eyed a mallard coasting in at 20 to 25 yards distance. Coasting is about right, too, compared to the whir of the green and blue-winged teal.
While it is impossible to figure a duck's speed accurately, some computations have been made. Mallards pedal along at between 40 and 50 miles an hour, whereas greenwings have hit 79 m.p.h., and bluewings, 89 m.p.h. Flight speed, of course, is dependent on wind velocity and direction.
A quick draw on the mallard and Bud's 16 gauge automatic reported. The orange-legged bird bounced once, twice in the reeds ahead. The ricocheting bird sent two more mallards air-borne, and Bud responded with two more loads of No. 6's.
"Perfect jump shots," he told us later, "and both birds fell dead."
Five minutes later, Bud filled with his fourth mallard, still in summer plumage.
Meanwhile I had only two birds, and my watch showed about 45 minutes had passed since opening whistle. My second bird, a blue-winged teal, was easy to retrieve. The first, though, was still down in the weeds.
A group of 9 or 10 ducks came from out of nowhere, passing right overhead. Scoring a double seemed a good possibility. A quick alignment of bird and shotgun, and a silent report. I'd failed to eject my last spent shell and pump a new one into the chamber. That would never happen again, I threatened myself.
Teal and an occasional mallard spurted past, some just out of reach of my full-choke 12. Finally a lone teal bore down and just managed to change his flight pattern when my 6's shattered his wing. He played hide and seek with me in the marsh grass for a minute or so, before I caught him and added him to my bag.
My fourth duck, this time a drake mallard, followed in short order. Sureshot Gene and Bud, meanwhile, were waiting for me on shore, as both had filled about half an hour earlier. With the three ducks in my game bag, I waded ashore and to the point where I'd marked down my first teal.
"Are you sure where he fell?" Gene asked.
I replied that I was. Bud chimed in that he, too, had seen where the bird went down.
"Was a teal," Bud added. "You really socked him; he fell like a rock."
Must have been a rolling rock, though, for the three of us searched in vain for 15 minutes. Apparently the bird had enough life and spunk to successfully hide in the dense weeds.
My 6's were exhausted, so Gene saved me a trip to the car by offering some of his 7V2's. He and Bud waited patiently on shore, as I sloshed back into the marsh, this time farther out. Early fall's sun was warming things up, so I opened my coat and removed my gloves.
I missed two long shots and then busted a mallard. The bird folded, and I pinpointed the place he fell. But when I waded over to the spot, the bird had pulled a Houdini. Gene and Bud had seen the kill and waded out to join in the search. Fifteen minutes of rustling duck weeds, marsh grass, and reeds turned up nothing but feathers. This bird meant fills for all of us, and a fairly fast end to our shoot. But the mallard, too, had to be chalked up as a lost bird.
My two mates had just started for shore again, when a single mallard made a fatal pass. My 12 gauge clobbered him at about 30 yards. He didn't appear as hard hit as my lost birds, but he was stone dead by time I reached him.
I'd lost three birds in all. Gene lost two, and Bud one. The three of us together shot 18 birds in order to fill out with 12. We'd lost 33 per cent of our birds. Nationwide, about 25 per cent of all waterfowl shot are lost to the gunner. To say the least, we were disappointed.
The 33 per cent loss pointed out that when hunting in marshy areas such as the one southwest of Geneva, it is wise to use a good gun dog. And if none is available, to try shooting birds that will fall in open areas only. Too, be sure the ducks are well within range before shooting.
About 1 1/2 hours after we'd opened the season, we trudged triumphantly back to the car and headed for home.
Roy, we remembered, had filled his limit of five birds the year before in only seven minutes. It took the three of us up to 1 1/2 hours. Roy admittedly filled much faster, but we, too, outdid him. We enjoyed a lot more practice than he did. And from our shooting score, we needed it.
THE END
NEBRASKA'S OUTDOOR VIKING
by Mel BeckerTHE outdoor world of Nebraska was saddened last summer when it received word of the passing of Everett Carl "Fuzzy" Stillwell. Fuzzy, a legendary Sand Hills figure, died after a four-year battle with Hodgkins' disease.
Wildlife in the Sand Hills knew Fuzzy as a powerful and crafty adversary, but it also knew that he never killed just for the sheer sport of killing. Like the Indian of long ago, Fuzzy took only enough to satisfy his immediate needs. His philosophy, which many of us would be wise in adopting, was: "Leave a little bit for another day." He often shared his game with unsuccessful outdoorsmen.
His deeds, his mode of life, and his concern over the predators he was paid to hunt, made him tower as high as Mt. Olympus in the esteem and affection of veteran outdoorsmen. And as one gruff veteran of the woods put it when Fuzzy was laid to rest: "Fuzzy's exploits ranked with the amazing feats of the legendary Vikings."
Life for Fuzzy began in 1902, in a sod house near Valentine. He spent most of his life in the surrounding Sand Hills region. And it was here at the tender age of six that Fuzzy began his fabulous career as hunter, trapper, and fisherman.
In his youth he roamed the Sand Hills on horseback. His traps, guns, and fishing gear went everywhere he wandered. Later, he kept pace with the changing world by trading his horse for a Jeep. This permitted him to wander still farther afield in pursuit of game.
He hunted, trapped, and fished for a livelihood for almost half a century. He was a welcomed visitor on any ranch in western Nebraska, and a determined worker at bettering farmer and rancher-sportsmen relationships
Fuzzy acquired an amazing storehouse of knowledge about fish and wildlife habits. Perhaps his fishing methods and battered lures may have seemed crude, but his ability to catch fish alongside others, who weren't even getting a bite, was obvious.
Once, a group of Fuzzy's friends were fishing Trout Lake for largemouth bass. The bass were striking with regularity but simply wouldn't take the bait. Fuzzy, standing in knee-deep water, watched them in amusement. As his friends inched closer in their boat, Fuzzy flipped his bait about a foot from the bow. In short time he landed a four-pound bass, much to their chagrin.
In the old days, Hackberry Lake and the Marsh Lakes on the huge Valentine Refuge were Fuzzy's favorite fishing spots. Here daily, large bass and perch met their finis at Fuzzy's hands. Later, he switched angling operations to Rat and Beaver Lakes. When the blue chips were down and Fuzzy needed bass for the skillet, he called on his Josh frog and black-silver minnow.
Ernie Brakeman, Broken Bow, remembers the first time he saw Fuzzy. "It was at Beaver Lake," he said, "that I noticed a bearded man fishing in a peculiar rig. This guy had a truck inner tube with a gunny-sack harness attached to it. With holes cut out for his feet, he pulled the inner tube to his waist and waded out into the lake. When he reached deep water, he paddled his feet. It seemed like every cast he made produced a strike. Darndest thing I ever saw!"
6 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
Brakeman remembers asking Fuzzy why he used such a rig. Fuzzy grinned, teeth flashing through his beard, "Beats a boat all to pieces. No oars banging. No anchor. Just creep up on them quiet like and you'll get some like this." "He held up a stringer of fish that made my eyes pop", Brakeman said.
For northern pike, Fuzzy would hit Watts Lake and near-by Big Alkali. The North Loup River was his standby for lunker trout. A sports store in Valentine proudly displays a 6-pound, 6-ounce German brown he caught in this river. Schlagel and Boardman Creeks, near Valentine, were other favorites for trouting.
