NEBRASKAland
November 1973 50 cents ICD 08615
NEBRASKAland
VOL. 51 / NO. 11 / NOVEMBER 1973 Published monthly by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Fifty cents per copy. Subscription rates $3 for one year, $6 for two years. Send subscription orders to NEBRASKAland, Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. commission Chairman: William G. Lindeken, Chadron Northwest District, (308) 432-3755 Vice Chairman: Gerald R. Campbell, Ravenna South-central District, (308) 452-3800 Second Vice Chairman: James W. McNair, Imperial Southwest District, (308) 882-4425 Jack D. Obbink, Lincoln Southeast District, (402) 488-3862 Arthur D. Brown, Omaha Douglas-Sarpy District, (402) 553-9625 Kenneth W. Zimmerman, Loup City North-central District, (308) 745-1694 Don O. Bridge, Norfolk Northeast District, (402) 371-1473 Director: Willard R. Barbee Assistant Director: William J. Bailey, Jr. Assistant Director: Richard J. Spady staff Editor: Lowell Johnson Editorial Assistants: Ken Bouc, Jon Farrar, Faye Musil Photography: Greg Beaumont, Bob Grier Layout Design: Michele Angle Illustration: C. G. Pritchard Advertising: Cliff Griffin Circulation: Juanita Stefkovich Copyright Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 1973. All rights reserved. Postmaster: if undeliverable, send notice by form 3579 to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. Second class postage paid at Lincoln, Nebraska Travel articles financially supported by Department of Economic Development Ronald J. Mertens, Deputy Director John Rosenow, Travel and Tourism Director Contents FEATURES UPLAND GAME 10 LETTER TO A YOUNG TRAPPER 14 FIREBREAK 16 HUNTING DUCKS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SHOOTING DUCKS 18 RETURN OF THE WOOD DUCK 22 FALL'S TOUCH 26 POPULATION MANAGEMENT 36 DEPARTMENTS SPEAK UP FOR THE RECORD WHAT TO DO 47 TRADING POST 49 COVER: A lowering sun over the Missouri River near Niobrara adds its reflections to those of duck hunters as their day in a blind draws to a close. OPPOSITE: A mallard drake. Photographs by Greg Beaumont.
Speak up
Drawn-out ProcedureSir / Why does the deer hunter have to wait so long every year to find out if he has drawn a permit? Each year I wait and wait, holding my breath to see if my permit comes. Surely in this modern age it could be handled a little more rapidly.
I have to get vacation, lodging, trip plans and permission to hunt certain areas set up ahead of time. Then I sit back and wait to see if I get to go or not.
Luke Lukowski Omaha, NebraskaAll big game applications are stamped with a date when they are first received in our office. They are then sorted as to unit and held until after the initial application period has passed to determine which units will be oversubscribed. In those units for which more applications are received than there are permits available, a drawing is held to select the successful applicants. Following the drawing, notifications are mailed to applicants not successful in the drawing. Following this, the permits are typed and issued as rapidly as possible within the budget and staff limitations under which we operate. Last year, we handled 1,410 antelope permits, 24,021 firearm deer permits and in excess of 5,000 archery deer permits. This requires a fair amount of time. Further, some of the applications which are received every year are incomplete. These must be returned to the sender for the required in formation.
I guess what I am saying, Mr. Lukowski, is that there is a delay between the time that applications are received and the permits issued. However, we attempt to get the permits mailed as rapidly as possible. In 1972 we tried the computer route, but we experienced many problems with this method. It was decided not to use computers this year, or until we were better prepared to move into this method of issuing permits.
Ruth Bassett Section Chief, Permit Division Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Calendar of Color?Sir / Would you please tell me how I can order the 1974 Calendar of Color.
Jim Herman Brawley, California We regret that the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has discontinued publishing the Calendar of Color. The cost of producing the calendar has become prohibitive. Editor Kansan's OpinionSir / I thought you might like to know a Kansan's opinion of Nebraska's parks and fishing. Our family meets at least twice during the summer at the reservoirs near Trenton, Ogallala, McCook or Enders. My husband and I go even more often, at least every other weekend.
Your fishing is just great and your parks are so well kept and beautiful. Last fall we caught a 7-pound, 13-ounce rainbow trout at Lake McConaughy. It qualified for a Master Angler award.
Mrs. Toohey Allaman Wallace, Kansas Class of '24Sir / Just received the September issue of my favorite magazine. The beautiful cover and photography throughout is the best ever. Jon Farrar's portrait of the wicked little weasel is a masterpiece. Your photos bring back vivid memories of my younger hunting days in the Cornhusker State.
I have friends here (originally from Nebraska) with whom I share NEBRASKAland. They are too young to get the same nostalgic thrill I do, (I lived there until 1924) but appreciate the real beauty to be found in Nebraska.
Most years I fly back to hunt pheasants near North Platte. Last year I landed just a few days before the big snow so conditions were not the best. Anyhow, if I get half a dozen birds the trip is well worthwhile.
In my younger days we specialized in ducks and prairie chickens. The chickens were more than plentiful near North Platte. When the old Model T could make it over the sand, we went to Nate Trego's ranch for ducks. We were always welcome and ap preciated the privilege. The duck limit at that time was 25!
I've noticed a particular change in the local hunter. Nobody seems to have hunting dogs anymore. To me a good working dog is a must if you really love bird shooting. I have hunted with many breeds and
NEBRASKAlandfor the Record
Some 5,800 Nebraskans who unsuccessfully tried to get a firearm antelope permit or a license in the more popular deer management units probably feel that the present system of issuing big-game permits is not what it should be. This is especially true of those who have tried several years in a row without success, while a neighbor or crony gets a permit every year, just like clockwork.
The first reaction is probably one of suspicion, and disgruntled sportsmen trading hard-luck stories during a coffee break are likely to suggest that strings are being pulled to benefit a chosen few. I know that this thought has crossed a lot of minds, judging from the mail that has come in since notices were sent out to unsuccessful applicants.
First of all, let me assure everyone that available big-game permits are allocated strictly on an impartial basis, as prescribed by law. This includes a lottery when more applications are received than there are permits available for any unit before the end of the initial application period. It is chance, alone, that gives a certain hunter one of these highly sought-after permits year after year, while his unfortunate neighbor is always eliminated in the drawing.
The root of the problem, like so many others we now face, involves supply versus demand. Demand for big-game permits has been increasing each year. But, game populations have remained fairly constant, and this has meant that permit numbers cannot be expanded.
In 1972, the Legislature recognized the problem as it related to the antelope season, passing legislation that prohibited last year's permit holders from applying during the initial application period.
But, even with 1972 permit holders eliminated, there were more than 3,800 applicants for 1,410 pronghorn permits. And, for two deer units, about one-third of the applicants had to be turned down, while nearly one-half of those in another had to be eliminated. In all, 3,149 Nebraskans didn't get permits in deer units of their first choice this year.
It is obvious that something like the present antelope regulations will have to be applied to distribution of deer permits in high-demand units. In addition, a longer waiting period may be required for antelope. The ideal situation would be one where every resident would have a better than even chance of getting a permit at least once every few years.
To accomplish this we need the cooperation of the Legislature in changing statutes as they now stand. The changes would involve the initial application period, and would affect only Nebraskans, since non-residents are not eligible to apply until a later time.
We are planning to seek changes in the law during the next legislative session and, hopefully, a bill will be passed to correct inequities in the present system.
think that with proper communication be tween man and dog, most of them will work their hearts out. They are always so proud to come around your back and to the left side, look up just as if to say "I've got it for you." The recovery of cripples that would otherwise be lost is an extra dividend.
Already I'm counting the days until November and hope to have better weather this year. Again, let me thank you and your staff for the best sports magazine published.
H. C. Latimer Modesto, California No Chicken PhotographsSir / I enjoy your magazine very much; the articles, letters and the beautiful photography. I was especially interested in "Children of the Wind" (July 1973). How we feared gypsies years ago!
I used to subscribe to Arizona Highways. They too have marvelous scenic pictures. And, they don't have killing pictures. How can anyone see beauty in a dead bird with glazed eyes hanging upside down, or a propped-up animal from which the life has been taken. I can't see sportsmanship in a man with a high-powered gun, trained dogs and high-speed cars getting unprotected birds or animals —just for fun.
Yes my husband has killed hundreds of chickens for our eating, butchered hogs and beef for eating, but we never took a picture of it to brag about. I do hope there will be less of these killing pictures or I'll have to go back to Arizona Highways.
The picture of the common burdock in the July issue was beautiful. Ditto for the "Pond Life" story. The red-winged black bird was great. He looked so alive.
Mrs. B. F. Kruse Boelus, Nebraska Clockwise ThoroughbredsSir / I have subscribed to your fine magazine for some years now and enjoy it very much. I pass it on to my friends who also enjoy it. You have a rather large circulation here on Culpepper Road because of my passing it around.
Here in New York State we have several fine race tracks, e.g. Saratoga, Belmont Park and the "Big-A." I wonder why on page 7 of your September issue you portray a field of thoroughbreds proceeding in a clockwise direction. Do you run your horses in the opposite direction in Nebraska?
John L. Finnegan Williamsville, New YorkNo, we do not run our thoroughbreds in opposite direction in Nebraska. It was a simple mistake of flopping the photograph before printing, resulting in a mirror image. Contrary to what you might suspect, we do have left-handed horses here.
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Upland Game
Using the right techniques pays off in success on sporting birds
SUCCESS is a word commonly used to evaluate a hunting | season or a day's hunt. In the minds of sportsmen, a successful hunt can be anything between and including an enjoyable walk through a field with no game bagged to a full day's limit of the species pursued. But, it is the hunter with some understanding of certain techniques and bird behavior who is most consistently successful.
One of the factors that makes hunting a popular sport is that there is no limit to the number who can participate in a successful outing. The person who enjoys being by himself can be just as successful as the person who hunts socially in a group. Hunting is also an excellent family sport that can be enjoyed by Mom and Dad and young children even though they don't all carry guns in the field.
