So now, I noticed that there is a trading post and a resort at the lake.  You can find them on line or call at 402 376 3437.  There is also the Water’s Edge Restaurant.  I did not find anything on line for this business, but you can call at 402 376 5934.  As I am writing this blog it is February and everything is probably closed.  I will keep on checking as we get into March.  You can rent a cabin at the lake and I believe you can store your boat in the lake at a slip if you rent a cabin.  If you do not rent a cabin, there is a charge.  Either way, this is a convenient way of not having to take the boat in and out of the water.

When we fish the glacial lakes in SD we do that a couple of times a day and it just gets to be a nuisance.  When we fish this lake we are going to rent a slip and just leave the boat in the lake and pull it out when we leave.  It is gentleman fishing.

Valentine, Nebraska is only 26 miles from the lake and the area is a tourist mecca for people that love the outdoors.  The Niobrara River flows through the area and there is a plethora of campgrounds and outfitters for a really nice river experience.  Finding a motel that caters to hunters and fishermen was not a problem.  I talked with the people at the Trade Winds Motel in Valentine, and they have a place to clean and freeze fish plus they serve a free breakfast every morning.  In addition, they have parking for my boat and trailor if I decide to pull it out every day.  Follow the link to learn more about Valentine and the entertainment they offer or just go to the site visit Valentine.  (https://visitvalentine.org/explore-here/)

All in all, this looks like a fishing adventure to spend a few days, and experience the beauty of the sandhills of Nebraska.

One of my favorite recipes.

Almond Crusted Walleye

• 1 or more walleye or saugeye fillet
• ½ cup almond meal (ground almonds
• panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 fresh peach or pear, sliced
• splash of dry white wine (sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, etc.)

Mix the almond meal with a little panko and the salt and pepper. Place fish fillet in egg wash then roll in almond meal/panko mixture. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons canola oil in a pan over medium low heat, then add fish and sauté about 4 minutes per side (depending on thickness). Remove the walleye to paper towels, turn heat to medium high and add the sliced fruit. Stir and fry for a minute then add 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and cook until butter browns. Add wine; reduce. Place fish fillet on plate surrounded by fruit and drizzled with sauce. Makes 2 servings.  Once you open the wine, you will have to drink it.  I recommend this recipe with a bottle or two of Tusker Beer if you can find it.  I have a friend bringing us a supply for the summer from Sante Fe, New Mexico.  I will post the place they bought it on my next blog.

A decade or so ago, I had the privilege of hunting with Richard Hart.  It was great seeing the sculpture of the eagle he had made. 

The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was a voluntary program that offered landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. 

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provided technical and financial support to help landowners with their wetland restoration efforts through WRP.

This program offered landowners an opportunity to establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection.

The goal of NRCS was to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program.

Lands that were eligible for WRP:

• Wetlands farmed under natural conditions
• Farmed wetlands
• Prior converted cropland
• Farmed wetland pasture
• Certain lands that had the potential to become a wetland as a result of flooding
• Rangeland, pasture, or forest production lands where the hydrology had been significantly degraded and could be restored
• Riparian areas that linked protected wetlands
• Lands adjacent to protected wetlands that contributed significantly to wetland functions and values
• Wetlands that had previously been restored under a local, State, or Federal Program that need long-term protection 

Lands established to trees through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) were ineligible for WRP enrollment.

NRCS was committed to delivering all Farm Bill programs authorized through the 2008 Farm Bill and was eager to discuss with all interested parties about the many potential benefits that the WRP offered.

Former Enrollment Options

Under the easement options, the USDA paid all costs associated with recording the easement in the local land records office, including recording fees, charges for abstracts, survey and appraisal fees, and title insurance.

• Permanent Easement: A conservation easement in perpetuity. USDA pays 100 percent of the easement value and up to 100 percent of the restoration costs.
• 30-Year Easement: An easement that expires after 30 years. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the easement value and up to 75 percent of the restoration costs.
• Restoration Cost-Share Agreement: An agreement to restore or enhance the wetland functions and values without placing an easement on the enrolled acres. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the restoration costs.
• 30-Year Contract: A 30-year contract option is only available on tribal lands. USDA pays up to 75 percent of the restoration costs.

