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Aug. 26, 2021 | The Eagle | csceagle.com
Ag
&
Range
State’s big-game seasons open with few changes u By Kamryn Kozisek Ag and Range Editor
B
ecause of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the 2020 big-game hunting seasons saw a decrease in out-of-state hunters and an increase in Nebraskan hunters. But with those restrictions now lifted, the influx of out-of-state hunters is increasing, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. With the seasons opening Aug. 1, Game and Parks also updated its resources and regulations. Nebraska’s Hunters Helping the Hungry (HHH), which operates through Game and Parks and which is affiliated with the National Farmers and Hunters Helping the Hungry, noted that nine meat processors are expected to accept donated deer carcasses only starting Sept. 1. Those processors are Belschner Custom Meats, Amherst; Diller Locker, Diller; Franklin Locker, Franklin; Nielsen’s Processing, Grand Island; Melcher’s Locker, Lindsey; Kelley’s Custom Pack, North Platte; Bernt’s Custom Processing, Spalding; Den’s Country Meats, Table Rock; and The Butchery, Ulysses. Another two processors, Pelican’s Processing, Johnson, and North Bend Locker, North Bend, will start accepting donations on Nov. 13. Meat that is donated will be processed, then distributed to charitable organizations. If hunters don’t need the meat they harvest, they can join the deer exchange database and share it with someone looking for meat. The database is open from Sept. 1 to March 1, 2022. Recipients can choose whether they would like a whole, field-dressed deer, skinned-and-boned or frozen-and-wrapped meat. The hunter harvesting the animal is responsible for field dressing it and taking the animal through a check station or using Telecheck if required. The hunter will have to provide contact information, a permit number, species, an estimated weight of the carcass or meat and the harvest date into the database. The link to join the database is: https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/DeerExchange/index.html. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Nebraska began using an online check station called Telecheck for all big game seasons except Deer November Firearm and Pronghorn firearm, which used in-person check in stations. The state will use the same check-in methods again for the upcoming seasons. During check ins, the minimum antler measurement is 11 inches and horn measurement is 9.5 inches, according to Game and Parks’ website. The application deadline for the Platte River Recreation Area access deer lottery is 5 p.m. Aug. 31. On its website, Game and Parks only lists its Kearney office as the location for submitting those applications. The deer lottery will have 47 permits for the Platter River Recreation Area. ‘Buddy’ permits are being accepted, allowing two hunters to apply for the same area together, the Game and Parks website states. Winners will be notified Sept. 31 and the hunt takes place Nov. 16-21. In antelope management areas for 2021 there are 34 additional permits for any gender and 390 doe-and-fawn permits. There are also an additional 78 bull and 267 antlerless elk permits, according to Game and Parks. There was one bighorn sheep permit drawn for the 2021 hunting season. The lottery winner earns a nice package – one bighorn sheep permit; four days of guided service from Game and Parks; and boarding at Fort Robinson State Park. The application deadline was Aug. 6, and the hunters had to be Nebraska residents. Money generated by the bighorn sheep lottery is used solely for the conservation of bighorn sheep populations. Since it launched its that lottery, Game and Parks has raised $1.4 million.
Photo courtesy Scott Bauer, USDA
A whitetail deer buck crosses an open field. Archery, Nebraska’s first deer season, opens Sept. 1.
Big-game season dates Deer
Elk
Pronghorn
Archery - Sept. 1-Dec. 31 Youth - Sept. 1-Jan. 16, 2022 October river antlerless - Oct. 1-15 Special landowner - Nov. 6-8 November firearm - Nov. 13-21 Muzzleloader - Dec. 1-31 Late antlerless - Jan. 1-16, 2022 Late river antlerless - Jan. 1-31, 2022
Early antlerless - Aug. 1-Oct. 31 Antlerless - Aug. 1-Jan. 31 Private antlerless - Aug. 1-Sept. 20 Archery bull - Sept. 1-Oct. 31 Firearm bull - Sept. 21-Oct. 31 Late antlerless - Nov. 1-Jan. 31
Archery - Aug. 20- Dec. 31 Muzzleloader - Sept. 18- Oct. 3 Firearm - Oct. 9-24 Late doe/fawn - Nov. 1- Jan. 31, 2022