For many years Fuzzy lived in a cabin on the huge Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, where he made his living as a professional trapper for Uncle Sam. However, it was on the lone prairie, under darkened sky, where he excelled in stalking and killing crafty coyotes. His skill prompted one outdoorsman to say: "That Fuzzy, he must speak their language!" And speak it he did, for in his banner year he outsmarted 140 coyotes.
There's a story about the time Fuzzy was attacked by a coyote in one of his traps. "He pert near got me twice," Fuzzy was heard to have said. "His choppers clicked and snapped like a bear trap in front of my face. He used my throat for a target. But I managed to rope him and then stomped him to death. Never shot a coyote in a trap; was more humane to kill 'em this way. And it didn't damage their pelt."
Last winter, just before his illness confined him to bed, he watched a coyote traveling a certain early morning hunting route. Another trapper had been trying for two weeks to trap this wily coyote. One day Fuzzy set a trap a few feet from the other trapper's. Next morning, there was Mr. Coyote in Fuzzy's trap. His tricks at luring these predators into his traps were phenomenal.
"Sometimes it was more fun to let a coyote live," Fuzzy once told a companion. "For a solid month I watched a yearling coyote hunt field mice. It was exciting to watch him through my scope. One afternoon he killed 40 field mice. He was doing such a good job of rodent control that I let him go on his way."
Another of Fuzzy's methods of coyote hunting was a bit on the hair-raising side. Strapped and lashed to a fender,of a Jeep, he would embark on nightly forays for coyote. When Fuzzy would spotlight one of the animals, the driver would try to head the creature out on the flat. Fuzzy often dropped the coyote on the dead run, with the car traveling at breakneck speed. After these hunts, Fuzzy would grin to his companions, saying, "Was a might hard on the Jeep and hind ends."
The mallards, teals, and Canadian honkers won't hear the BOOM of Fuzzy's shotgun again. Pass shooting was his meat. His favorite blind was located in the "neck" between Beaver and Rat Lakes. Once, in his youth, when bag limits were high, he killed five geese with one blast.
Anyone who hunted with Fuzzy, and the line of people who sought his company was endless, could learn many things about duck hunting.
"Don't ever play the long shots," he would tell them. "That causes too many cripples and lost ducks. I like to shoot clean—clean kills or clean misses. And listen here," he'd point at the flying ducks overhead, "go easy on the females; there are enough males flying to fill the kettle."
Fuzzy remained a bachelor, although he'd received many proposals. He didn't want any part of women, particularly when it was time to go fishing or hunting.
Just before Fuzzy died, he confided to me that he didn't want any part of the well-kept lawns and the city.
"If I should go," he said, "I want to be out in the sandburs, where I can hear the lonely howl of coyotes. It'll sound like music to my ears."
Fuzzy's mom saw to it that her son's last wish was honored, having him placed to rest in a lonely county cemetary. There is no marker on his grave to my knowledge, but if there were one, it should certainly read: "Everett Carl "Fuzzy" Stillwell, Viking of Nebraska's Outdoors."
He was truly a legendary outdoorsman who deserves a niche in Nebraska's history.
THE END
SESAME to HUNTING
by Pele Czura Associate Editor Its so easy for most of us to conduct ourselves as gentlemen at home. Why not in the field, too?WHAT grade would your deportment afield rate? Are your courteous to your companions? Hog all the shots? Claim all downed game? Give shredded birds to your buddy? Leave farm gates open? Bust fences? Shoot recklessly, endangering human lives, as well as livestock? Use a duck call without know-how? Have no safe gun-handling manners?
If your answer is even a feeble "yes" to any one of these questions, then it's time to begin appraising yourself. For the few who fall into this group, and for that matter, all of us, here are a few simple suggestions to improve your manners afield.
Did you have the pleasure of hunting with an experienced hunter last fall? Are you going to team up again this fall, or have you been given the brush-off every time you asked for another date? If so, your best bet is to ask frankly, "What's the matter with me?" Maybe you were a fence buster or a dangerous gun bearer. Knowing what is wrong, you can correct your manner afield. Or will you?
Most sportsmen hunt with the same companion, or companions, year after year. These men automatically know each other's moves, habits, and shooting techniques, and can foretell what each will do under most circumstances. They have fun, shoot carefully, respect each other's rights and property, and conduct themselves like gentlemen. That's the way it should be—fun afield, with plenty of courtesy.
But then we have the exception, but fortunately they are few in number. Take the hog shooter, for instance. Anytime a bird swings into view, he will blast away. This type of guy will shoot even if his buddy's head, or part of his body, is in line with the objective he is shooting at. He sees nothing but the bird and doesn't give a darn about anything else. Such a person is a real menace. One trip with such a guy is one trip too much!
Speaking of such people reminds me of this story, told by a duck hunter. Several times, he said, he hit ducks, but before they came down, four other hunters blazed away at his bird.
"I went over to the spot where one bird fell and found five guys already in a hot argument over my bird—the one I shot first! I gave up!"
Speaking of ducks, how are you at calling? A duck call in the hands of a beginner can be dynamite. One poor caller can wreck the shooting for every hunter within a mile radius. You old-timers know; it takes just one sour note on the call and blooey — the ducks are gone.
Want to win friends, respect, and invitations to hunt? Then learn how to use a duck call before the season begins. Get an experienced caller to teach and help you over the rough spots. Another simple method is the phonograph-record system. Make sure the machine is set at the proper speed and practice one call at a time, until you have it down pat.
Out in the blind, don't be too hasty with your caller. Once ducks have committed themselves and are circling closely around another blind, leave them alone. You'd expect the same treatment from other fellows when ducks are working your blocks. However, if ducks decide against decoying, and begin to pull out, it's O. K. to call them. But be dead sure they are leaving before you open up.
For example, let's say that on the last swing the mallards made before dropping in on your blocks, a long, pleading highball pulled them upward, swinging them away, and nothing you blew could turn them. Finally came the report of muffled shots and you knew it was too late to call any more. Standing there in the misty dawn, you wouldn't feel so fine, would you? A minute ago they were coming in straight toward your blocks and you lost them, simply because you waited for the clean-killing shots you'd get when they flared in for landings. You'd think about manners and wonder what kind of a fellow the other hunter is.
Are your gun manners any better? Do you consider yourself a safe gun handler? Then how can you explain these events? Last fall while hunting pheasants, one fellow spotted a bird flushed by his companion's dog and took a quick shot at it. Pellets from his gun peppered his buddy who was standing 50 feet away.
Caution with a deadly firearm is a cheap price to pay for the preservation of life, or the saving of a limb.
This brings us to the important role the rancher or farmer plays in allowing sportsmen to hunt their lands. None of us can deny that this group of landowners control most of the land where game abounds. And yet, many of us scream because more and more land is being withdrawn from us, all because of the inconsiderate action of some thoughtless boob. Sometimes these acts of vandalism are not committed individually, but in groups.
Here is a classic example: A group of four hunters were welcomed to hunt a certain eastern Nebraska farm, with the simple proviso that they avoid a five-acre field of ripe clover. In less than an hour, they were tramping through the field, the clover seed being smashed to the ground utterly useless! Today that same farm is barred forever to all hunters.