Rights Retained By Landowners

Speaking generally, under the voluntary easement the landowner retains the rights to:

1. control of access
2. title and right to convey title
3. quiet enjoyment
4. undeveloped recreational uses
5. subsurface resources
6. and water rights

Wild sunflower.  A native to the area.

Looking southwest across the wetland

Looking south across the wetland  The trees at the south form the southern boundary.

My friend will be buying the 80 acres provided approval is given by the government for the land changes and arrangement he wants to do to the ground.  The focus on the spot will be to provide ducks with a resting place and feed obtained from native moist soil annual plants.  These produce the most seed. The whole 80 will not be for hunting but only a few acres will be shallow flooded for hunting.  No permanent blinds will be built or sunk into the ground.  Instead  the hunters will hide in the natural grass lands of the prairie consisting of switch grass and other native grasses.  You will have to hide.

Barnyard grass, a native to the area.

Crawdad hole.  The holes are everywhere.

Most importantly, the spot will not be hunted every day but only on certain days of the week and only with a limited numbers of hunters.  Ducks will have an opportunity to feed and rest, move on or stay until the weather drives them out.  This is a great way to give the birds a rest and still have some excellent hunting.

White Wing Stem

 

Ironweed

In the spring when the birds move north the area will provide a great place to stop, rest, feed, and possibly stay and produce more ducks.  

 

Canada Wild Rye

I usually only harvest a two day limit for the season of Mallards.  That is all we will eat during the next six months after the season closes.  There are other meats to dine on besides ducks.

Recipe of the Week

       Duck Fajitas

•  four duck breasts
• 1 box of frozen red, green and yellow peppers
• 1 red onion
• 1 fajitas spices/seasoning packets
• 1 pack medium sized flour tortillas
• salsa
• sour cream
• tomato
• cilantro
• guacamole
• shredded cheese
• toothpicks

 

Cut goose or duck breasts into thin strips. Place in a skillet with a small amount of hot oil, cook thoroughly. Add fajita seasoning packet to duck. At the same time in another skillet sauté the frozen peppers with chopped red onion. Cook until tender. When both pepper and meat are done, place flour tortillas in microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. This will warm the tortillas and allow them to separate easier. Take out one tortilla and add meat, peppers, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc. Wrap the fixings inside the tortilla and use a toothpick through the middle to hold it together. Accompany with Spanish rice and refried beans. Serve with Tusker Beer.

Good hunting, good fishing and good luck. Hank

The thought pattern started at least 10 years ago.  The conversations with fellow hunters that had shot a lot of big game also started 10 years ago.  Where do you go to do this and how do they taste?  Moose are a really big animal if you hunt the bulls.  How is all this done and where is the best opportunity?  The research was then started over a period of time.

That is what we hope to shoot.

Somehow I have gotten on e-mail lists for hunting brokers that represent different types of lodges and hunting opportunities not only in North America, but all over the world.  I have never used one, but they seem to have access to some really interesting hunts in prime places with decent prices.  I enjoy contacting lodges and listening to the owners tell me about what they have to offer, and then make my decision as to whether this will work for me.

Wave�

Click on the pic or link to price and buy from Leatherman. 

Now we get to the requirements.  If you read my book, “How to Hunt Like a Gentleman,” I am no longer into roughing it.  I want a nice lodge with a private room and private bath, three squares per day, fully guided, preferably one on one with the guide, and a good processor in the vicinity.  No more horse back trips as I have done all that, and a four wall tent is out of the question.  Things really start to narrow down with those requirements and the price goes up too.  I am somewhat flexible.  But I will not live out in the woods in a tent anymore.  If my wife comes along, and she likes to go, flexibility goes out the window.

When looking at Alaska, there are some really good hunts up there, but that is out of the question.  It is a little over my budget on some of the hunts.  Bringing back meat from the hunt is a major goal, and with the quantity you get with a moose, I would not get it all.