For the person who has had several years of experience hunting upland game, a technique of hunting is probably fairly well established. However, it is never too late to learn new methods. For the individual just getting started, a few helpful hints may make their first few trips to the field more enjoyable and give them a little more insight into the habits of Nebraska upland game birds.
The most common question asked of Game and Parks Commission personnel each year is what part of the state has the highest bird population. The bird density can play a major part in the number of birds bagged per day in the field, but a knowledgeable hunter can have good success in an area of only moderate or even low bird numbers. Familiarity with terrain, cover and general bird habits in a specific area can put far more birds in the bag in a moderate bird population area than blissful stumbling through strange areas in a high density region. Without a local guide, someone familiar with the area, or just a whole heap of luck, a hunter going into a new region to hunt will probably find the first few days there less productive than hunting familiar country. This is not to say you should hunt one area and never venture into new regions. Trips into strange country can be rewarding and the challenge is much greater.
Once an area is selected for hunting, the next step is gaining permission from landowners or operators to hunt. In many cases, the land with excellent habitat visible from a road is heavily hunted and the landowner is besieged with requests to hunt. These farmers and ranchers often become aggravated by the great number of people requesting permission and sometimes refuse all access to their land. Often, excellent areas exist but are not visible from a road, and landowners therefore receive few requests to hunt. These areas thus receive very little hunting pressure and provide excellent opportunities to bag game. Landowners will often point out portions of their farms where they observe the most birds.
General knowledge of bird habits is very beneficial in hunting. The normal routine of all game birds is to leave the roost shortly after sunrise and proceed to a feeding area. Normally, feeding is completed within two hours after sunrise. The birds then pick out loafing areas, where they then spend the greater part of the day. Toward sundown, they again move into a feeding area, and then go straight to the evening roosting site nearer sundown.
What makes hunting a challenge is that normal daily activities can be greatly disrupted by weather conditions. On foggy, heavy overcast, rainy or snowy days, birds may stay on the roost until conditions clear. Frequently, just before a major winter storm, birds will move about all day long and spend much more time feeding than normal. Loafing sites also vary under different weather conditions. Birds will seek an area providing the most temperate climate. On hot days, birds will loaf in shade and take advantage of any breeze that is available. In extreme cold they seek areas out of the wind and in the sun, and with snow-free ground if it is available.
With these basic facts in mind, it is much easief to locate birds in the field.
All three of Nebraska's upland game birds require a different hunting technique. Pheasants are by far the most sought after of the three, followed by the bobwhite quail. Last on the list is the prairie grouse, which includes both the sharp-tailed grouse and the prairie chicken or pinnated grouse. Pheasants are pursued by over 80 percent of the licensed hunters in Nebraska each year.
The number of hunters participating in a hunt is unlimited. Normal styles of hunting are the group hunt, with several persons traversing a field with or without blockers stationed at the end of the field to shoot birds as they fly over. This is a classic old-world type hunt with the exception that in this country the drivers also carry guns. This technique works extremely well in areas of large level grain fields, and is designed to scare birds and keep them moving. Even though the pheasant flushes wild in front of the drivers, he will usually fly over the blockers. This is probably the only type of hunt where the hunters can race horse across the fields.
When hunting a large field without blockers, it is much more productive to walk slower with an occasional stop. Starting and stopping unnerves a bird and tends to make him flush. If a steady pace is maintained, the bird will hunker down and be passed by.
When hunting unharvested row crops such as corn or milo, it is wise to hunt with the rows, but frequently change rows so the birds moving ahead are unable to select cover to hide in.
If you are hunting in a group, work areas that fit the size of your group. It is difficult for two hunters to cover an 80-acre corn field, and it is unsafe and unwise for a party of ten to hunt a two-acre corn field.
Certain weather conditions can make it possible for a single hunter or small party to hunt in large fields, and at times that is where the birds are to be found. Immediately after a snow storm, a small group can randomly hunt a large picked corn field simply by following fresh tracks. Cock tracks are easily identified after a short time by size alone, as they are somewhat bigger than those of a hen.
Another type of hunting commonly believed to be illegal is road hunting. This is done by driving down a road at slow speed and hunting only when birds are observed from the road. This technique can be done legally but in order to stay within the law the hunter cannot have a loaded shotgun in the vehicle, and this means shells neither in the magazine nor chamber; the hunter must be off the road right-of-way, and that means across the fence or fenceline; the hunter must have permission to hunt on the land adjacent to the road and the hunter must be at least 200 yards from an occupied dwelling. This method is most successful early in the morning and late in the evening when birds normally move to and from the roost.
Generally, the temptation to violate at least one or more of the illegal aspects of road hunting is so great that the hunter will not pass up the opportunity to bag a bird. It is beyond a doubt this group of hunters who create the bad image of the hunter in the eyes of the farmer and rancher.
The hunting method to be used
is normally decided before a hunt
begins. Once in the field, on-the-spot
decisions must be made as to which
fields are going to be hunted and
the specific plan of attack to be
used on each field. Everyone in
the party should decide before
entering a field as to their position
within the party and the direction
of travel through the field. This
10
NEBRASKAland
NOVEMBER 1973
11
eliminates one hunter getting too
far ahead of the group, which
moves birds in undesired directions
as well as creating a safety hazard.
With a little prior planning, a
considerable amount of hunting
time and effort can also be saved.
Plan the hunt so you are in likely
pheasant cover from the time you
enter a field until you leave it. An
extended walk back through a field
just hunted or over bare ground
wears out hunters and puts very
little game in the bag.
One basic thought to keep in mind in hunting pheasants is that they are able to survive in the wild because of their ability to readily spot potential dangers. The hunters who move slowly and quietly are generally more successful than those who shout back and forth to their partners and race through a field. Approaching small patches of cover downwind and remaining out of sight as much as possible will catch birds unaware and give them little chance to sneak ahead of the hunter.
The above-mentioned techniques are basic methods of hunting with or without the aid of a bird dog. Although not essential to a successful hunt, a good dog can add substantially to the success and enjoyment of hunting. A good pheasant dog's primary purpose is to flush birds that the hunter may pass by and to retrieve downed birds. Dogs used on pheasants should be easily controlled and not allowed to trail running birds out of the range of the gunner.
For the man who likes to hunt alone, a bird dog opens up areas that are normally too large to hunt alone. Large grass or weed patches can be covered effectively by letting the dog roam as he sees fit and simply following along within gun range. After hunting with a dog, it is usually evident when it hits a hot trail. Simply let the dog trail the bird until it flushes. The path the dog takes points out the random path taken by a pursued pheasant, and this is generally not appreciated by the person who has never hunted behind a good dog. If a dog could be trained to trail only cocks, this method would be very rewarding, but unfortunately hens are more plentiful as the season progresses, and much time can be spent following the trail of a running hen. Watching a dog work can be just as enjoyable as bagging a bird, especially if you have raised him from a pup and trained yourself.
There is no need to discuss the merits of various breeds of dogs for hunting pheasants. Every hunter has his own preference in breeds, and any dog properly trained can do a good job in the field. Except for well-trained dogs, it is not advisable to use a pointing dog, that has been used mainly on quail hunting, for an occasional pheasant hunting trip. The running habits of pheasants greatly confuse most quail dogs.
Some general rules to follow when hunting pheasants might include: early in the season under normal weather conditions, hunt roosting cover the first hour of the day, feeding areas until mid morning, and loafing cover until late in the afternoon.
When it is raining or snowing, hunt heavy cover all day long. If the weather report is calling for a sharp change in weather conditions, especially if a major snow storm is forecast for that afternoon or evening, it is difficult to hunt because the birds tend to move about and are very unpredictable as to where they can be found at any particular time of day.
With snow cover and moderate winter temperatures, pheasants like to spend the entire day in harvested grain fields. Severe cold drives birds to heavy cover with as much exposure to the sun as possible. Equipment used to hunt pheasants is also up to the individual hunter's preference. Any legal gauge shotgun can be effective providing the gunner is aware of its capability and shell load used. Crippling losses can be reduced by using a larger size shot, six's or larger, with a field load or magnum powder charge.
Since pheasant and quail range overlap in much of Nebraska and the two seasons run fairly concurrently, pheasant hunters often find themselves in the middle of a covey of quail with their guns loaded with magnum fours. Even though you are hunting pheasants, it is wise to carry a few trap-load 7V2 shells for just such an occasion. A large portion of the 60,000 hunters reporting taking quail in Nebraska each year take them incidental to pheasant hunting. Quail, unlike the introduced ringneck, are native to Nebraska. However, it has only been since the mid 1940s that the season was opened on the bobwhite. Interest in quail hunting developed slowly, with a handful of new avid quail hunters finding the sport each year. Quail are the only upland game bird hunted in Nebraska where a good dog is almost a prerequisite to a good hunt. This is not to say that quail cannot be hunted without a dog, but that hunter is at a distinct disadvantage. Without a dog, a bird downed in heavy cover is very difficult to find and much time can be spent searching. It is also difficult to locate and flush singles without a dog.
Unlike pheasants, the number of gunners that can effectively hunt quail is limited. In most quail cover, two hunters would be ideal. When hunting in a larger party, if there is adequate cover, the party can divide into pairs covering different parts of the area.
Quail cannot be effectively hunted before they leave the roost or before they have completed feeding for the morning. They are normally hunted in loafing cover from mid morning to late afternoon. Depending on the time of year and cover conditions, loafing cover normally consists of woody or brushy plants without a heavy ground cover but with a good canopy. Quail are dependent upon this type of cover for protection from predators and adverse weather.