Courtesy, remember, is the open sesame to pleasant hunting hours afield. Upon that one word hinges the future of all our hunting adventures. Since it is so simple to be polite at home, in church, driving a car, or even waiting for the slow-footed pedestrian who crosses the street, why can't the man with the gun be likewise?
You've run across the chap who will give you badly mangled birds and keep the less-marked meat for himself. Then there is the "That's my bird! I'll take him!" type. He's got to shoot at everything that springs up regardless of whose turn it might be to shoot.
Every hunter knows the simple system of assigning specific shooting areas when tramping through stubble, or brush, in search of game. The hunter on the left shoots at game on his left; the hunter on the right covers his right side. Birds flushed up dead ahead are shot at, by prior agreement, in alternate turns.
However, if the hunters are spread apart, say 75 yards or more, the closest hunter to a flushed bird should be allowed the first shot. But if you should see your companion's gun jam, or if he freezes, and the bird seems to making an escape, in your direction, by all means shoot.
Remember, it's a good policy to share your game with the landowners, too. They hold the key to everybody's game, for most game is on their land. So be generous. That simple token of your appreciation may open the door to many more days of hunting both for yourself and others.
A final word of advice for, and to, the sportsmen who does not rate an "A" for deportment afield. STAY HOME!
NOVEMBER, 1958 9
EPICUREAN JACK POT
Clean 'em, draw 'em, pop 'em in the pot for a savory meal fit to serve "his royal grace'EARLY in the hunting season, the Game Commission received a plea for help. And sympathetic workers responded quickly when they read this letter from a Nebraska hunter:
"Dear Sirs:
I would like to ask you for some game bird recipes. You see, my wife doesn't know how to cook. We were just married and she told me she could cook, but I found out differently. She cooked the bird I shot yesterday with the feathers on and insides still in it. Boy, did that taste lousy!
"If you would, please send those recipes and hurry; I am going hunting tomorrow."
Of course, the recipes were mailed out. In case there are some of you in the same predicament, I suggest you save the following recipes for the lady of your home.
Let's begin with a few waterfowl dishes, since these rate high in the eyes of all connoisseurs. Louis P. DeGouy, a famous New York City chef, says never wash or scrub a duck. If you do, you'll break the oil pores and once they are broken, adios flavor, enter dryness. Rub the duck instead, he recommends, with a damp cloth, inside and out, and remove the oil bag from the tail.
In roasting ducks, allow a maximum of 20 minutes per pound. Wild ducks should always be on the rare side, if you want to enjoy the full flavor. Another important fact about duck roasting is not to allow the fat to accumulate in the pan. As it melts, in any quantity, the fat should be drained off, and the bird basted—the oftener the better.
If you do this, you render the flesh more tender, and your return the flavor from the pan to the duck. The superb flavor consists not only of fat, but of the added herbs, spices, vegetables, as well as the rich liquor or wine.
ROAST WILD DUCK: Pick, clean, and singe duck, and wipe with damp cloth. Put quarter of pared apple in each duck. Place on rack in baking oven and roast uncovered in oven, 550 to 600°F.
Teals roast 12 to 16 minutes Mallards ....roast 18 to 21 minutes Pintails .roast 15 to 18 minutesROAST MALLARD DUCK: 1 mallard, 1% teaspoons salt, Yz teaspoon pepper, V2 pared apple, 1 small peeled onion, 2 slices salt pork. Wash duck, wipe dry and sprinkle body cavity with V2 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle remainder salt and pepper on outside of body. Place apple and onion in body cavity. Truss bird and place on rack in an uncovered baking pan or roaster. Lay slices of salt pork over the breast. Place in oven of 550°F and roast for 18 to 21 minutes. If you want it well-done, roast for 30 minutes. Gravy may be made from the drippings in the pan.
10 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
Few wild birds are more delicious than a young wild goose, and no other meat is tougher than the flesh of an old gander. The only satisfactory way to cook an old goose is to remove all meat from its breast, cut into strips, soak it overnight in cold water to which the juice of a lemon has been added; then, place the strips in a bean pot, cover them with a quart of pea beans and a pound of salt pork, and bake eight hours in a slow oven.
However, if the goose is young, let him hang from 2 to 5 days in a cool room; then pluck and singe, remove pin feathers, and, before drawing, scrub with warm water and soap. This will allow the goose grease to flow out better during the cooking. Then draw, put in a kettle with a sliced onion, sliced potato, cover with cold water, and parboil until potato is done, changing the water twice during the process. Stuff, sew up vent, put bird in roaster, breast down, and across his back pin strips of fat bacon, or salt pork. Cover the roaster to prevent drying and roast until the tines of the fork slip easily into the breast. This should be two to three hours.
There's nothing that compares to the savory meal of a roasted goose. Stuffings may vary; apple, potato, sauerkraut, chestnut, and plain bread are the most popular. Apple and cranberry sauce make ideal accompaniments. If the goose has pin feathers, hard feet and its bill lacks pliability, simmer the bird one to three hours before roasting. After simmering, drain, wipe, stuff and truss, and roast in a 350° F oven, 20 to 25 minutes per pound.
PHEASANT IN CREAM: Wash dressed pheasant in cool salt water, disjoint, and drain or wipe dry. Roll pieces in flour, to which salt and pepper have been added. Fry in hot, shallow fat, one-half butter and one-half lard, until a golden brown on all sides. Place in a casserole, roaster, or dutch oven. Cover with cream. Place lid on baking dish and bake at 300° F until pheasant is tender.
Variations: (1) After pheasant has been placed in baking dish, add a layer of thick sliced potatoes and whole or halved carrots. Cover with cream, bake until all ingredients are cooked, about IV2 hours. (2) Pour one to two tablespoons vinegar over the bird before adding the cream. This lessens the wild taste of the fowl.
FRIED AND STEAMED PHEASANT: Disjoint pheasant, roll in flour, sprinkle with salt. Fry in hot fat until brown, but meat not cooked through. Fill the roaster one-third full of cold water. Put fried pheasant in this, cover, bake in moderate oven (350° F) for two hours. Add more water if needed. The liquid should simmer down to about 1 inch. Use this liquid in the gravy.
SUNDAY NIGHT PHEASANT: 1 quart dry bread (cubed), 2 eggs, 2 cups celery, 1 small onion (grated), Vz teaspoon sage, salt and pepper to taste, 1 quart cooked pheasant (cubed). Mix all ingredients except pheasant and place layer in baking dish. Add layer of pheasant. Continue in this manner until dish is full. Cover with the following custard mixture: 1 cup fat from stock or butter, 1 cup flour, 1 quart stock, 1 quart milk, 6 eggs beaten. Mix fat, flour, and stock or milk, cook until thick. Remove from fire, add beaten eggs. Pour over ingredients in casserole. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour in oven 350° F.
QUAIL: Should be quite fresh when cooked and well lubricated, for like other upland birds, it has a tendency to be dry. The breasts need salt pork or bacon covering and frequent, almost constant, basting is the rule.