I talked with my good friend Bob Barlow with Barlow Outfitting in Wyoming and a moose tag takes preference points.  I know what it is like getting points for elk in Wyoming and it is probably cheaper to buy the general tag.  He was just not encouraging that getting a tag the first time without points would happen.  As I looked at other western states, the same problem existed.  This is a popular animal to hunt and they are limited in numbers.  Each state wants to maintain a healthy and robust population so they control the number of animals they are willing to have hunted. 

The next stop was to move north to Canada.  Here the opportunities get really plentiful.  Ontario is close to my home and there is a lot of place to go.  You have drive in or fly in to a remote lodge.  The fly ins that I reviewed had limitation on the amount of meat you could take out.  Each one was not a place that I could take my wife, and she wanted to go on this trip.  Success rates are high and you have the opportunity to fish for walleye.  Adding a bear or a wolf was a possibility on many of the lodges.  I did see some of the lodges where you would hunt one on one with the guide and that always gets my attention.  For this animal, I really prefer it as I don’t want a bad shot made and then an animal coming over mad to find out who did that.

After checking fifteen spots, I just could not settle on one that made me say, “I want to go here.”  I did not call anyone either to get more information and that is my mistake.  Pam wants to go, and I want to keep that in mind.

Moving over to Manitoba, there was Webbers Lodges. I had shot Caribou with them before and knew the process.  You drive or fly to Thompson in northern Manitoba, take a King Air to the Lodge at Little Duck, and a float plane to a camp. That was a really great experience, but they were out of my budget for this hunt.   There are also several lodges in the area, but all of them were out of my budget.  If you want to hunt Caribou, Webbers or the Lodge at Little Duck are excellent choices.

I skipped over Saskatchewan and went straight to Alberta and focused on the northwest part of the province.  I like the area because it is close to British Columbia.  There were a lot of lodges that met my requirements and several had their hunters bring their wives with them.  I focused around the Peace River Region because there were a lot of lodges in that area.  Prices were good and some phone calls were made.

After checking out the sites, I found one that really got my attention.  All the requirements were met even though Pam and I would not stay at the lodge, we would be just 20 minutes away in Spirit River but would still take advantage of the food and amenities offered by the outfitter.  I made the phone call after studying the website for several days and we visited for about 30 min.  The decision was made and I booked the hunt.  That is the good news.  (http://www.mikesoutfitting.com/)

The bad news was the hunt would not take place this year but in 2019 during the first week of October.  However, I was put on a cancellation list, and if someone cancels, I will be in line to hunt in 2018.  This is a long drive and should take us about 3 days with gear and all the coolers I will be bringing along.  We will have the opportunity to see some really great country through the Dakotas into Montana and up to Alberta.  We generally do not drive hard, but take a lot of breaks and if there is some interesting scenery or site to stop at we do that.  That is going up. Coming back, things change drastically.  We drive really hard and into the night because we have meat that is frozen and packed in dry ice.  We have never had any spoilage in the past, and the meat, after a hard several days drive, has always been hard frozen.

I found early on, the places with excellent success are booked early and you are lucky if you can get into one the same year you book.  We will be patiently waiting for 2019 and maybe, if lucky, a cancellation will take place.

Check out my Facebook page as there is some excellent discussion on ammunition to use.  I have shot a Buffalo at 300 yards with my 300 win mag.  I used a Nosler Partition round 180 gr.  It took two shots to bring him down.  After the first one he just stood there and the guide said, “Another round,” and he fell.  I like quick kills. 

I watched a video of a moose hunter.   After the first broadside shot on the moose, the beast came charging toward the hunter and he had to shoot two more times.  I did not like to see that and would prefer a couple of steps and then dropping.  I do not know where he made his first shot on the animal.  

One of the people writing to me said to go to a 200 to 220 gr bullet.  I will probably buy some and do some shooting.  Then I will compare the drop between the 180 gr and see how much elevation I need to adjust to compensate for the added weight.  I am not going to tame the moose for a pet.   2019 can’t come too soon. 

Venison Chili

• 1 pound dry kidney beans
• 1 pound ground venison
• 1 pound venison stew meat, in 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 28-ounce can tomatoes, diced
• 1 large onion,diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 large green chili pepper, diced
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup masa flour or all purpose flour
• Substitute elk, buffalo, caribou or moose for the venison. 