12 NEBRASKAlandOnce a covey of quail has been located, it can be found in the same general area on subsequent hunts. The home range of a covey is normally quite small, providing all of the daily needs are met. Woody or brushy cover adjacent to a grain field is almost a sure bet to contain at least one covey of quail. The more interspersion of woody cover with grain fields, the higher the quail density. In some areas where sunflower and hemp are plentiful, quail can also be found. This cover is capable of supporting birds during mild weather but will not carry birds through a prolonged winter storm. Quail located in loafing cover will flush readily as a group. After the initial flush the birds will normally split up. Quail run very ittle after being flushed as a covey. This allows a hunter to easily locate birds that he sees land. The second time a bird is approached by a hunter he tends to sit very tight and hunters have been known to step on them before they will fly. It is hunting quail after the covey flush when a dog is extremely valuable.
It may seem to the novice that quail hunting is easy and the birds are dumb. This is not true. Quail have tricks of their own that can fool even the most experienced hunter. To begin with, quail are small birds, weighing an average of eight ounces at maturity. They are adept at putting a tree or bush between its flight path and the hunter. They also like to flush upward through the tree branches which causesa very erratic flightpath, and even an experienced hunter will frequently shatter tree branches several feet off target. It sounds easy to find quail after the covey flushes if all you have to do is watch where they land. This too sounds easy, and at times it is. But quail have a knack of gliding low into a patch of cover and apparently land, but continue gliding on through and veer off to the side, landing well away from the expected site. (Continued on page 41)
Should a young fellow make a career of wildlife biology? Brace yourself, Junior, for some of the most helpful, although brutally realistic advice on this subject that ever has been seen
Letter to a young trapper
Dear Johnny:
It was mighty good to see you last Saturday, and I was pleased to hear your mom say that you were planning to go into wildlife work. Wonderful! But remem ber how your dad and I laughed at the way we were dressed? He was wearing a new suit and I had on an old canvas Filson coat and faded jeans. Well, that's one difference between a successful newspaperman and a seedy wildlife biologist!"
If your compass needle really is swinging toward a career in wildlife biology, let me sound off a bit. The two most important moves in your life are marrying the right girl and marrying the right job. Well, marrying the right girl is like good wingshooting — it's wonderful to do, but impossible to explain. So let's talk about the second point; it's a lot simpler.
In any line of work, you get what you pay for. Nothing worth having ever "jest comes" —it's gotta be fetched. In terms of the wildlife profession, that means all the schooling that you can get, and some pretty tough schooling it is, too.
Just because you like to hunt, fish and trap doesn't mean that you're cut out for wildlife work, although it's a good tipoff. That's what drew most of us into it. For the life of me, I can't savvy why a man would want to be in wildlife work if he doesn't like to prowl around in the boondocks. Besides, real outdoor experience and the thousand skills that go with it are basic requirements for a successful wildlife career. Your dad is a fine outsdoorsman and can teach you a lot, so listen to Big John-he's your first real prof, and the outdoors is your first real classroom.
But just liking to hunt and fish aren't enough. You must want to dig deeper and be willing to study hard, and have a burning curiosity about what makes wild critters tick. That means field work. Days, months, years, a lifetime of intense field work, in all seasons, in all weather. And before, during and after that field work, you must never stop studying.
You're in high school now, and you'll need all the math, chemistry and biology you can get. Hit 'em hard, but at the same time don't neglect that English. Two of the greatest writers of our century were game and fish biologists: Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson. The richest rewards in wildlife work today are for the men and women who are trained field biologists with a lot of outdoor mileage, and who know how to tell the story.
From here on, go after grades. Those C's won't do you much good. If you're really serious about a wild life career, you'll want high school report cards loaded with A's and B's. You're not sure you're smart enough? Well, I think you are. Being smart is probably more a matter of guts and persistence than it is just brains and I think you've got all three.
One of the surest losers I can think of is the high school swinger with a C average who decides to drift into wildlife biology because he likes to hunt and fish, and because it sounds easier than anything else. Well, even if he does get into college, he'll be clobbered by the competition he meets there. Today's wildlife majors are the smartest, hardest-working kids I've ever known, and they set a fast pace.
Wildlife schooling is no cinch. Your undergrad work in college will be loaded with organic and inorganic chemistry, physics, math ranging from algebra through calculus, geology, toxicology, histology, bacteriology, parasitology, embryology, statistics, scientific Russian or German, and many other courses. You'll be deep into your college career before you begin getting what you really came for: wildlife and fisheries management. And even then, it's not all khaki and field boots. You'll be taking limnology, mammology, and taxonomy —in which you'll have to memorize the scientific classification of every fish and wildlife species in North America.
I hope I'm not scaring you. But remember, there ain't no Santa Claus.
A budding biologist shouldn't stop at the bachelor of science degree. He should go on for at least a master of science degree. The M.S. degree is now the minimum for a wildlife biologist, and many conservation agencies won't hire you without one. You don't go after advanced degrees just because they look cool after your name; it's in graduate school that you really begin to work on your own and do the independent field research that will be your lifetime job.
In other words, you'll be putting in at least five years of college, and maybe as many as eight, getting your training. But at the same time, don't neglect your education. They're two different things. Training is what you get in the classroom and lab; education is what you get out there in the woods, fields and marshes. Neglect neither. It's all very well, wearing a white lab coat and analyzing data within wide "limits of confidence." But somebody's got to get those data and the quality of your research can be no better than the quality of your raw information. And that demands a guy with trained eyes and great stamina, a sharp observer who can also throw a diamond hitch over a mule pack or pole a canoe upstream in fast water. A scientist with calluses on his hands and the stain of weather on his face.
There'll be times during your career when all your hard work and training are thrown back in your face, and it hurts. You'll be a "college boy wildlife expert" to many people who still believe that a whiskery old guide back in the brush, with his gurgling pipe and mighty pronouncements about the outdoors, is the only man who knows anything about wildlife. But I'll never forget the night when such a guy challenged one of our veteran biologists at a public meeting, and said:
"Now you listen to me, college boy, and listen good! I've had 30 years of experience in the woods, and—"
Pete cut him down with: "Oh, no you haven't! I know you. You've had one year of experience 30 times, and there's a difference!" There sure is.
Some of the toughest, most seasoned outdoorsmen I've ever met have been wildlife biologists. They'll hold their own in any company, with horse, gun, axe or paddle, and they're mighty good guys to share a campfire with. But at the same time, so are countless outdoorsmen who have never seen the inside of a college lecture hall. A man is a man is a man.
There are two bad types that you should know about, because you'll be seeing some of each.
One is the hunter who knows everything for sure and won't hesitate to tell you so, and who bitterly resents "college boy wildlifers." His stock in trade is some gray hair, several decades of seniority, and a big mouth. If you ever advised such a guy about his profession, he'd scream like a snowblind beaver trapper. All you can do is to give him courtesy and professional competence, although the odds are that he'll accept neither. But there is not much else you can do, for you are a pro.
Even worse, if possible, is the arrogant biologist. On the strength of a couple of college degrees, he scorns the hard-won experience of laymen. Overbearing and arrogant, scornful of the ideas of sportsmen, he does a bitter disservice to his profession. Go as far as you can in school, Johnny, but wear your academic degrees lightly. Give professional opinion when it is asked for, but give it in simple direct terms. Save the professional jargon for the technical monographs. If a layman values your opinion enough to ask for it, don't make him feel the fool because he can't under stand your answer. No man (and especially a real sportsman) will forgive another who makes a fool of him, or who ridicules his hard-won knowledge.
There'll also be anti-hunters who call you a paid butcherrboy working for gunners and interested only in killable animals. They will scorn and mock every thing that you stand (Continued on page 48)
FIREBREAK
Our sod house was fancier than most, but when fires rampaged that summer, it was totally vulnerable. That is, it was until Momma hitched up her old riding horse
NEAR THE TURN of the century an old blind horse named Charley lived on my father's cattle ranch in the Nebraska sandhills, midway between Hyannis and Ogallala.
Charley had served the ranch long and well, and when cataracts formed over his eyes and he no longer could see, none had the courage to shoot him. He was turned loose to graze.
From then we saw him only occasionally when he came back to the big horse trough under the windmill \n the corral to drink. We children usually went out to pet him because we loved him.
Until I die, I won't forget what Charley did on the day of the prairie fire.
We lived in a sod house, made of strips of soil cut out by a plow. The strips were piled on top of each other to form the walls. Over the top arched a "railroad" roof on which scraggly weeds and grass grew. Our house was on the fancy side because we had two windows, a door and a floor.
Mamma had tomato cans set in the wide window seats, with pink and red geraniums blooming in the cans, and she had rag rugs on the floor. We children were born out there on the ranch, miles from a doctor or a nurse.
Papa (C E. Kackley) was a big, bluff man, definitely on the casual side. Saddles and bridles usually were flung in the dust of the corral. Haying machinery was left the year around in the open.
Prairie fires were a summertime (Continued on page 43)
Duck hunting has nothing to do with shooting ducks....
IT IS A personal sort of thing that touches on senses and emotions unmoved by most other forms of hunting.
In its purest form, and that excludes "sneaking 'em on the pothole" or "shooting 'em when they fly by", duck hunting is knowing that restless feeling, not on that first cool morning that inspires the average hunter, but on the morning before, that was almost as cool.
Duck hunting has a lot to do with hording things. Like an excess of old waterfowling books, the kind that exude the aroma of a musty cellar with the turning of each leaf. Or, old calendar prints and yellowed tear sheets from National Geographic.
Calls are an important element of all duck hunters' duffle, and are generally present in overabundance too, not because they sometimes bring ducks in over decoys, but because they're duck calls. They have just the right combination of elements to make them feel good in the hand. Then, too, every call has some special significance to its owner —that mail-order call made of alabaster root; the hard rubber Olt, an unchallenged highballer; and the old green and black wood call, the one with the raspy chuckle that pulls in ducks even after they've been skybusted by the next blind down river.