BRAISED STUFFED QUAIL AND WHITE WINE: Mix a stuffing of the following: Saute two teaspoons chopped shallots in three tablespoons butter. Add 8 mushrooms chopped very fine, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and 1 cup dry bread crumbs. Salt and pepper to taste and add a few leaves of tarragon, a dash of nutmeg, and V2 cup of blanched sliced almonds. Mix well with V3 cup white wine.
Stuff quail with the above mixture. Melt Va pound butter in skillet for six quail, and brown birds very quickly. Turn breast side down and add one cup of same white wine used for stuffing. Place in preheated 350° F oven, covered, and simmer for 20 minutes. Set the birds, breast upright, and increase the heat to 450° for five minues. Do not cover the final cooking period, but baste frequently. Salt and pepper to taste and serve in croustades. The sauce should be served separately.
BROILED QUAIL: Split birds down back and rub thoroughly with salt. Grease bottom of a hot pan with butter, then place quail side down and cover tightly. After steaming three minutes, turn quail and place teaspoonful of butter on each bird. Continue turning birds until brown and tender. If young birds, they will require about 20 minutes; but a longer time is needed if they are old. When done, add V2 cup of hot water to gravy and pour over birds.
DON'T HOOT AT THE COOT! Remove and discard wings; then fillet the breast with a razorsharp knife, slicing smoothly along the breast-bone. Dissect carefully. Flatten leg meat with a cleaver.
Prepare marinade in crock. For a meal consisting of six coots, use 1 pint of dry wine; the juice of 2 large limes, plus the squeezed peel; a medium Spanish onion, sliced very thin; a minced hot green pepper; 2 cloves of garlic, mashed; and 1 teaspoon of salt, plus a teaspoon of Worchestershire sauce; and a liberal dash of basil, chervil and freshly ground sage. Stir all, pour mixture over coot pieces in crock; add cold water to cover meat completely. Keep in refrigerator for 24 hours.
Remove pieces from marinade, wipe dry, refrigerate for another hour. Place in a bag with seasoned flour; few pieces at a time, so each can be coated sufficiently. Fry until golden brown in a mix of bacon fat and butter and transfer to casserole when done. Add cup of strained marinade. Cover casserole, place in medium heated oven and cook for about an hour, keeping level of liquid halfway up to the pieces. Try this and you'll have a feast that will make other banquets seem like starvation diets.
FRIED RABBIT: 1 small rabbit, cut up salt pepper l/8 teaspoon crushed oregano 2 tablespoons milk 1 egg 1/4 cup flour 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbsSprinkle each piece of meat with salt, pepper, and oregano. Beat milk and egg together lightly. Dip seasoned meat into flour, egg mixture, and lastly in bread crumbs. Brown quickly in y2-inch hot fat; reduce heat and cook 20 to 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain and serve.
I hate to do this, but this will show that some women do not know everything. A friend and his wife had been invited to dine with his employer, and during the meal, the talk drifted into channels unfamiliar to them.
"Do you care for Omar Khayyam?" asked the host.
"Pretty well," replied my friend. "But I prefer Chianti and . . ." He stopped suddenly, as the toe of his wife's shoe banged his shins.
On the way home, my friend snapped to his wife, "How come you kicked me?"
"Darling," she replied, "you have a bad habit of pretending of knowing it all. Omar Khayyam, for your information, is not a wine. It's a kind of cheese."
Let's hope that none of our readers find themselves in the same boat. If your hard-earned game is getting a beating in the kitchen, why don't you clip this and give it to your mate? THE END
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
Rates for classified advertising: 10 cents a word: minimum order $2.50 TAXIDERMY Mounting fox, raccoon, or badger rug, $10; coyote or bobcat, $15. Strange, Nebraska City, Nebraska. NOVEMBER, 1958 11
NEBRASKA'S Biggest Bargain
AMERICANS are the biggest bargain hunters in the world. A slow-moving $2 item will create a stampede when placed on sale for $1.97. Are you a bargain hunter? Looking for a real steal? Then try the biggest bargain to be found in Nebraska—a resident hunting or fishing license.
This state offers a great diversity of wildlife— one of the widest varieties to be found in the Midwest, and permit fees are very low.
Nebraska's vastness does much to add to hunting and fishing enjoyment. It is No. 14 among all states in size, covering an area of 76,663 square miles. Inland waters measure 564 square miles, placing the State No. 22 in water area.
Nebraska has been divided by nature into many different sections that favor good hunting and fishing. The state is 415 miles long and 205 miles wide, starting with the rolling farm lands of the Missouri River and climbing up to the foothill-plateaus of the Rocky Mountains, in the Panhandle of western Nebraska.
Situated as it is, near the center of the continent, Nebraska is a land of great variety, a meeting place of climate and soils, of mountains and prairies. Here in this home of sage hen and quail, trout and catfish, antelope and whitetails, the north joins the south and the east meets the west. Lucky are the hunters and anglers who live in Nebraska, for they have a wide choice of species, bountiful supplies, and nearly 50 million acres of out-of-doors.
A $2.50 hunting license allows a state resident to take the following daily limit of native game: three cock pheasants, six quail, two prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse, five cottontails, five squirrels, and an unlimited number of raccoon and opossum. The nimrod who goes after pheasant and quail must purchase and secure a special $1 stamp to his hunting permit.
The hunting license also permits the taking of a wide variety of migratory game birds, including waterfowl. Nebraska has some of the finest duck and goose shooting found anywhere in this nation.
In the lakes, reservoirs, and streams of the state, the angler can tangle with a large variety of fish, including trcut, bass, crappie, perch, northern pike, walleye, and catfish. Record fish and record catches are commonplace in Nebraska, and an annual permit to try for one or both costs only $2.
The truth of the matter is that the cost of Nebraska's resident hunting or fishing permit is ridiculously low in terms of hunting and fishing opportunities. But these opportunities are not the real reason for permits or permit fees; their sole purpose is to raise revenue to finance the Nebraska program, a fact many people overlook.
M. O. Steen, director of the Nebraska Game Commission, believes the State Legislature should include the upland game-bird stamp in the hunting license, and recommends continuation of the $1 fee, not as a special stamp, but as an addition to the current hunting permit and without earmarking of funds. This will save the work and expense of printing and distributing the stamps, and the income can be used for whatever purpose is best. It will also bring resident hunting permits up to the National average—about $3.50.
Steen also recommends a $3 resident fishing permit, which is near the national average for such permits. Incidentally, this recommendation was also made to the 1957 legislature, but the session set the fee at $2.
"Nebraska has a world of recreational potential, much more than we can hope to develop with any income now in sight," Steen said. "That does not excuse administrative or legislative failure to do as much as we reasonably can, however. There is no doubt that Nebraskans are able and willing to do as much for themselves as the average American. However, they must rely largely on their public servants for the leadership and action necessary to this end. We do not intend to fail them."
12 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
Informed citizens realize that living space for wildlife and outlets for public recreation are shrinking each day. Larger and ever larger game and fish crops must be produced to meet public demand, despite the competition of industry, highways, cities, agriculture, and other developments that close more acres of lands to hunting and fishing each passing year. No one knows this better than the sportsmen who see it firsthand every day. The development of public-use areas is not keeping pace with population growth, and certainly not with the skyrocketing use of such areas. At times our parks and recreation areas are so crowded that "standing room only" very aptly describes conditions.