Rinse beans and place in a large soup kettle. Add 2 quarts water and 2 teaspoon salt; cover the pot and bring to a boil. Boil gently for about 2 hours, until beans are tender. Brown meat in a large skillet containing oil and garlic. Add chili powder, salt and pepper. Cover and saute for an hour. Drain the beans and add 1½ quarts water, tomatoes, onion, peppers, cumin and parsley. Simmer for an hour, then add meat mixture. Stir masa flour into ½ cup water to form a paste and blend into chili to thicken. Simmer for about half an hour, adjust the seasonings and serve. Nothing satisfies more than chili on a cold night in deer camp!

The high plains stretch from Grand Island, Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains in the west.  The countryside gains altitude as it goes west and the air gets dryer.  In addition, the winter temperatures become milder with the altitude, lack of humidity and the brilliant sunshine.  This is farming country with small towns and villages and thousands of acres of wheat, corn, and beans. It is also an opportunity for ducks and geese to hang around as there is plenty of food, water and sand.   I know when God looks down on the land and the people here He is pleased.

My wife is from Sidney,  in the panhandle of the state and is home to Cabelas.  Before Bass Pro came to Council Bluffs, a lot of sporting goods were purchased by me at the store in the town.  Whenever we visit the town, we visit the store.

Every time we drove west in the fall and winter, the ducks and Canada geese were very plentiful as we traveled along the Platte river.  West of North Platte the river has separated into two streams, the North and South Platte each going in a distinct direction. This is duck and goose heaven.

Last summer I decided not to renew my membership in the club I had hunted for 17 years.  The owner of the land and leader of the club had died and it just wasn’t the same.  In addition, the hunting was poor as the birds seemed to stay longer in South Dakota, and there was now six hunting blinds in a square mile.  That was too much competition for me.

After a search of commercial hunting spots in three states, it was decided to go with Central Nebraska Outfitters.  Jim Martinosky came with some good references from people I know in the area.  (www.centralnebraskaoutfitters.com) Follow the link to learn more of the operation.

Jim recommended several times to come out and all of them were later than what I have been used to.  That is because the season is longer and later in that part of Nebraska.  You can hunt ducks and geese in January and that month can be the best of the season.  January across Nebraska does take a risk.  While the weather is generally milder than back east, the land can get some really rough weather in the form of severe blizzards.  I did not feel the risk was worth it. and settled on mid December.  Invited were several people like myself that I had hunted with over the years and were also former club members.  They agreed that to play it safe with the date.  Out of the three people I asked to go along, only one could make it on that date.  While Jim prefers three to four hunters at a setting, we still hunted with only ourselves and the guide.

Paxton, Nebraska is a village of about 523 people.  The highlight of the town is Ole’s  Big Game Bar and Steakhouse.  Ole was a big game hunter and hunted all over the world.  The restaurant is famous as it is full of mounts Ole harvested in his trips across the world.  He must have spent a fortune on traveling the world and hunting. Besides a couple of places to eat, there is a Days Inn on the south edge of the town and it is neat and clean, and we stayed there the duration of our trip.

You walk in the door at Ole’s and you are greeted by a polar bear in a glass box.

Inside Ole’s you are greeted with mounts everywhere that Ole has shot and collected.

Jim’s son Riley was our guide and met us at 05:15 our first morning.  The most important member of the group was Riley’s black lab, Slam.  This fine boy was probably one of the best and behaved labs I have ever hunted with.  He is a two year old and Riley has trained him well.  Labs are generally social, but not always and this was the case.  Slam was a one man dog and stayed close to Riley whenever we were out of the blinds.  He just  basically ignored us and I have seen this before.

We went to the South Platte river to start the hunt. The company has leased land along the South Platte and one of their blinds was positioned on the bank.  The first thing I noticed was that the bank was quite high and we were elevated above the river.  The river was not more than knee deep and had a sand bottom.  Riley did not want us to wade out as he took care of this himself.  He put out two dozen decoys in the calm water.  The current looked quite swift but was narrow so there was lots of calm water around and next to the bank.  Sand bars were everywhere and the river just wound its way through the bottoms.

Morning on the South Platte River.  Notice the ice flows on the river.