As a lot, hunters who frequent duck blinds are probably more prone to daydreaming than most. Few are left unmoved by tales of hunting Chesapeake Bay, even though they've never been east of the Mississippi. Though most will expound at length on conservation, they covet a desire to hunt from a sink box, use call ducks, or down dozens of greenheads in a single morning. Invariably they would like to bring back the days when decoys were more than imitations to be bought in a discount store, when a good string of decoys was an extension of a man, setting him off from first-flight gunners. Many a night before the fire is spent reliving the days when you could put stock in names like Mason or Evans.
To hunt ducks is to have the senses finely honed by the elements; acute beyond measurement. Sensitive enough to know which pocket holds the magnum 4s and which the field-load 6s, just by their heft. To be appreciative of the sweetness of a dry pipe on a rainy morning, of the comfort of fleece-lined mittens, a slouchy cap and a tattered poplin coat, blood-stained and frayed at the collar.
Though few admit it, how you feel about hunting ducks has a whole lot to do with how you feel about the person sharing the blind a brother who used to carry you across the river on his shoulders, back before you had your own waders; your first real hunting crony, the one who wouldn't hesitate to strip down and retrieve a lone baldpate from a slushy river; a new partner who wouldn't walk 50 yards to jump-shoot a teal, even though nothing was decoying that morning. One of the best things about hunting ducks is embellishing lies over a thermos of coffee between flights. One or two good partners is about all that a person
should expect from life. The same probably holds true for good hunting dogs.
More than anything, though, duck hunting is memories. Of days when the senses were overwhelmed, the mind taxed to record each detail. Memories of smartweed tangles, rafts of browning duckweed. Of dropping clouds and stinging sleet. The smell of wet dog, hunched, cold, shivering. Chapped lips and raw, ice-scarred hands.
Memories of endless strings of coots, their legs trailing. Of pintails, high, wary. Rain, beaded on the chestnut breast of a mallard at your feet. Of the day you made a double on a pair of retreating greenwings.
Hunting ducks is a compulsion, a terminal disease with no known cure or patients seeking one. It's a state of mind, one that will persist long after the marshes are drained and all guns retired.
Return of the Wood Duck
Depletion of habitat and uncontrolled shooting had nearly driven these ducks to extinction. Now, as a result of legal protection and restoration projects, woodies have established thriving populations.
22 NEBRASKAlandONCE HEADED DOWN the same road taken by the passenger pigeon, the wood duck, gaudiest of all North American waterfowl, has made a comeback. By the early 1900s, depletion of nesting habitat and uncontrolled over-harvest, both by legai and illegal means, had reduced the population to a point that many conservationists feared the species was destined to extinction. Passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 afforded the woodie complete protection from legal shooting. Wood duck numbers had recovered enough by 1941 to permit 15 states to hold limited seasons. As a harvest able population built up in other areas, most states were again allowed a limited number of wood ducks in their daily bag.
Unlike many waterfowl species that have a worldwide distribution, woodies are native only to the North American continent. Though they are found throughout the United States, their primary range is from the Missouri River eastward. Their latitudinal range is from the most southern states to the southern portions of the Canadian provinces. Usually in September and early October, wood ducks begin their southward movement, earlier than most species. Their southerly migration is short, ending in the inland water areas of the southern states. Soon after the ice is gone, they begin their return trip to the northern portions of their range to breed.
The wood duck's typical habitat is a small, isolated pool in a marsh or swamp or alongside a stream. Woodlands are always associated with the area. It is not uncommon to see them sitting on tree branches as they are quite at home in this environment.
On the water, wood ducks give a general impression of alertness. When not feeding they ride high with head erect. When on the wing the wood duck's head is held above the level of the body with the bill angled downward. Flight is rapid, high and direct. That wood ducks are agile in flight is demonstrated by their ability to fly in dense woods.
During the last 40 years, several states east of Nebraska conducted management programs designed to reestablish wood ducks where once they were native, or to increase their numbers where they once were abundant. In 1968, Nebraska, following the leajd of these other states and utilizing information they had gathered, began a wood duck introduction program on the newly created Salt Valley system of lakes.
These programs are based on two characteristics of wood duck be havior—one physiological and one ecological.
Most waterfowl, and especially the wood duck, exhibit the physiological phenomenon of migrational homing —that is, the tendency of migrating birds to return year after year to the locality where they were reared. One study conducted on this facet of wood duck behavior indicated that after migration mortality losses were compensated for, 90 percent of the adult, female woodies returned to the same area to nest every year. Biologists in other states found that 76 percent of the juvenile females released, returned to their natal area. Because of this strong tendency to return to the same nest sites, pioneer nesting in new areas occurs only as a result of production overflow rather than the seeking out of new nesting locations. Thus, new ly developed sites suitable for wood duck colonization, such as the Salt Valley Lakes, would be slowly if ever discovered by natural means. The release of pen-reared young on these lakes would expedite colonization considerably.
The second behavioral feature biologists are using to enhance the introduction of wood ducks involves the ecological nesting requirement of the species. It has been shown that woodies, while nesting in hollowed-out tree cavities under normal conditions, readily accept man made nesting boxes.
Nesting boxes hold three advantages over natural cavities: manmade boxes are more weatherproof than open tree cavities; man-made boxes can be more favorably located and; man-made nest boxes are nearly predator proof.
Supported with these facts, the biologists went to work. The project was designed to establish a breeding population in an area where nesting has never occurred. In no way was it related to the more traditional, and ineffective practice of stocking game birds.
During the first year of the project, 13 pairs of young birds were purchased from a local game farm and housed at facilities on Branched Oak Lake, northwest of Lincoln. Since they were immature birds, no reproduction occurred that first year. In 1969, the flock began its expansion.
High-protein feed supplements encouraged broody hens to begin laying early and long. Eggs were robbed from nesting females day by day and placed in mechanical incubators. Not missing an occasional egg, the females continued to lay until their genetically determined clutch size was reached. In the wild, the hen would have stopped laying and initiated incubation after 11 or 12 eggs. After 16 or 18 eggs had been robbed from the captive females, they were allowed to lay their normal clutch and begin incubation.
While the wood ducks were busy caring for their eggs, nesting boxes were constructed and placed on many of the impoundments. Boxes constructed of bark-covered slabs, galvanized tubs, rough-cut lumber and nail kegs had been used in other states. Those made of rough-cut lumber proved the most effective, and were selected for use.
The next box is rectangular in
shape and erected in upright fashion.
An overhanging roof protects the
opening from rain as well as discouraging predators. The front side
is hinged for easy cleaning in the
spring before the nesters arrive and
an elliptical opening three inches by
four inches near the top serves as an
entrance for mature woodies. A strip
of hardware cloth tacked on the inside of the boxes, from the floor to
the entrance, provides young birds
with a ladder to climb out. A light
colored, but dull finish paint is used
NOVEMBER 1973
23
on the outside, and a dark paint on
the interior.
In the wild state, nesting begins in early April and continues into June. Late April and early May are the peak periods. Each egg is carefully covered with litter by the hen wood duck before she leaves the nest to feed. Toward the end of the laying period, down may be pulled from the female's breast and added to the litter around the eggs. The male, formerly in doting attendance, abandons the whole project once incubation begins, and joins other males in a bachelor group on some secluded backwater. Incubation usually takes about a month, though it may range from 25 to 27 days. After hatching, the hen broods the ducklings for about 24 hours. Then, from the ground or a nearby limb, she calls to the young with what has been described as a shrill, plaintive "wee-e-e-e-k, wee-e-e-e-k". In response to this call, the young climb the sides of the cavity and launch themselves into the air, landing with out injury either on the ground or in the water, even though the nest may be as high as 10 to 25 feet. The female gathers up her brood and leads them to water where they are reared. Hens remain with the ducklings until they reach the flight stage when two months old. In late summer, both sexes and ages group in large flocks.
By the end of 1969, the captive flock at Branched Oak had grown to 45 birds. Since then the project has proceeded by small leaps and small bounds —some forward and some backward. In the beginning, budgetary limitations prevented jumping into the program in earnest. During those early years, accommodations were largely make-shift, and as a result temporary but disappointing setbacks occurred.
The 1969 and 1970 production seasons were plagued by low hatching success and high mortality among the ducklings. Inadequate watering facilities contributed to disease loss. Streptococci infections took a disheartening toll and temporary brooding equipment malfunctioned. Even so, production was significant enough to merit continuation of the project. The trial period of learning the do's and don'ts of rearing woodies would have to be tolerated.
Early in the spring of 1971, 28 pairs of birds produced the previous season, were banded and released on the area. Thirty-three additional nesting boxes were provided to accommodate birds ready to pair and rear their young on the Salt Valley Lakes.
Later in the season, 18 of the 33 new boxes were inspected for nesting success. Fourteen of those examined were occupied by nesting wood duck hens. Most brought off successful broods and spent the summer on the lake.
A new, more reliable incubator, capable of handling 1,300 eggs was transferred from the Sacramento Game Farm to Branched Oak Lake. Up to 400 eggs can now be procured annually and incubated. Of those, 40 percent or better will hatch. More efficient housing and watering facilities were also constructed and have contributed to higher survival rates. In addition, a 375-acre waterfowl sanctuary was established at Branched Oak Lake to provide protection for the new nesting popula tions. More nesting boxes have been placed at other Salt Valley lakes with the intention of holding birds that spill over from the Branched Oak flock.
While a breeding core is held each year at the Branched Oak rearing station, surplus birds are being released on Salt Valley Lakes. During the spring and summer of 1971,126 juvenile wood ducks were released on Branched Oak Lake. During the summer of 1972, 86 free fliers were set free at Twin Lakes, and 208 were released at the two lakes in 1973.
Every year a large percentage of these birds are returning to their natal areas to nest and further in crease the population. Thanks to this restoration project, the striking iridescence of the drake and the soft drabness of the hen wood duck are now common sights throughout the Salt Valley Lakes.
24
Fall's Touch
Early in the autumn, when the days and nights are almost equal and the smell of frost is on the evening breeze, there is a certain pleasure that comes with a recognition of the seasons beginning.
