Irrelevant
Well-known member
And midwesterns can have an opinion on WY/MT/CO elk policy, but not vice versa?
Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
WTH is Nebraska doing?
- Thread starter Whiskey Freak
- Start date
seeth07
Well-known member
Maybe that can be directed at some but not me. I love hunting in Nebraska and have been going for quick a few years now in the wildcat hills so I do know slightly of what its like out there but obviously by no means an expert.
A good bull from my favorite glassing knob:
Seems like theyve got a localized issue and are using hunters to solve it. Ive got no problem with it.
Our PA elk can be killed for crop damage by farmers, their employees, and family members 24/7/365. No season and no limits, using spotlights, trucks, and high-caliber rifles. Thankfully most don't take advantage or our elk herd would be decimated in pretty short order.
Our PA elk can be killed for crop damage by farmers, their employees, and family members 24/7/365. No season and no limits, using spotlights, trucks, and high-caliber rifles. Thankfully most don't take advantage or our elk herd would be decimated in pretty short order.
NE will be mailing out double the normal amount of public land atlas' this month.
bignest
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I second JT13. PA elk boundaries are strictly enforced. I used to wonder why I would never see elk in the woods deer hunting when I’m literally only a few miles from them. You would think one would accidentally wander over. I wish I could site a source, but the state keeps those elk locked down to where they’re supposed to be so we don’t have farmers impacted. Hunters don’t get any chances at those wandering elk.
For what it’s worth, I have quite a few generational farmers I’m friends with here. All but one family works in a mill, or as a mechanic or some other blue color job just to keep the farm going. The farms are a lifestyle for many people. Most farmers are happy if the farm can keep the equipment running. My neighbor across the street has been on 7 days for the last 18 months and does his fields at night after work. Last week he was out harvesting corn from last year because backordered parts on his combine had forced him to leave his corn standing over winter. He’s not getting rich. He’s just getting by and would be financially better off if he just sold the land. He doesn’t do it for the money just like we don’t hunt for just the meat. We all know we could buy a lot of steak with the money we spend on gear and tags.
For what it’s worth, I have quite a few generational farmers I’m friends with here. All but one family works in a mill, or as a mechanic or some other blue color job just to keep the farm going. The farms are a lifestyle for many people. Most farmers are happy if the farm can keep the equipment running. My neighbor across the street has been on 7 days for the last 18 months and does his fields at night after work. Last week he was out harvesting corn from last year because backordered parts on his combine had forced him to leave his corn standing over winter. He’s not getting rich. He’s just getting by and would be financially better off if he just sold the land. He doesn’t do it for the money just like we don’t hunt for just the meat. We all know we could buy a lot of steak with the money we spend on gear and tags.
PrairieHunter
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Its' a dam shame that you can't hunt right of ways as public land in Nebraska like you can in South Dakota. This would be a lot more fun.
I can't wait to see how it actually turns out.
Gotta be some of the best tasting elk meat out there based on eating alfalfa, corn, wheat, etc...
When I lived in Chardon there were herds that would sit behind my house on a pivot for months during the winter. Every day the same place. But by spring they would leave and head for the timber.
I can't wait to see how it actually turns out.
Gotta be some of the best tasting elk meat out there based on eating alfalfa, corn, wheat, etc...
When I lived in Chardon there were herds that would sit behind my house on a pivot for months during the winter. Every day the same place. But by spring they would leave and head for the timber.
Timvz26
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I live in this area where the damage is taking place, I have seen the drone videos of the damage the elk cause. Same bull elk, day after day, same circle of corn.
It isn’t big corporate farms. It’s family farms mostly and are kids all go to the same school. There are a couple of big farms, however they employ several families who’s kids also go to the same school(with my kids).
Its easy to have zero sympathy when it isn’t costing you any money. I don’t farm but run an HVAC business, if the farm profits aren’t there it affects me as well, they would rather fix that old furnace rather than have me replace it.
Just some food for thought…
Also, the reason all the green circles or corn are there is because Nebraska is on top of the biggest aquifer in America so it’s easy to irrigate. Man cultivated the earth and the elk came.
ClearCreek
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The_Jim
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There are responses from Nebraska’s big game manager in that thread explaining much of the reasoning behind it.
seeth07
Well-known member
Correct. Man ruined one of their needs - security/safety - and a 10 foot tall cornfield now provides that so they came back.
samuel_284Win
Well-known member
Agriculture holds more value than Fish and Game in Nebraska, and I used to live in Sidney, NE, and worked in agriculture research so I am saying this with some experience and local knowledge. Some farmers and ranchers don't care how many permits you have, they will just tell you "kill them all" during the regular/general season.
Back in 2019, I was one of a couple of hundred hunters that raised hell with Senator Erdman about his strong-arming of the NE Fish and Game Commission to give out 50 either sex elk tags. Let's just say that Senator Erdman called me back pissed that so many people care about the elk. For a regular dude, it takes 4-5 years of bonus points to pull a NE bull elk tag.
Funny thing is, elk used to be everywhere across the Central Plains. Reading the Lewis and Clark journeys shows just how diverse and impressive the wildlife populations used to be across the greater NE area.
Back in 2019, I was one of a couple of hundred hunters that raised hell with Senator Erdman about his strong-arming of the NE Fish and Game Commission to give out 50 either sex elk tags. Let's just say that Senator Erdman called me back pissed that so many people care about the elk. For a regular dude, it takes 4-5 years of bonus points to pull a NE bull elk tag.
Funny thing is, elk used to be everywhere across the Central Plains. Reading the Lewis and Clark journeys shows just how diverse and impressive the wildlife populations used to be across the greater NE area.
Timvz26
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We are all on the side of G&F when they manage wolves for destroying cattle herds, isn’t this the same thing? Wildlife destroying someones way of life and income?
seeth07
Well-known member
Speak for yourself. I'm on the side of G&F when they manage wildlife for the betterment of wildlife and their habitat without outside influence. Sadly, I don't think that seems to exist anymore.
I totally agree with you, and greatly appreciate your efforts on behalf of our elk.
But saying "For a regular dude, it takes 4-5 years of bonus points to pull a NE bull elk tag" greatly diminishes the value of this tag.
This is a OIL tag if you harvest. if not, its a 5 year waiting period util you can start applying again. Draw odds are very low, and nobody should to expect to draw in 4-5 years, or in the max bonus pool of 7 years. Or possibly ever.
This depredation season is taking place in the Box Elder unit, which is by far the most coveted NE bull tag.
I didn't want anyone thinking elk hunting (especially bull elk hunting) was something Nebraskan's are able to regularly, if ever, in our home state. This is why so many residents are so fired up about the situation.
samuel_284Win
Well-known member
I should have added clarity there. I was inferring that it takes time for a "regular" hunter to draw a NE elk tag, as opposed to the Schuler ranch issue in 2019, whereby the landowner gets to hand select the hunters that he gives the depredation tags to and/or use himself.
Timvz26
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To each his own, every state has a unique set of circumstance they need to deal with. Can’t make both the farmer and the hunter happy all the time. Som sort of middle ground needs to be reached.