Director Steen has a word of warning for all of us. "This," he says, "is only the beginning of a new and swiftly moving era. In these early years of the Atomic Age we can expect world-shaking developments in swift and bewildering array. Science will make major break-throughs on many fronts. Standards of living will rise, work hours will shorten, time for recreation will be bountiful. Distance will be no barrier to travel. Even now, jet airliners span the Atlantic Ocean in six hours. Twenty-five years hence, 80 million new Americans will seek recreation in this land of ours; 40 million new automobiles will crowd our highways. We stand today at the threshold of a great new era, wherein the challenge of the next quarter-century is greater than any of us realize; we must make ready to meet it."
Much progress has already been made. Nebraska has enjoyed one of the finest fishing seasons in her history. Quail and pheasant populations have made fantastic gains, and are the best in a decade. All game-bird seasons (including waterfowl) have been liberalized. Raccoon and possum are at all-time high, rabbits and squirrels plentiful. Deer herds are on the increase throughout the state, and antelope, for the first time, have been transplanted into the eastern half of Nebraska.
With the income afforded through the limited increases voted by the last Legislature, action has been stepped up on all fronts, despite the fact that this added income first became available this year.
Law enforcement has been greatly strengthened and improved. Five new officers have been added, and arrests and convictions during 1958 are up approximately 30 per cent over 1957. The life and lot of the game law violator is getting rougher by the day.
Many new public-use areas have been or are being acquired and developed. These include Burchard Lake in Pawnee County, the Plattsmouth Game Management Area near Plattsmouth, the Cowles Lake project near Venice, Lewis and Clark Lake (Gavins Point Reservoir), Grove Lake near Royal, Sacramento Public Hunting Area near Wilcox and Holdrege, and Lake McConaughy near Ogallala. Others are under consideration and negotiation. In addition, virtually all existing recreation areas have come in for substantial restoration and improvement work.
In the words of Director Steen, "We have demonstrated our good faith, through an agressive and progressive program, but we can do only as much as our income permits. The real problems lie ahead, and we must have help to meet and solve them. We ask only that Nebraska outdcorsmen help us to help them."
It has been said that the value of the hours enjoyed in the out-of-doors cannot be measured in terms of dollars and cents. It can be added that we cannot have a healthy society without healthy recreational outlets, and that there is no better recreational medicine for mortal man than that which he finds in outdoor sports. In the long run, playgrounds are much cheaper than penitentiaries! Any way you look at it, the Nebraska hunting or fishing permit is always a bargain—a bargain even if you never hunt or fish.
THE END
Decoys To Fit Your Pocketbook
When honkers call, cheap fakes — fashioned at home of scrap — may be your key to limit killsHOW do most individuals get decoys? By good old American know-how and imagination. The accompanying photographs depict a few ideas for making inexpensive decoys from various materials.
Along the Missouri River, a visiting hunter may be surprised to see upward of 200 decoys in many of the local hunters' stools. He will be surprised also to learn that this number costs little more than a few hours' labor and a small amount of paint and material.
If there is a more addicted individual than the dyed-in-the-wool goose hunter, the world has yet to meet him. When the first cool nights of September start stirring the excitement within the hunter's chest, he begins checking his blocks. He paints, repairs, and perhaps adds a few more to his collection.
Since the use of the live decoys has vanished with the passing of time, the goose hunter has come up with varied inexpensive fakes to fool the big waterfowl.
It is common knowledge among goose hunters that our wariest of waterfowl can be fooled by some very crude imitations of their kind. To be successful in taking the magnificent bird, the hunter will find that a good blind and a well-placed decoy set-up is by far the most important aspect of goose hunting.
Most goose hunters contend that you don't need exact replicas to fool the high-flying bird, but they know from experience that your blind or pit must conceal you until the instant you are ready to shoot. Geese soar high and head for distant lands when they see a man walking, crawling, or trying to hide in a scanty duck blind.
Once a hunter has secured a good blind, well-placed decoys are the next necessity. Many goose hunters along the flyways have as high as 300 decoys. If purchased through commercial outlets, it would take 10 years of hunting money for the average individual to build up such a collection.
14 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
Home-made decoys work well for the hunter with a permanent blind, or in a case where he does not have to pack the blocks too far.
One of the most popular home-made varieties is the old car-tire goose. These are made by cutting the tire into thirds or quarters, depending on how big you want the decoy. The chunks of rubber serve as the body of the goose. Heads and necks are fashioned from one-inch pieces of cottonwood and nailed or bolted to the tire. Bodies and heads are colored with a flat paint to depict each species. After painting, a stick is inserted on the inside of the tire to spread it. A nine-inch stick is the usual size.
A silhouette decoy can be fashioned out of plywood or light wood of any kind. Trace or draw a goose pattern on a piece of board and cut out. Paint and the silhouette is ready for use.
The third decoy shown this month is made of chicken wire, canvas or burlap, and several pieces of string. Start with ordinary chicken wire. The individual can use his own judgment on the size of the decoy. The decoy pictured was made out of a 24-inch-square piece of chicken mesh.
Fold the wire corners slightly at one end, and this will serve as the tail of the decoy. Cut a square of burlap or canvas, slightly larger than the wire. Place the material over the wire, turn the edges under, and fasten. The wire and material can now be rounded into a half circle and tied with a string across the inside. The string will keep the wire from straightening out.
The neck and head are fashioned from one-inch wood. Sharpen the bottom of the neck, so it can be used as a stake to hold the decoy in place. Cut a hole for the neck, paint, and you are ready to fool Mr. Honker.
Also shown are two commercial decoys. The one in the water is a floater while the other is strictly a land-based goose. These decoys can be broken down for easy handling on a hunting trip.
THE END
16 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
SPEAK UP
Snake Untruths"Your article on 'Your Friend The Snake' was interesting and true, except in two instances. The striped garter snake that you pictured with her young does allow her young to escape from danger by opening her mouth and protecting them in her body. The prairie rattler will do the same thing."—G. J. Owens, Benkelman.
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to many prominent reptile authorities, NOT a single snake possesses any kind of maternal instinct. R. L. Ditmars, world-famous authority on snakes, says: "Unfortunately, old wives tales and superstitions remain stubbornly alive. I doubt the possibility of a mother snake voluntarily swallowing her young for protection, then releasing them when the danger is past. My belief is that observers have noted cannibalistic snakes swallowing the young of other species." Paul Parmalee, of the Illinois State Museum, agrees with Ditmars. "Silly superstition," he says, "and misinterpretation of facts has caused stories of snakes swallowing their young for protection. These stories, of course, are absolutely untrue."
Care of Deer Antlers"Over a period of years we have gathered several pair of deer antlers and one or two skulls. I wonder if there is some sort of shellac or varnish that I can use to preserve them longer. I intend to use them out-of-doors as a trellis or something over our gate."—Mrs. Howard Huddle, Wood Lake.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Use pure white-gum shellac in fourpound cut and dilute with alcohol. Mix five parts alcohol to one part shellac and apply a very thin first coat to antlers. Using a heavy coat on first application may crack antlers. Then apply four to five coats of this prepared mix, allowing each coat to dry completely. To maintain constant protection, give antlers two coats of above mix every six to eight months.