Hour by hour, yet imperceptibly, the woodlands are saturated with color. Wua grape and raspberry, Virginia creeper and sumac, black oak and maple seep in red, while the leaves of the willow bruise with each night s chill. Bittersweet, coralberry and virgins bower become conspicuous with fruit. The change is gradual, easily passed by.
Bend close and see the scarlet flow along the rib of a gooseberry leaf. Hear the changing voice of the grass, thin and dry and harsh. It is filled with the murmur of complaint. Feel the growing lifelessness of each leaf, for fall is a time of brittleness.
Yet, this is not only a season of death. It is also the beginning, a time when new life falls with each new wind or morning frost. Born of this season are the springs to come.
Population Management
WHERE the wild goose goes. That used to be the stuff of poets and drifters and dreamers.
But in recent years, it has acquired a special significance to wildlife managers concerned with the nuts and bolts of wild goose husbandry. And the "when" of the big birds' comings and goings has become every bit as important as the "where."
This concern for details of goose travels has resulted in a new sophistication and precision in goose man agement. It is "management by population" rather than "species manage ment", and has resulted in a number of changes in Nebraska goose hunting over the years. The most recent is a cut to one bird in the limit on Canada geese in eastern Nebraska, the same restriction late in the season in the west, and an enlargement of an area closed entirely to the hunting of dark geese.
A "population" is a distinct group of birds which uses the same nesting grounds, staging areas, migration routes, and wintering areas year after year. At least eight major populations of geese migrate through Nebraska each year, many of them composed of the same species and subspecies of birds.
"Species" describes only physical characteristics, so "population" is a more effective basis for management, since this delineates a flock's yearly life cycle. If, for example, game managers know that certain birds have experienced poor reproduction for several years due to habitat loss or bad weather on the nesting grounds, they can help that population along with more restrictive hunting regulations in states along its migration route. That is exactly what happened to the mid-continent population of white-fronted geese, and is. the reason for the one-bird limit on them the past several years.
Other populations coming through Nebraska include the Central Flyway blue-snow flock, whose migration crosses eastern Nebraska. The blue snow population is in good shape, and regulations for hunting them were liberalized this year. When dealing with whitefronts and blue-snow geese in Nebraska, the situation is simplified because only one population of each species comes through the state.
With Canada geese, however, there are at least six populations, with various sub-species overlapping from one population to another. These populations of Canadas include the Tall Grass Prairie birds, Short Grass Prairie Canadas, Western Prairie population, Great Plains restoration flocks, the Hiline goose population, and the Eastern Prairie population. The latter two occur only in insignificant numbers in Nebraska.
Nebraska's 1973 goose hunting regulations can be directly attributed to the "wheres" and "whens" of Canada goose migrations. For example, a group of birds made up of lesser Canadas and "Hutches" (Branta canadensis parvipes and B.C. Hutchinsii, to the biologists) leave their nesting area each fall to congregate on their fall staging area along the central part of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
As a population, they are in good shape. Their numbers have been growing slowly but steadily for the past 20
NOVEMBER 1973
Fall Migration Route of
Canada Geese
years. Their nesting areas are secure and they have good wintering areas on refuges and areas of light hunting pressure from west Texas northward to northeast Colorado and western Nebraska. Hunters harvest a reasonable number of them each year, but not so many that the next year's nesting season can't replace the loss with a little to spare. This is the Short Grass Prairie population.
Another population of lesser Canadas and Hutches comes off eastern arctic nesting areas. They come through Manitoba, cross eastern Nebraska, and head for wintering grounds along the Texas coast and northern Mexico. Their numbers were declining for a number of years, probably because hunters in the Dakotas, Oklahoma, and Texas took more birds than the population could replace on the nesting areas. These areas of high harvest have been restricted to a one-Canada limit for several years, and the birds are now holding their own, thanks to these conservative seasons. But, they will need help to recover. These birds belong to the Tall Grass Prairie population.
In view of the status of these two populations, it would make little sense to hunt the Tall Grass Prairie birds under liberal bag limits which the Short Grass population could take in stride. And, the restrictive regulations needed to get the Tall Grass population back on its feet are not needed where gunners hunt primarily the Short Grass birds. Hence, the 1973 regulations —one Canada per day east of U.S. 183, where Tall Grass birds are found, and two Canadas or one Canada and one white front west of U.S. 183 for most of the season, territory of Short Grass birds.
But, come November 26, even western Nebraska gunners will be limited to one Canada. This is an example of the "when" of wild goose movements being used in combination with the "where". By late November many of the Short Grass birds have moved to more southernly areas and birds of other populations, the Great Plains restoration flocks and the Western Prairie population, make their appearance. Both of these populations are made up of large Canadas, mostly of the moffitti and maxima strains, with adult ganders occasionally pushing 16 pounds in weight.
The Western Prairie birds cross Nebraska anywhere from the Missouri River to the Lake McConaughy area, and the migration reaches its peak in November. They might spend the winter in Nebraska or move down to
Fall Migration Route of Mid-Continent White-fronted Geesenorthern Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, or northern Texas.
The Great Plains restoration birds represent efforts by game managers on the national as well as state and provincial levels in the U.S. and Canada to re-establish self-sustaining populations of big Canadas to former ranges. These birds have been released in the southern parts of the prairie provinces, eastern Montana and Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and northern Kansas.
It is to protect Nebraska and South Dakota breeding flocks that portions of the Sand Hills were closed to dark goose hunting. To protect migrating restoration birds, which hit Nebraska in late November, the Canada goose limit was trimmed to one bird in west ern Nebraska beginning November 26.
The Western Prairie population is declining, probably because of over harvest, and the restoration flocks are struggling to gain a toehold. Of those restoration flocks in existence for a good many years, overharvest has been the main factor limiting their expansion. New flocks face the same problem, and none have expanded enough to use all the breeding range available to them. They need a few years to build a breed ing flock and repopulate their former nesting areas.
The big birds of these two populations have come to be the ultimate prize to most goose hunters. Restrictions in Nebraska will play a decisive role in efforts to get these trophy birds on a self-sustaining basis, since the western part of the state used to be referred to as "the goose slaughter area" by water fowl biologists working with restoration flocks in other states.
There is no numerical goal that biologists are striving to reach. With the Tall Grass Prairie birds and the restoration flocks, there is more nesting range than present breeding birds can utilize. Building these flocks to the point where this nesting habitat is being used to capacity might be one goal of North American conservationists.
Few if any waterfowl biologists believe that dark-goose populations will be able to tolerate the liberal regulations of years ago, especially in the light of increased hunting pressure.
But, with a little restraint practiced for the next few years, goose hunters may buy time so that the restoration flocks can take hold and the other populations can recover. If "population management" works, the future should be brighter both for the goose and the hunter.
UPLAND GAME (Continued from page 13)
Also, there is considerable confusion from a mass of whirring wings erupting from the ground and dispersing in several directions. This confusion can cause even the most experienced hunter to try and watch all of the birds, and in the end not have any of them located.
A few simple tips can help the beginning quail hunter. First of all, when hunting with out a dog, do not try to kill two birds on a covey rise. Pick out one bird, shoot it, mark where it falls and then pick out a portion of the covey and concentrate on watching them land. If the birds are in real heavy cover, don't even try to hunt them without a dog.
Many hunters encountering quail for the first time are not equipped to hunt them. A good quail gun is one with an open choke and a light load. Most quail are shot at close range and often in heavy cover.
Nebraska pheasant and quail hunters have a chance to sharpen their shooting eye on our third upland game bird, the prairie grouse. The grouse season opens in late September well before the pheasant and quail seasons. Grouse hunting is restricted to the sandhills region of the state. Nebraskans are fortunate in having available in huntable numbers both the prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse.
Habitat required for the native grouse is grassland. Sharptails feed primarily on noncultivated seeds and fruits in the winter, and they are not dependent on agricultural crops for winter survival. Prairie chickens frequently move out of the grasslands in the winter and feed in corn fields.
The daily habits for grouse are the same as other game birds. These habits again play a major part in locating them during a hunt. It is easier to observe birds early in the morning as the birds leave the roost and begin feeding, but this is a time of day when it is difficult to get within shotgun range. Being an open-range type bird, they rely heavily on eyesight to escape danger. Seldom can a flock of birds feeding in a meadow be approached without being seen by that one bird that always just happens to be on top of a haystack or other vantage point.
Like quail hunting, grouse can best be hunted from mid morning to late afternoon while they are loafing. These loafing sites will vary considerably depending on the weather. Extremely hot weather will find birds using what woody cover is available. At first glance the sandhills seem to be void of any woody cover, but as the ridges and valleys are walked, thickets are frequently encountered. These thickets are prime grouse habitat in the heat.
On mid-fall afternoons, grouse tend to find their way to the top ridge of the ever present row of hills. From these ridges the grouse have a commanding view of the surrounding terrain and also take advantage of any breeze. Again, the ridgeline of most sandhills are not uniform. They are frequently marred by small pockets or blow outs that have been formed over the years. These pockets are favorite grouse hangouts.
Due to the great expanse of the sandhills, grouse hunting is a unique experience for any sportsman. The most common prescription for a successful hunt is walk, walk, walk.
In much of the region it is almost impossible to hunt grouse in a party. A group of hunters may go to the field together, but usually end up with each man hunting by himself.
But, whatever the species, technique or weather, there are few more enjoyable ways to enjoy nature, get exercise, and realize the thrills of hunting than pursuing upland game birds.
41
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FIREBREAK (Continued from page 17)
menace. Careful ranchers protected their families the best they could by plowing a wide firebreak around house, barn and outhouses. But not Papa. He always meant to do it. He started his firebreak in the spring, but he got busy rounding up stock or help ing the neighbors or riding to town. It took him one day to go and two to come back with a load over the practically non-existent roads. And so he left his plow sticking in the furrow.