The company manufactures blinds and these are excellent.  Made of one inch square tube steel, they are then wrapped in canvas and native grass covering the blind.  Roomy inside, there is room for four to five hunters with seating and a shelf in front of you to pile shells and other things we buy at the sporting goods store and never use. We all buy various pieces of junk and never use it, but we bring it anyway.

The blind we were in.  Tube steel wrapped with canvas then covered with native grasses make this blind a perfect hiding place.

There was slush ice in the river as the temp had been well below freezing during the night, but as it got lighter the temp came up and the ice disappeared.  Ducks and geese would fly up and down the river.  This would be a new type of shooting for us.  A couple of Teal came in and we scared the daylights out of them. Then they flew away.  I commented that this was the first time dead ducks had every flown.  Ducks in small groups would work us, but did not come in for a shot.  We also had some geese that came up the river at tree top level, and we scared them also.  It was more like pass shooting and neither one of us was prepared for that type of hunting.  We were used to lake hunting where the birds circled, locked up and came in.

Looking up river.  The decoys are next to the bank and on the opposite side in the calm water.

Here they would come up the river, lock up and come into the decoys in the calm water.  You must be on your best behavior.  After a couple of screw ups, Riley said “we got the rust off now and we should start killing some birds.”

After the sun had risen fully the traffic just stopped.  It was time for lunch and we needed to make new plans.

The Windy Gap in Paxton sells lunch and dinner. The food is just basic and good with plenty of it. Riley wanted to move to one of the sand pits near the interstate.  These ponds existed because material was dredged out for road bed when the interstate was built.  We had a really strong northwest wind and we would be in layout blinds next to the calm water with the wind at our back.

This was a new experience for both of us.  The decoys were put out in the calm water and we were about ten feet from the waters edge in the layout blind.  There is a right way and a wrong way to function in these blinds.  Getting in and out is not easy for old dogs like myself and my hunting partner.  You must rise up from a partially laying down position and the side covers will pop open.  I found that laying my gun on my right side would not give me time enough to mount the gun to my shoulder.  The solution was to lay the gun on my chest with the barrel pointing out the bottom end of the blind.  This way the gun would be pulled up into my shoulder as the sides of the blind popped open and I rose up.

The decoys were in the calm water with the blinds just ten feet from the water edge.  The birds would lock up and come straight into your face.  It can’t get easier than that.

We started hunting around 2:30 PM. It not take long and a flock of ten came into us.  With the wind at our back they came straight toward the blind and right in our face.  We screwed this up due to not being able to function properly in the operation of the layout blind.  This was a learning curve.

There are the three layout blinds in a row.  Riley is on the left, my partner in the middle and mine is open

Shortly after and a discussion on how to function,  a single Canada came to us, locked up and my hunting partner popped up with the gun mounted in his shoulder and plunked a really nice Canada.  The dog was out side of his hiding place at his master’s command and into the water to retrieve the goose.  Watching the dog work is the highlight of any hunting trip.

The sun hit the horizon in the west and it was time to fold it up.  While we only had one goose for the day, the experience was a really good learning curve.  The plus side was doing some different kind of waterfowl hunting that we had never done before.  Tomorrow is another day.

Duck Schnitzel

• 2-4 duck breasts
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup Cajun spices (any)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 stick butter
• 10 ounce jar of brown mushroom gravy

Start with 2-4 duck breasts. Remove all silver skin and sinews. Place between layers saran wrap and pound thin (less than 1/8″ thick) with a meat mallet. Place in a Tupperware container and cover with buttermilk. Leave in the refrigerator for 3 days. Remove and pat with paper towels. Mix 1 cup flour with ¼ cup of any Cajun spices shake well to mix. Cover the moist breasts in the mixture, shake off excess. Beat 2 eggs and ¼ cup milk. Mix 1 cup bread crumbs and ¼ Cup Parmesan cheese topping. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 stick of butter over medium heat. Dredge the breasts in the egg wash then cover with the crumb/cheese topping. Over medium heat, fry the breasts until golden brown and medium rare, don’t overcook or burn them, adjust the heat as necessary. Cover with a jar of brown mushroom gravy (any brown gravy will do). Serve with au gratin potatoes and red cabbage.