Sandburs and Dogs"Since there are so many sandburs afield, I have an idea that might be interesting to hunters who do a lot of field work with dogs. Maybe somebody has already run across the idea. It seems like everywhere in fields, even in pastures, there are lots of sandburs, so dogs and hunters alike will be picking up sandburs galore. Get a pair of fish clamps (the tool you generally use to hold a fish by the tail when you skin it). They are light and have several teeth on each side. Using these you can pull the sandburs out of the dog's ears and hair without pulling his hair. And you won't get the stickers in your fingers, and the job is fast. The fish clamps work good, too, on removing the sandburs from one's trousers."—Mrs. R. Lorensen, Taylor, Nebr.
Old Fishing Permit"After reading a clipping that asked for oldest fishing and hunting permits, I checked mine and found I have a license to hunt and fish dated March 7, 1913. It gives my age as 37. I was 82 on October 2. I also find that a have a license for 1915 and each year after up to 1957."—Fred H. Arterburn, Grant.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Can anyone top Mr. Arterburn's record, either in number of permits or oldest permit? If so, please let us know about it.
Wants Turtle Recipes"Enjoyed reading 'Snapping Turtle Delight' in August OUTDOOR NEBRASKA. Why not include recipes for use of turtle meat?"—Mrs. Paul Walkinjon, Bariley, Nebr.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Here is a recipe for turtle soup.
TURTLE SOUPThree pounds turtle meat, cut small, and parboil 10 minutes. Water used as stock. Fry meat in 4 tablespoons fat—ham or bacon drippings best.
2 onions sliced 4 tablespoons flour, browned in fat Add 1 cup canned tomatoes, tablespoon salt, and V4 clove, garlic, minced fine 4 quarts stock and water. Add to above 2 bay leaves 2 sprigs parsley 6 cloves 2 blades mace (or Vz teaspoon mace) 1 lump sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juiceBring to boil and add turtle meat. Cook three hours; strain if desired. Garnish with sliced hard-cooked egg or quenelles of turtle meat and slices of lemon, cut thin and minced. Sherry jelly may be added for flavor.
Preparing for Winter Storage....
1959 Fishing Regulations
OPEN AREA: Entire state except those areas closed by Federal or State law or city ordinance. SIZE LIMITS: None. OPEN BAG POSSESSION SPECIES SEASON LIMIT LIMIT TROUT .Entire year 7 7 BLACK BASS Entire year 10 10 WHITE BASS Entire year 50 50 CRAPPIE Entire year 50 50 ROCK BASS Entire year 15 15 except in Gavins Point Reservoir and the Missouri River in Boyd, Cedar, and Knox Counties, where limits are: 50 50 BULLHEADS Entire year 50 50 except in following state-owned lakes—Niobrara Park Lake (Knox County), Bowman Lake (Sherman), Ravenna Lake (Buffalo), Dead Timber Lake (Dodge), Memphis Lake (Saunders), State Lakes (Jefferson), Hord Lake (Merrick), Victoria Springs Lake (Custer), Fremont Lake No. 3 (Dodge), Louisville Lakes Nos. 2 and 3 (Cass), and Crystal Lake, Ayr (Adams), where limits are: 10 10 PERCH Entire year No limit No limit WALLEYE Entire year 6 12 SAUGER Entire year 10 10 NORTHERN PIKE Entire year 5 5 (except in Gavins Point Reservoir and the Missouri River in Boyd, Cedar and Knox Counties, where limits are: 6 6 BLUEGILL and SUNFISH (green, orangespotted, pumpkinseed and redear) FRESHWATER DRUM STURGEON CATFISH Entire year 10 10 (channel, blue, yellow) PADDLEFISH July 1 to Feb. 28 2 4 (spoonbill catfish) BULLFROGS July 1 to Nov. 1 12 12 BAIT MINNOWS Entire year 100 100 NONGAME FISH Entire year No limit No limit (except in following state-owned carp lakes where the daily bag and possession limits on carp are 10 and 10: Litchfield Lake (Sherman County) Fremont No. 6, east of residence (Dodge), Fremont Carp Lake, east of Victory (Dodge), Louisville West No. 3 Lake (Cass).
OPERATION DEER MARK
HUNTERS and residents in the Crawford vicinity may see some curiously marked deer. They will be earmarked with colored plastic streamers and metal How and why were these deer marked? The Nebraska Game Commission initiated a trapping and marking project in September, to gain needed information on deer in the Pine Ridge. The accompanying photographs depict the trapping and marking techniques.
The trapping procedure is a recent innovation developed by Georgia wildlife workers. Basically, a drug, nicotine alkaloid, was used to immobilize the deer. It was delivered from an automatic syringe fired from a modified Crossman Pell-gun.
Many things can be learned about deer by using marked animals, but we are concentrating on two facets—movements and the vulnerability of deer to the hunters.
In 1956, there were large concentrations of deer in parts of the Pine Ridge and western Sand Hills. Had deer moved into these concentration areas from several miles around? If so, how far were the deer moving? Possibly they were all born and reared in the near vicinity.
Each deer trapped was marked so that the individual
animal can be readily indentified by day or night. By
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OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
tracing movements of these marked
deer, the Commission may be able to
answer some of the important questions.
How vulnerable are our deer to the hunters? Past seasons in Nebraska have been characterized by a high success of hunters, much higher than the national average. Is the hunter success high because deer are easy to hunt in Nebraska? How close are we harvesting deer under a given hunting pressure?
By return of ear tags of marked deer, the Game Commission may be able to answer some of these questions.
THE END
PHEASANT FORGET-ME-NOTS
Here's a simple, easy-to-understand refresher in ringneck hunting. Read this and up your batting average by Gene Hornbeck Photographer—WriterSINCE October 25, thousands of Nebraskan's have been enjoying some of the finest pheasant hunting in a decade. Old Brer ringneck has long realized that the season is open, and that he has become a desirable target for any gun.
With the hunting pressure on, the birds will seek sanctuary in heavy cover most of the day. If the hunter is to be successful, he must know his hunting area, and he must also work a little harder for his birds. Early morning finds the majority of the birds working from their roosts in such areas as stubble. As a rule the birds select fairly short cover for roosting sites.
Dawn finds the birds on their way to feeding areas. These may include corn, milo, wheat, or concentrated growths of sunflower or native grasses that offer abundant forage. To capitalize on this movement of birds, you must know your hunting areas. It is only sound reasoning that for every bird seen along the roadside ditches, there are many more in the cover of the near-by area.
Hunters find that they must make their hunting practices flexible, to keep pace with the changing cover. Harvest of corn and milo progresses through the season. This could mean that an area such as a huge cornfield may one day conceal a large population of birds, and on the next be almost devoid of them because the cover virtually disappeared as the field was harvested.
It is then that the shooter will survey his hunting area and work the secondary cover types that the birds are then forced to use.
Daytime cover will be the heaviest the bird can find, where he can rest, dus't, and find protection. These areas can be heavy cornfields, shelterbelts, hedge rows, and native weed and grass cover.
Although evening movement is not quite as heavy as it is in early morning, it is very much worth the hunter's time to work the feeding areas bordering a likely roosting site.
