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Jerry Kane
Public Information Officer | jerry.kane@nebraska.gov
| 402.471.5008
Duane Westerholt Memorial Kiosk Dedication on Cowboy Trail Set for Nov. 6
LINCOLN – The public is invited to join the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for the Duane Westerholt Memorial Kiosk Dedication on the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail west of Norfolk on Nov. 6.
The event honoring Westerholt’s contribution to the trail will take place at 11 a.m. at the kiosk located at a trail bridge over the Elkhorn River 3 miles west of TaHaZouka Park.
Westerholt, during a 40-year career with the Commission, oversaw the Cowboy Trail and obtained resources for its development from Norfolk to Valentine. He also oversaw Nebraska’s water trails and worked to create canoeing maps.
An avid outdoorsman, Westerholt enjoyed birding, sailing, camping, fishing, hunting, travel and helping others learn about nature and the outdoors.
The Cowboy Trail is the nation’s longest rail-to-trail conversion. A 195-mile span of trail from Norfolk to Valentine is complete, and, farther west, 3 miles of trail are complete in the communities of Gordon and Rushville. The trail was designated a National Recreation Trail in the National Trails System in 2001.
Refreshments will be served at the event. To get to the dedication site, go 2 miles west on Omaha Avenue from U.S. 275, and then south for a half mile on Broken Bridge Road to a parking area along the trail. The bridge is a half mile west on the trail.
In case of inclement weather, the dedication will be held at the Elkhorn Lodge at TaHaZouka Park, 1008 McKinely Ave.
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Prospects Look Good for Pheasant Season
LINCOLN – Upland game hunters across Nebraska will have improved prospects during this year’s pheasant season, which opens Oct. 31. Pheasant numbers are 55 percent higher than last year.
Nebraska’s weather has been kind to the state’s upland game this year. The state has experienced relatively mild winters recently, which has aided over-winter survival of pheasants. The more pheasants – particularly hens – that survive the winter, the larger the breeding stock is for the breeding season.
The favorable spring weather this year allowed pheasant populations to increase in relatively short order. Rainfall this past spring appears to not have occurred during the sensitive phases of the nesting and brood-rearing periods; chicks during the first week or so of life cannot regulate their own body temperatures and have low survival if they become wet and catch a chill.
The timely spring rainfall also produced abundant vegetation, which in turn produced abundant insects. The insects provide chicks with food they need to grow and develop into healthy adult birds. Having adequate nutrition during development can result in healthier adult birds and possibly increase their survival through the winter. The vegetation also provided ample habitat for nesting and for brood-rearing, which had been lacking.
Surveys this year have indicated that pheasant abundance was higher in all regions of the state compared to 2014. The southwest and Panhandle regions should offer the best hunting opportunities this year, but better opportunities should be available statewide.
The season runs through Jan. 31, 2016. The entire state is open to pheasant hunting, although no hunting is allowed on state refuges and sanctuaries. Only rooster pheasants may be harvested. The daily bag limit is three and the possession limit is 12.
Quail season dates are the same as for pheasant. Surveys have indicated increases in abundance of quail compared to 2014 across almost all of the quail’s range. Habitat conditions were excellent for production and brood-rearing across the state. The southeast and south central parts of the state should offer the best opportunities this year, but there will be good opportunities throughout quail range.
To view the full report, visit OutdoorNebraska.org, and then click on Hunting, Upland Game, and Forecast. Hunters can find public hunting sites as well as private sites open to public walk-in hunting in the Nebraska Public Access Atlas. Go to OutdoorNebraska.org, and then click on Guides.
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Pressey WMA Shooting Range Temporarily Closed
LINCOLN – The shooting range on Pressey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Custer County will be temporarily closed during the opening weekend of pheasant and quail hunting season, Oct. 31 – Nov. 1.
With the expected influx of hunters during this weekend, the shooting range will be closed as a safety precaution.
Pressey WMA is located 4 miles northeast of Oconto.
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Chet McClain Field Trial Area Dedicated at Branched Oak
LINCOLN – Family, friends and longtime colleagues gathered at Branched Oak Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Lancaster County on Oct. 24 to dedicate the field trial area to Chester (Chet) A. McClain.
McClain retired from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in 1994 after 36 years of service as a biologist. Together, with Commission Director Jim Douglas and Jack Higgins of the Nebraska Field Trial Association, guests celebrated McClain’s leadership in the development of the field trial area.
“This is really special to me personally,” Douglas said at the dedication. “When I worked in my earlier days with the Commission, Chet McClain mentored me in many ways.” He said McClain impressed upon him the importance of field trialing and its role in the future of hunting.
The development of 880 acres of land at Branched Oak Lake as a dog trial area was authorized by the Commission in 1969. Seven sporting dog clubs formed the Nebraska Field Trial Association in 1973. McClain and the association selected and planted specific grasses to enhance habitat in the Field Trial Area.
“This is the best thing that has ever happened to field trialing and bird dogs in the state of Nebraska,” said Higgins, who has been with the association since its inception and has known McClain for just as long.
McClain held several roles at the Commission, including assistant division administrator of the Resource Services Division, and was instrumental in the planning and managing of the state’s many WMAs. But it was in 1973, when he was promoted to wildlife habitat area manager, when McClain began his work on developing the field trial area at Branched Oak WMA. Today, the area attracts field trial participants from all over the country.
Prior to the development of the field trial area, McClain also oversaw the plan to establish resident flocks of Canada geese and wood ducks on the Salt Valley Lakes, starting with the purchase of 20 pairs of wood ducks and eight Canada geese in 1968. Pens at Branched Oak WMA were used to propagate these waterfowl. The captive flocks were discontinued around 1984, and these waterfowl species are now plentiful in the Salt Valley Lakes area.
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