Our nearest neighbor came over one hot July day. He lived only eight miles away, and that was practically the same as if our clotheslines were tangled together.
"We haven't had a right good fire close here for a long time," he told Papa. "But that doesn't mean we ain't going to have one. You better finish that firebreak."
Then the neighbor told us something we did not know. I can see him yet, gaunt and mustached, teetering back on the hind legs of one of our four chairs while he munched on one of Mama's incomparable doughnuts.
"It's a funny thing how stock knows about a firebreak. If there's a fire anywhere near, the stock run pell-mell for inside a firebreak. They seem to know —although God knows how—that they'll be safe inside the break."
That August, fires swept the prairie. Fires broke out simultaneously in widely separated areas. Ranchers stopped their work harvesting, haying, rounding up stock —to fight the flames.
Firebreaks were a measure of protection. But if the wind was high, it flipped the flames over them, no matter how many fire fighters were on the line. A blazing tumble weed might roll over the plowed ground and spread the fire inside the break.
There were grim stories of famiIies roasted alive in their sod shacks. If the sod was fresh and new it wouldn't burn as fire roared over it. But if it was several years old and grass and weeds grew on it, there was little chance to escape.
The fires were how —the tallest grass was belly deep to a horse —but whipped by wind, the flames traveled faster than a horse could run. A prairie fire makes an ominous roaring sound like no other sound on earth. Smoke darkened the sky. Eyes and throats were inflamed, worn raw by the smoke. Fear gripped the hearts of those who fought the fire and those who stayed home and waited.
The ranchers were gone for days from their homes on fire-fighting missions. They returned dog-tired, blistered and seared from the heat. They rolled into bed, slept the clock around, and then were on their way again.
Papa's orders were "Don't watch for me. Look for me when you see me comin'," had new meaning.
"I want to go with you," Mama pleaded. "My place is beside you."
"Your place is here at home with our children," he said reasonably. "What would
1973 NEBRASKA
Hunting Seasons
Species Inclusive Daily Bag Dates Limit Possession Limit Open Area
Cock Pheasant Nov. 3-Jan. 13 3 9 Statewide
Quail Nov. 3-Jan. 31 6 18 Statewide
Grouse Sept. 22-Nov. 4 3 6 Sand Hills/ Southwest
Duck and Merganser Oct. 6-Dec. 4 Oc^iir"»+ Cwotnm* Statewide
Dec. 22-Jan. 6 rOini oysiern West
Goose Sept. 29-Dec. 9 5** 5** Statewide
Crow Sept. 28-Dec. 31 None Statewide
Wilsons Snipe Sept. 15-Nov. 18 8 16 Statewide
paii (Sora and Ha" Virginia) Sept. 1-Nov. 9 25 25 Statewide
Coot Same as Duck 15 30 Same as Duck
Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset for antelope and deer; one-half hour before sunrise to sunset for cottontail, squirrel, snipe, and rail, and 15 minutes before sunrise to sunset for all other species. *Daily bag limit is 100 points, and possession limit is two daily bags. Point values-canvas-back and redhead, 100 points; hen mallard, wood duck, hooded merganser, 70 points; blue-winged teal, widgeon, scaup, all mergansers except hooded, 10 points; and drake mallard, pintail, gadwall, green-winged teal, all other ducks, 20 points. **East of U.S. Highway 183, the daily bag and possession limit on geese may not include more than one Canada, throughout the season. West of 183, the limits may include two Canadas or one Canada and one whitefront through November 25. Beginning November 26, the daily bag may not include more than one Canada. Throughout the state, the daily bag and possession limit may not include more than one whitefront and one Ross' goose. Portions of the Sand Hills are closed to hunting of Canadas and whitefronts.
Cottontail Sept. 1-Feb. 28 7 21 Statewide
Squirrel Sept. 1-Jan. 31 7 21 Statewide
Wild Turkey Oct. 27-Nov. 5 Special Permit Required
Antelope (firearm) Sept. 22-Sept. 30
Antelope (archery) Aug. 18-Sept. 21 Oct. 1-Oct. 31
Deer (firearm) Nov. 10-Nov. 18
Deer (archery) Sept. 15-Nov. 9 Nov. 19-Dec. 31
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you do with kids while you fought fires with me?"
"I have a cold spot in the pit of my stomach," Mama confessed, "and every time you start out again that cold spot travels all over me."
We learned what every pioneer family must learn: It is harder to stay home with uncertainty than to know the look of danger. In that land of little water, ranchers loaded tubs and barrels of water into the back of their wagons, grabbed up all the gunny sacks and old horse blankets they could find and set out. Along the line of fire, they dipped the sacks and blankets into the water and beat at the flames.
Experiments were tried as the prairie holocaust raced on. Most dangerous of all was a backfire. The men set fire to the grass in the path of an oncoming fire and then whipped the small one with gunnysacks in the direction of the approaching fire in the hope that the flames would meet and kill each other. But sometimes the wind changed and whipped the fires together and they joined forces and roared on. Or some times luckless fire fighters were caught be tween the two fires and were burned to death.
One night Papa came home exhausted, dirty and smoky. The tubs and barrels were empty, and in the back of the wagon lay the charred remnants of a woman's black skirt.
"Where did you get this?" Mama picked up the skirt curiously.
"Off a line."
She looked at him blankly.
"A clothesline. I had used up all my sacks and blankets. I saw this skirt flyin' on the clothesline back of a homesteader's shack an' I took it."
"My Heavens!" Mama wailed. "It probably was the only skirt the poor woman had!"
"Prob'ly," agreed Papa, "but she likely would rather lose her skirt than her home." Next morning as he set out again, Papa looked glumly at the cloudless sky. "The best thing to fight a prairie fire with," he commented, "is a damned good rain."
But no rain fell.
Mama, my sister and I kept a lonely vigil at the ranch. Mama could identify any rider when he and his horse appeared, a speck in the distance. A man sits on his horse in an individual way, Mama said, as individual as the way he walks or talks or puts on his hat.
When she saw Papa or any of the ranch
NEBRASKAland proudly presents the stories of its readers. Here is the opportunity so many have requested —a chance to tell their own out door tales. Hunting trips, the "big fish that got away", unforgettable characters, outdoor impressions—all have a place here. If you have a story to tell, jot it down and send it to Editor, NEBRASKAland, Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebr. 68503. Send photographs, black and white or color, too., if any are available.hands or any of the neighbors coming, she sliced bacon and put on the coffee pot.
There was no time now for Papa to finish the firebreak that would have been our family's slim protection against fire. He was gone almost every day. The plow stood rusting in the furrow Papa had started in the spring.
"You are so careless about our firebreak," Mama said to him one evening. Anxiety made Mama's usually gentle voice sharp. "I've asked you a dozen times. We won't have any protection at all if a fire heads this way."
Papa wheeled on her. We were fright ened by how white his face was under the smoke and grime. His eyes were bloodshot and weary.
"There isn't a fire within 20 miles of this ranch. Do you know that families are roastin' alive in their shacks, that men are droppin' on the fire line because we haven't got enough help? I can't take the time to turn that firebreak now! If you want it turned, turn it yourself!"
Mama took the challenge. No more was he out of sight the next morning than she shut my sister and me in the house. She would not let us get out into the heat with her or take a chance on our meeting a rattle snake.
She scraped the rust off the plow and oiled it. She called up Lena, the high-spirited Hambletonian mare she had ridden in her school-teaching days before her marriage. Lena always came when Mama called her, no matter how far away she was. Mama hitched her to the plow.
Determinedly, Mama started to plow a big rectangle that took in the house, the barn, the corrals. My sister and I watched her through the windows. Never one to do things by halves, Mama cut a 50-foot fire break, the widest in the country.
The rough, warped plow handles must have hurt her hands. The sun blistered down on her back and we saw her sag with weariness. But grimly she held Lena to the task, stopping only once in a while to wipe her face on her sleeve and drink long and deep from a jug of water.
While Mama worked, the wind was shifting, blowing strong from the south. We caught the smell of closer smoke. The sky was growing darker, the sun scarcely more than an orange bell through the smoke. My sister and I clung to each other. It was so dark the chickens went to bed because they thought it was night.
The firebreak finished, Mama put the plow in the tool shed —probably the first time it ever had been there. She put the bridles, saddles and tools away.
Then, smelling of smoke and sweat, she came back to the house.
'You were good girls," she announced, although she did not know whether we had been or not. "Now you may go with me to the windmill to get water."
We went along with her and we tried to help her as she brought back buckets of water and poured them into the galvanized wash tubs lined up on the kitchen floor. She stripped blankets off the beds so she would have them to fight the fire with if it came.
"I've done all I can, God," Mama said, "It's up to You now."
She brought Lena into the house. "What ever happens to one of us happens to us all," she said.
She pushed the geraniums aside and lifted
What to do
With the cooler winds of autumn and some of the colorful leaves still on the trees, November is truly a month for all who enjoy the outdoors and out door activities. Hiking is very pleasant now, but hunting takes presidence over other outdoor activities this month with all the major game seasons open in the "Mixed-Bag Capital."
There were 23,950 firearm deer permits issued this year to be used in 16 different units, for the season which runs from November 10-18. Bowmen will be out from the first of the month as archery season continues through the ninth, closing during firearm season to then reopen and run through December 31.
As usual, the quail season opener coincides with the pheasant hunt, the seasons for the state's two most popular game birds opening on the third. The daily bag limit for pheasant is 3 and the possession limit is 9, and 6 is the daily bag for quail, possession is 18.
Waterfowl will be migrating this month, and the season on ducks is October 6 through December 4 state wide, with the western portion of the state then open also from December 22 through January 6. Daily bag limit is 100+ points and possession limit is two daily bags. The season on geese is September 29 through December 9, bag limit is 5, and possession is 5. Special restrictions apply, so consult the 1973 hunting guide. Turkey season opened October 27 and will close November 5.