Finding the birds is always the largest part of the hunting. To finally bag the wily, tough ringneck, the hunter
must combine his shooting ability, choice of gun, and selection
of shot into one smooth operation. If you have difficulty in bagging the flushed birds, check your equipment
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carefully. Does your gun fit you? If it doesn't, you may feel
too much recoil, and your cheek may be getting hit too
hard on each shot. If the stock has too much or too little
drop, you can be under or over-shooting your target.
Choice of loads can be important for your particular gun. No. 5, 6, or 7%'s are all efficient for clean kills on the big birds. Efficient that is, if you know how your gun patterns each size shot. If you don't know, try a dozen loads on a piece of paper to check it. You may find that with one size shot you have an even killing pattern, and with another a blotchey pattern that can get you nothing but misses or cripples.
With so large a number of hunters afield during our 44-day season, there is a strong possibility of gun accidents. These that can be prevented if hunters will only practice the common gun saftey rules. It can happen to you or yours, so don't forget that while in the field with a loaded gun, safe handling should be of utmost importance, to make sure yours is an enjoyable hunting trip, not the requiem of a friend.
We all know a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but what some hunters do with the bird in the hand is worth some thought. Make sure that should your bird be hit hard, that you immediately remove the entrails, so they won't taint all the edible parts of the bird. Too, this helps cool the birds quickly. Many hunters completely clean their birds (leaving head and feet attached for identification) right in the field, putting them in plastic bags carried just for this purpose. It's a good practice.
THE END.
HOW FAR TO LEAD
THE question of how far to lead a target with your shotgun has and always will be a disputed one. It is determined by the individual's shooting ability and how he swings his gun.
The most successful gunner is the one who shoots a fast swinging gun. He will track his target to pace it, picking up the lead and angle, firing as he swings and following through to prevent stopping his gun.
Shooting the fast swinging gun cuts down the lead and so eliminates some margin of error. The pictures will test your knowledge of where to hold before touching off your shot. Roy Owens, one of the state's top waterfowl gunners, checks your answers back on page 23.
OUTDOOR ELSEWHERE
Baseball-minded ArchersMISSOURI . . . Some bow hunters, according to the Conservation Commission, were faced with a problem in October. They either had to miss the opening days of the archery deer season, or miss the World Series on television. However, the Commission noted, some of the archers found a solution. They took portable sets to the field with them and placed the TV upwind from their stands. The Commission didn't speculate as to whether the World Series helped attract deer to the bowmen's stands.
* * * * * Stubborn Bull ElkMICHIGAN ... An amorous but confused eight-point bull elk gathered up a harem of milk cows at Johannesburg recently and refused all efforts to turn them loose. Two Conservation Department officials, a bevy of youngsters and two dogs failed in efforts to move the elk from the cow pasture by nightfall. He had departed, however, by morning.
* * * * * Are You Average?WASHINGTON, D. C.... Some weeks ago the U. S. Department of Commerce requested the Sport Fishing Institute to supply an estimate national consumption of fish taken by sport fishermen last year. The estimate was based on a review of 63 major creelcensus studies conducted in 17 states. Average catch figures derived were expanded to include the estimated number of sport fishermen over 12 years old. The results are regarded as conservative, if anything, because of this. It was concluded from these available data that an average of 2.2 pounds of fish were taken per angler-day in fresh water. The corresponding catch was about 4.5 pounds in salt water. Altogether in 1957, it was estimated that the nation's anglers harvested something under 784 million pounds of fresh-water fish and somewhat less than 283 pounds of salt-water fish. The total catch estimated added up to some 1,066,600,000.
Based on the 170 million U. S. population, the per capita sport-fish harvest was about 6V4 pounds. Assuming most of the fish were actually eaten, and counting edible weight as only half the round weight, average annual per capita consumption of sport-caught fish is about 3.1 pounds. The sport catch makes a sizable contribution of nutritious food at the American table.
MISSOURI . . . Fish stories often concern big catches or big ones that got away. But Conservation Commission hatcheries superintendent A. G. Morris has come up with one concerning an angler who didn't get away. It seems there was a crappie angler on Bull Shoals. On the front of the boat he had a 20-foot chain which he used to lock the boat when not in use. He also used it for an anchor rope.
The fisherman attached a 50-pound rock onto the end of the chain and anchored in the middle of the lake. When it was time to quit, he couldn't raise the anchor; it was stuck. He had neither tools nor key. He attempted to hail passing fishermen, but they thought he was being friendly and merely waved back. Then came a rainstorm. After four hours, he flagged down an angler who got help and they sawed the chain. The fisherman now uses a rope for his anchor and carries a sharp pocket knife.
CALIFORNIA . . . Among fish who know tobacco best, more and more are preferring filter-tip cigarettes. This is the word being passed along by California Department of Fish and Game biologists who identified filter-tip material in the stomachs of a steelhead and a rainbow trout.
* * * Gun Safety a La GrandpaWISCONSIN . . . One gentleman in Randolph saw his grandson firing a .22 rifle in the farmyard. Pipe clamped firmly in his teeth and puffing vigorously, he charged out the door, determined to put a stop to this hazardous marksmanship. Hardly had he reached the yard, Bang! When conversation reached a cooler atmosphere and grandson's protests that he hadn't fired sank in, there came the question, "Weren't YOU shooting 3. while ago, Grandpa?" Sure enough, in Grandpa's pocket with his tobacco, there still nestled a couple of cartridges. Today he doesn't load his pipe with a tobacco and .22 mixture.
WEST VIRGINIA ... For starting a fire, William Rose of Big Four was sentenced in Criminal Court to one year in jail and fined $25 plus court costs. He started a forest fire near Davy.
* * * * * Alligators Are Big BusinessFLORIDA . . . Professional alligator hunters in Florida harvested an estimated 17,695 alligators for a direct profit of $341,237.50 during the year 1956-57. Although one permit holder reported killing an alligator 17 feet in length, the average length was slightly over 7V2 feet. Total footage of alligators killed and commercially processed during the year was estimated at 136,535 feet. Average price paid to the hunter for alligator hides was $2.50 per foot. Under the Commission's regulations alligators and crocodiles over six feet in length may be taken under permit during the period June 1 to January 31. Taking of the reptiles under six feet in length is prohibited at all times
Notes on Nebraska Fauna
WHITE-TAILED DEER
THE white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, is the most abundant big-game animal in North America. This animal occupies more territory and outnumbers the combined populations of the other two species of deer in the genus Odocoileus.
The range of this animal in the United States extends from the eastern seaboard to the eastern edge of the Great Basin, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Except for small, isolated areas, the animal is not found in the greater part of the Great Basin and in California.
In Nebraska, both the whitetail and its relative, the mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, occur. Except for the outer perimeter of their range and in isolated areas, the ranges of the two species appear fairly distinct. The whitetail prefers the heavily wooded river bottoms and lush fields of the eastern onethird of the state, while the mule deer occurs predominately in the more arid western area. Chances are, if a deer is observed bounding across the road in eastern Nebraska, it will be a whitetail.
A close look at the whitetail will reveal a long, slender body with pelage gradating from a cinnamon brown to a bluish-gray, depending upon the particular season. The belly is completely white, with a white patch also showing on the throat, across the top of the nose, plus a white chin marked with a black spot on each side. There is also a light-colored band around the eyes and over the hoofs and between the toes.