Small game is often the first quarry of NOVEMBER 1973 the young hunter with his first gun, and remains popular with nearly all ages. Both cottontail and squirrel seasons opened in September, with squirrel season closing January 31 and cotton tail season ending February 28. Daily bag limits for both is 7 and possession is 21.
Hunting may take the spotlight in November but football comes in a close second, and the Cornhuskers will treat Big Red fans to two games on the home turf—the 3rd with the Colorado Buffalos and the 10th against the Iowa State Cyclones.
For those interested in other sports, there will be a Big 8 invitational gymnastics meet the third at the colosseum in Lincoln. Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado, Iowa State and Oklahoma will participate in the meet. Basketball season will get underway the 27th with the Freshman-Varsity game in the Colosseum. The excitement of hooves pounding dusty tracks with anticipating bettors on the sidelines will come to a stop the first and second as the state's horse racing season comes to a close in South Sioux City.
The Omaha Playhouse will open "Nightwatch," a suspenseful thriller by Lucille Fletcher, on the 23rd to run through December 9. The Lincoln Community Playhouse ends its run of "The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds" the 2-4 and opens "Butterflies Are Free" by Leon ard Gershe on the 30, a touching story about a blind young man living away from home for the first time and the adjustments both he and his mother must make to his new independence.
Both the Lincoln and Omaha Symphony Orchestras will have violinists for guests this month. The Lincoln Symphony will perform with the Russian violinist Vitor Tretakov and Omaha will host Nathan Milstein.
If hobbies and crafts are more your line there will be a Hobby Craft Show in Hastings the 3-4. There will be booths to buy and sell craft gifts and demonstrations of many crafts from plastic molding to candle and soap making. The show will be going on from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Saturday, and from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday.
Guns, coins, rocks, stamps, or antiques grab your interest? The Bellevue Jaycees are sponsoring just such a show the 10-11. In addition to the outstanding collections there will be exhibits by local artists and painters, highly talented gun engravers and many other hobbies including woodcrafting. Hot food will be served continuously for the benefit of all and trophies will be awarded in five different catagories in addition to a trophy for the best overall exhibit. A small fee of 50 cents will be charged to the publ ic to wander through the exhibits.
Of course November wouldn't be November without Thanksgiving and it comes on the 22nd this year. Thanks giving, with turkey, yams, and pumpkin pie is traditionally a day for feasting, rejoicing, and resting after a busy fall of harvesting, canning, and putting stores for the coming winter.
1 — Kiwanis Club Pancake Feed, Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln 1-2 —Horse racing, South Sioux City 1-4—james Rosenquist Lithographs, Sheldon Art Gallery, Lincoln 1-4 —"Promises, Promises," Creighton University, Omaha 1-4 —Grouse season continues, Sand Hills and southwest 1-5—Turkey season continues, special permit 1-9 —Archery deer season continues, statewide 1-11 —Don Bruning Sculpture, Sheldon Art Shop, Lincoln 1-25 —Lucia Wood Photographs, Sheldon Art Gallery, Lincoln 1-December 4 —Duck season continues, statewide 1-December 9 —Goose season continues, statewide 1-December 31 —Crow season continues, statewide 1-January 31 —Squirrel season continues 1-February 28 —Cottontail season continues 1-April 30 —Paddlefish season continues 2-4 — "Man-ln-The-Moon Marigolds," Lincoln Community Playhouse, Lincoln 2-4 —Hobby Craft Show, Hastings 3 —UNL football vs. University of Colorado, Lincoln 3 —Big 8 Invitational Gymnastics, Colosseum, Lincoln 3 — Pheasant season opens, statewide 3—Quail season opens, statewide 6 —Lincoln Symphony Concert, Lincoln 7 —Golden Gloves Smoker, amateur boxing, Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln 9 —Rock and Roll Revival, Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln 10 —UNL football vs Iowa State, Lincoln 10-11 —Gun, Coin, Rock and Antique Show, Bellevue 10-18 —Firearm deer season 11 —Community Centennial Thanksgiving Dinner, Sokol Hall, Wilber 11-February 28 —Muskrat and Mink trapping seasons, statewide 15-December 23—Christmas Fair, Sheldon Art Shop, Lincoln 17-18 —National Grange Convention, Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln 19-December 31 —Archery deer season continues, statewide 20 —Omaha Symphony Concert, Omaha 20 —UNL basketball with Yugoslavia (tentative) 23-December 9-"Nightwatch," Omaha Playhouse, Omaha 27 —"Godspell" Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln 27 —Freshman-Varsity basketball, Colosseum, Lincoln 27-December 23 —Kent Ipsen glass exhibit, Sheldon Art Gallery, Lincoln 30 —Christmas Lighting Ceremony, Columbus 30-"Butterflies Are Free," Lincoln Community Playhouse, Lincoln
my sister and me up beside her in the wide window seat and we watched the prairie fire come.
It came, an orange-red sheet of fire on the far horizon sweeping toward the ranch.
Mama sat still, frozen, almost as if she did not see it. She smelled strange, smoky and sweaty. Usually she smelled of good soap and water.
"It looks like Hell," announced my sister joyfully, "Will we see the devil, Mama?"
Suddenly Mama pointed. "There's Charley!"
Running ahead of the flames were the ranch horses —led by blind old Charley! Running like the veteran he was, sightless head high, tattered gray mane flying, tail straight into the wind, bringing in the other horses to the safety of the firebreak.
The monster that was the prairie fire roared to the firebreak. It gasped, muttered and hesitated. Then, chagrined that it had been beaten by a woman, it slunk around our patch of prairie.
The firebreak held. We were safe.
Sometimes Mama acted as if she and God were partners. She closed her eyes and said "Thank you," and that was all.
That night of the prairie fire, Mama, my sister and I had ham and eggs, and Mama opened a precious can of tomatoes for supper. And, she gave an extra ration of oats to Charley.
LETTER TO A YOUNG TRAPPER (Continued from page 15)
for. Well, you'll never change them, so to hell with 'em!
Don't confuse such enemies with the many non-hunters who honestly want to help wildlife conservation but don't know how. They don't want to buy hunting licenses (and why should they?), yet they have no good, non-game wildlife conservation programs of their own. I hope this is changed by the time you go to work. Wild life badly needs the support of the entire public-not just game species, but all kinds of wildlife. It's unfair to both hunter and non-hunter to have the hunter supporting the wildlife conservation effort by himself.
Modern wildlife biology is a young profession. You will be only the second generation of specialized wildlife biologists. There's nothing else like it in the world. Our amazing North American wildlife populations, harvested by the millions year after year, don't just happen. They are maintained in a biological balance by a system of management that's driven by knowledge and dedication-and by people like you and your dad.
As a game biologist, you'll have one major job: to break down the barrier of mystery and misunderstanding between modern men and wildlife. You find the facts. How those facts are put to work is up to the nuts-and-bolts boys (the game
Trading Post
Acceptance of advertising implies no endorsement of products or services. Classified Ads: 20 cents a word, minimum order $4.00. December 1973 closing date, October 8. Send classified ads to: Trading Post, NEBRASKAIand, 2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. P.O. Box 30370. DOGS AKC hunting dogs. Irish setter, English springer spaniel. Pups and dogs. Breeding stock and stud service. Also Westie and Basenji. Kirulu Kennels, Hebron, Nebraska 68370. Phone (402) 768-6237. AT STUD. Todd's Buck, AKC Registered German shorthair. Proven sire. Excellent hunter, natural retriever, solid on point. Big, strong, hardworking dog. For more information contact Pat Thomas, P O. Box 308, Sutherland, Nebraska 69165. DRAHTHAARS: (German Wirehaired Pointers) If you can only have one hunting dog—make it a Drahthaar. Sagamore Kennels. Office 501 Jeffiery Drive, Lincoln, Nebraska 68505. Phone (402) 466- 7986. ENGLISH pointers. Excellent gun dogs. Pups, dogs, and stud service. M. D. Mathews, M.D., St. Paul, Nebraska 68873. ENGLISH Setters: Pups, started dogs and stud service. Mississippi Zev, Wonsover, Commander and Crockett Field trial bloodlines. E. L. Bar- tholomew, Ainsworth, Nebraska 69210. HUNTING DOGS: German shorthairs, English pointers, springer spaniels, Weimaraners, English, Irish, and Gordon setters, Chesapeakes, Labradors, and golden retrievers. Registered pups, all ages, $75 each. Robert Stevenson, Orleans, Nebraska 68966. QUALITY doesn't cost, it pays! Save those downed birds with a good dog. AKC German Shorthair pups—intelligence, friendliness and beauty! Ralph Jennings, Route 2, North Platte, Nebraska 69101. Phone (308) 534-2571. QUALITY trained and partially trained hunting dogs ready for the 1973 hunting season. Limited number of English setters, pointers, and brittanies. Darrell Yentes, 1118 McMillan Street, Holdrege, Nebraska 68949. Phone (308) 995-8570 after 5:30 p.m. MISCELLANEOUS "A" FRAME cabin. 