The coat is shed and replaced twice a year. The lighter-colored summer coat is replaced by the darker, thicker winter coat during August and September. The summer pelage is regained about the time the weather warms up in the spring.
Sizes of white-tailed deer differ greatly with section of the country and condition of the range. Adult males have been recorded that weighed 290 to 300 pounds when hog-dressed. However, an adult buck will normally "dress out" at between 150 and 200. Females will average 20 to 30 pounds lighter. Nebraska's 1956 season yearling whitetails dressed out at between 110 and 120 pounds.
As a general rule, the heaviest deer are found in the northern part of the country, with a decrease in weight experienced with a decrease in latitude.
26 OUTDOOR NEBRASKA
The whitetail demonstrates several characteristics, both in appearance and in manner, which will distinguish it from the mule deer. A deer is usually seen for only an instant as it bounds out of sight. Handily, that part of the deer's anatomy that is seen last as it goes over a fence is one of the best means of differentiation. The tail of a whitetail is much longer and wider than is that of a mule deer. It is edged with white on the top side and lined with white on the underside. A mule deer's tail is normally white with a distinct black tip.
In most cases, a running whitetail will have its tail waving over its back, with the distinctive white underside showing. Also while running, a mule deer exhibits a stiff-legged bounce, coming down on all four feet at once. Whitetails take long leaps but the legs are not held rigid and front feet usually come to rest first.
Other distinguishing characteristics are apparent when the deer is in hand. The metatarsal glands, claws, are 1 to lv4 inches long and surrounded with white hairs on the whitetail. The mule deer's metatarsals are about two inches long and bordered with brown hair.
The antlers of the two species differ. The whitetail buck has one main beam which gives rise to a series of points in an upward direction. In the mule buck, the main beam, after giving rise to the brow points, branches into two's. Both species shed their antlers in the winter.
The ears of the mule deer are much larger than those of the whitetail, hence the name "mule" deer.
Normally the habitat of the whitetails is deep woods bordering on clearings and fields, the so-called "edge" effect. During the day the animals confine themselves to heavy cover, venturing out into the clearings at night to feed. This situation is vividly portrayed by the deercover relationship in eastern Nebraska. Here, deer will be found along the river systems where the edge effect is pronounced. Because of their preference for this type of habitat, deer have benefited by the influx of man. All things being equal, whitetail-deer have flourished with the clearing of forests and planting of crops.
The range of a whitetail is very limited. If food is abundant and other forms of disturbance are negligible, a deer may stay within the radius of a mile for long periods of time. With the coming of winter the animals may move to a new area, or if food is still available, their winter and summer range may be in close proximity.
A characteristic of whitetails in the northern latitudes is to "yard up" during the most severe winter months. The deer become attached to a certain area, perhaps by the availability of food and cover, or because of habit. As the snow deepens, trails begin to form. Gradually the deer are limited to narrow trails by the depth of the snow. These areas may become death traps if the winter is severe and the food supply becomes depleted.
The whitetail's food consists primarily of browse plants—shrubs and trees. Although they will take some grain, grass and alfalfa, Nebraska deer feed primarily upon the leaves, buds, and twigs of buckbrush, chokecherry, and various other shrubs and weeds.
Breeding season or the "rut" usually occurs about mid or late November. Shortly before this time the bucks have assumed their nuptial attirement. The velvet has been shed from the antlers and they are polished by continual rubbing against trees.
Being polygamous, both bucks and does will accept several mates, if such are available. The gestation period is approximately 201 days, the fawns being born during the month of June.. Twin fawns are the general rule.
The fawns come into the world weighing from four to seven pounds. They are virtually helpless the first few days. Most of their time is spent lying in concealment, sleeping and gaining strength. Their spotted coat provides perfect camouflage. Shortly before the fall's rut, the young deer are on their own. A word of caution: young deer found "lost" in the woods most times are not lost. Mother is usually within snorting distance.
Deer have played an important role in the economy of man for centuries. A student of the Bible and of ancient history will frequently encounter references to the "Stag and the "Roe Buck". At this period in history, the "Stag hunt was looked upon as the "Sport of Kings", to be staged exclusively for his majesty.
To the early American Indian, deer were a natural part of the environment, to be used as the need arose. When the white man began to push westward, they were dependent upon the land for food, clothing, and shelter. Deer were there to fulfill these needs.
As is often the case with a resource that is reasonably abundant, indiscriminate use reduced the population to an alarming low during the nineteenth century. Gradually, management together with improved habitat and more realistic hunting control resulted in the repopulation of deer. In some areas the re-population has advanced to the state where problems arise in balancing the deer population with available forage.
In modern times, deer are not the "staff of life" that they were during earlier years. Today, deer hunting is again looked upon as a sport, offering countless hours of recreation. However, it must not be overlooked that the sport also pours a great deal of money into the coffers of many states. It has become big business and as a result deer management has come into itself as a science.
The archery enthusiast will have the best chance of bagging a whitetail during this year's season. The entire state will be open from September 13 to December 31 for the taking of both white-tailed and mule deer with the bow. The taking of either sex is allowed, with the exception of the extreme southeastern part of the state. In the southeast, the archer will be limited to bucks with a fork on at least one antler.
A greater part of the eastern part of the state will be closed to the rifle hunter during 1958. June's Outdoor Nebraska gave a complete rundown on the 1958 deer hunting season.
THE END NOVEMBER, 1958 27
SINCE man first started to hunt, the migratory flight of waterfowl has thrilled the hunter and fired his imagination of distant places. Playing a prominent part in these dreams has been the precision flight of the Canadians, the gaudy top piece of the redheads, and the swift flight of the silvery canvasbacks.
The Canadian goose (top left) is big, bold, and beautiful, offering a challenge to any shooter. It is a wary bird that thoroughly searches a vicinity before landing. The call of the wild goose is music to the ear of the hunter.
Bag and possession limits may not include more than (a) two Canada geese or its subspecies, or (b) one white-fronted goose, or (c) one Canada goose or its subspecies and one white-fronted goose.
Hunters will have to be up on their duck identification when it comes to redheads and canvasbacks this season. The daily bag limit may not include more than (a) two canvasbacks, or (b) two redheads, or (c) one canvasback and one redhead.
An almost snowless winter and a dry spring provided the redheads and canvasbacks with a poor nesting ground in Canada this spring. The hatch was poor because of a late frost and the falling water levels. Conditions on the breeding grounds have been especially adverse during the past three years. These divers need permanent water of fair depth on their breeding area, and without such water they become easy prey to all kinds of predators. The steady decline in these species over the past several years has led to regulations restricting hunting on these two divers.
The canvasback drake (middle left) has a red head shading to black near the bill. A white (light-gray) body gives him a silvery look in flight. Cans are generally recognized as the fastest waterfowl, and they are smart. The hen has a brown head, black bill, and slate-brown body.
Once seen in flight or sighted over the barrel of a gun, the gaudy redhead is not soon forgotten. The drake's head is a rich, rusty red with a bluish bill which is divided by a white ring. A brown head, black bill, and slate-brown body are the marks of the hen.
THE END