1184 square feet: $1950. ma- terial. Purchase locally. Complete plans, instruc- tion manual and material list: $5.00. Moneyback guarantee. Specify plan #1501. "Dependable Products," Box #113, Vista, California 92083. BUY a fancy Browning this Christmas. All models, most grades including engraved, gold inlaid. Phone (402) 729-2888. Bedlan's Sports, Hiway 136, Fair- bury, Nebraska 68352. "CHUCK Wagon Gang" records. Giant package. Five new collector's longplay stereo albums. 50 treat old gospel songs sung by the original group. 9.95 postpaid. Keepsakes, 202NL, Carlsbad, Texas 76934. FREE catalog of dog accessories and hunting equip- ment. Write Bill Boatman & Co., 241 Maple St., Dept. 96C, Bainbrid^e, Ohio 45612. GOVERNMENT Lands Digest. A Monthly review of government Real Estate offerings throughout the U.S.A. . . . Free subscription information! Digest, Box 25561-PT, Seattle, Washington 98125. HOW much are your bottles worth? "Bottle Col- lector's Handbook—Pricing Guide" identifies, prices over 2,500 collectible bottles. $3.95 postpaid. (Guaranteed!) Infobooks, Box 5001-NL, San An- gelo, Texas 76901. IDEAL 5-acre ranch. Lake Conchas, New Mexico. $4,975. No down. No interest. $30 monthly. Vaca- tion paradise. Hunt, Camp, Fish. Good investment. Free brochure. Ranchos: Box 2006JS, Alameda, California 94501. OLD fur coats, restyled into capes, stoles, etc. $25.00. We're also tanners and manufacture fur garments, buckskin jackets, and gloves. Free style folder—Haeker's Furriers, Alma, Nebraska 68920. PHEASANT and quail hunting November 3 through January 13. Deluxe cabins across from hunting area. Country-Lakeview, Alexandria, Nebraska. Phone (402) 749-4016. "PREPARE for driver's test." 100 questions and answers based on the newest Nebraska Driver's Manual. $1.25. E. Glebe, Box 295, Fairbury, Ne- braska 68352. SHOP at the Country Store. Where you will find gifts galore. Handmade items with that special glow. Made by ladies at Broken Bow. Open during November and December. Custer County Craft Guild, Broken Bow, Nebraska 68822. SOLID plastic decoys. Original Do-It-Yourself Decoy-Making Kit. All species available. Catalog 25 cents. "Dept. ON," Decoys Unlimited, Box 69E, Clinton, Iowa 52732. TAXIDERMY BIG Bear Taxidermy, Rt. 2, Mitchell, Nebraska 69357. We specialize in all big game from Alaska to Nebraska, also birds and fish. Hair on and hair off tanning. 4% miles west of Scottsbluff on High- way 26. Phone (308) 635-3013. KARL Schwarz Master Taxidermists. Mounting of game heads - birds - fish - animals - fur rugs - robes - tanning buckskin. Since 1910. 424 South 13th Street, Dept. A., Omaha, Nebraska 68102. PROFESSIONAL taxidermy. Quality material used. Specialize in life-like appearance. House of Birds 1323 North Tenth, Beatrice, Nebraska 683K)! Phone (402) 228-3596. TAXIDERMY work—big-game heads, fish-and-bird mounting; rug making, hide tanning, 36 years experience. Visitors welcome. Floyd Houser Sutherland, Nebraska 69165. Phone (308) 386-4780 TODAY'S BEST ADVERTISING INVESTMENT WRITE: NEBRASKAland Att: Advertising Department P.O. Box 30370 Lincoln, Nebraska 68503 CLOSING DATES: Black and White: 5th of second month preceding date of issue. COLOR: First of second month pre- ceding date of issue. DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES Color: Full-page outer back cover-$565; full-page inner back cover —$515; full-page inner front cover -$515; full-page inside magazine-$455; 2/3 page -$325; 1/2 page-$259; 1/3 page (minimum size for color)-$136 plus $20 for each extra color. Black and White: full page-$400; 2/3 page-$270; 1/2 page-$204; 1/3 page-$136; 1/4 page-$113; 1/6 page-$75; one-column inch-$15.20.OUTDOOR NEBRASKAland of the Air
SUNDAY KHAS Hastings (1230) 6:45 a.m. KMMJ Grand Island (7501 7:00 a.m. KBRL McCook (1300) 8:15 a.m. KRFS Superior (1600) 9:4$ a.m. KXXX Colby, Kan. (790) 10:15 a.m. KLMS Lincoln (1480) 10:15 a.m. KRG nd Island (1430) .10:33 a.m. - Platte (1240) 10:45 a.m. month (100) 12 Noon (1400) 12:15 p.m. 10) 12:45 p.m. KCNi (280) 1:15 p.m. 2:45 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 4:45 p.m. 5:45 p.m. MA 7:15 p.m. KNEB Scottsbiuft (260). 9:05 p.m. FRIDAY KTCH Wayne (1590) 3:45 p.m. KYSH Valentino (940) 5:10 p.m. KHUB Fremont (1340) 5:15 p.m. WJAG Norfolk (780) 5:30 p.m. KBRB Ainsworth (1400) 6:00 p.m. SATURDAY KJSK Columbus (900) 6:00 a.m. K1CS Hastings (1550) 6:15 a.m. KEYR Scottsbluff (690) 7:45 a.m. KICX McCook (1360) 8:30 a.m. KRNY Kearney (1460) 8:30 a.m. KTNC Falls City (1230) 8:45 a.m. KSID Sidney (1340) 9:15 a.m. KCSR Chadron (610) 11:45 a.m. KGMT Fairbury (1310) 12:45 p.m. KBRX O'Neill (1350) 4:30 p.m. KNLV Ord (1060) 4:45 p.m. KKAN Philllpsbura. Kan. (1490) 5:15 p.m. KOLT Scottsbluff (1320) 5:40 p.m. KMNS Sioux City, la. (620) 6:10 p.m. KJSKFM Columbus (101.1) 9:45 p.m. DIVISION CHIEFS Dale R. Bree, Parks Harold K. Edwards, Resource Services Glen R. Foster, Fish Production Cart E, Gettmann, taw Enforcement Jeck Hanna, Budget and Fiscal Ken Johnson, Game Earl R. Kendle, Research Lloyd Steen, Personnel Lyle K. Tanderup, Engineering Bob Thomas, Fish Management Delvin Whiteley, Federal Aid Jim Wofford, Information and Education CONSERVATION OFFICERS Ainsworth—Max Showalter, 387-1960 Albion—Robert Kelly, 395-2538 Alliance—Richard Furley, 762-2024 Alliance—Richard Seward, 762-4317 Alma—William F. Bonsall, 928-2313 Arapahoe—Don Schaepler, 962-7818 Auburn—James Newcome, 274-3644 Bassett—Leonard Spoering, 684-3645 Bossett— Bruce Wiebe, 684-3867 Bellevue—Mick Bresiey, 291-9315 Benkelman— H. Lee Bowers, 423-2893 Bridgeport—Joe Utrich, 262-0541 Broken Bow—Gene Jeffries, 872-5953 Columbus—Lyman Wilkinson, 564-4375 Crawford—Cecil Avey, 665-2517 Creighton—Gary R. Ralston, 358-3411 Crofton—John Schuckman, 388-4421 Uavid City—Lester H. Johnson, 367-4037 Fairbury—Larry Bauman, 729-3734 Fremont—Andy Nielsen, 721-2482 Geneva—Kenneth L. Adkisson, 759-4241 Gering—Jim McCoie, 436-2686 Grand Island—Fred Salak, 384-0582 Hastings—Norbert Kampsnider. 462-8953 Hay Springs—Marvin E. Kampbell, 638-5262 Lexington—Loren A. Noecker, 324-2845 Lincoln—Tsd Blume, 475-8226 Lincoln—Dayton Shultis, 488-8164 Lincoln—Ross Oestmann, 489-8363 Lincoln—Leroy Orvis, 488-1663 Lincoln-Gene Tlustos, 466-2959 Milford—Dale Bruha, >61-4531 Norfolk—Marion Shafer, 371-2031 Norfolk—Robert Downing, 371-2675 North Platte— Dwight Allbery, 532-2753 North Platte—Gail Woodside, 532-0279 North Platte—Richard Lopez, 532-6225 North Platte—Jack Robinson, 532-6225 Ogallala—Parker Erickson, 284-2992 Omaha—Dick Wilson, 334-1234 Omaha—Roger A. Guenther, 333-3368 O'Neill—Roger W. Hurdle, 336-3988 Ord—Gerald Woodgate, 728-5060 Oshkosh—Donald D. Hunt, 772-3697 Plattsmouth—Larry D. Elston, 296-3562 Riverdole—Bill Earnest, 893-2571 Sidney—Raymond Frandsen, 254-4438 Stapleton—John D. Henderson, 636-2430 Syracuse—Mick Gray, 269-3351 Tekomah—Richard Elston, 374-1698 Valentine—Elvin Zimmerman, 376-3674
managers) and the poor devil on the political firing line (your director). Your job is to get out there into the boonies and bring them back the best information you can get.
Maybe you're wondering: "Why put all that time and money and sweat into wildlife biology, when I could put it into some thing that pays better?"
Depends on what's meant by "pays better."
You'll never get rich as a wildlifer, and that's sure the truth. But a man is paid for his work in many ways, and money may be the least of these. Over the years I've had many successful men —engineers, business men, scientists, and even a few doctors — wistfully tell me that they wished they'd gone into wildlife work, which was where their hearts have really been all along.
I've been a wildlifer for over 20 years now, and I don't regret a minute of it. And it isn't just the fine places that you work in, or even the excitement of learning the secrets of fish and wildlife. A big part of it is the men you work with. You'll never meet a more colorful, loyal, dedicated team than the hard core of professional wildlifers. Sure, some of 'em are a little bush-happy, and inclined to shake hands with the willows, but they're mighty good men to float your stick with.
Looking back over my years of wildlife work, there are only two things that I'm plumb sure of: it's not easy work to prepare for or get into, but it's worth it. If I were your age, and knew everything that I know now, I'd do it all over again. And that, I reckon, is about the most that a man can say about his work.
If you want to take this up in more detail, I'd be happy to. But let's do it on a gravel bar on the Eleven Point river some fine evening while the first whippoorwills are tuning up and your dad washes the supper dishes.
Your friend, John Madson
9 LOCATIONS
COLUMBUS
(402)564-1492
KEARNEY
(308)237-3141
NORTH PLATTE
(308) 532-9090
FREMONT
(402)727-1110
LINCOLN
(402) 434-3171 or 475-4971
OGALLALA
(308) 284-3625
GRAND ISLAND
(308) 384-1330 or 384-7770
I NORFOLK
(402)371-4430
OMAHA
(402) 393-3950
