Nebraska Changes - "Spring bag limit reduction not enough"

[deerhunt1988]

https://journalstar.com/news/local/nebraska-game-and-parks-rejects-turkey-hunt-changes-approves-lion-river-otter-seasons/article_04ef6ce9-4f12-51aa-9095-2e155aaa9391.html

Their commission rejected the proposed changes on grounds that it isn't enough. Another proposal will be put together for the August meeting.

Some key lines:

After Meduna and his staff recommended the restrictions, he heard from about a dozen hunters, he said.

None of them opposed the changes. "In fact, a fair number have said we're not going far enough."

And at their meeting Friday in Lexington, Game and Parks Commissioners said the same thing — and voted against the proposed changes.

"They rejected our staff recommendations on the premise we weren't doing enough to minimize the impact on the turkey population," Meduna said after the meeting.

Commissioners asked for a revised plan that would further reduce the fall hen harvest, and minimize the impact of the spring season, he said.

He plans to have something ready for the commission's August meeting.

Still, THOSE ARE JUST THEORIES, he said. To get harder evidence of what's happening with Nebraska's turkeys, the commission is planning a three-year research study with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Georgia.

This winter, they plan to place song meters in the trees of two western Nebraska study sites, allowing them to record the rate and intensity of gobbling and correlate that to the breeding and nesting seasons. That will help show, among other things, the impact of the hunting season on gobbling, an important part of the turkey breeding cycle.

They will also install 120 GPS collars on turkeys — 60 at each site — to study the survival of toms and hens, their habitat selection and nest survival.

Good chance the spring season will be pushed back/reduced, as the only other way to minimize spring harvest would be to drop the bag limit to 1. Then as you read on to see who is getting involved with Nebraska and the theories they are basing the changes on, it makes sense why they want to tighten regulations up so much more. At least we will find out that hunting pressure impacts gobbling and survival, like all the other song-meter studies show.

[BBR12]

Dang that's crazy since I got 487 emails from Nebraska game and fish and the NWTF this year telling me to come on out and kill some. Turkeys everywhere they said.

[deerhunt1988]

Dang that's crazy since I got 487 emails from Nebraska game and fish and the NWTF this year telling me to come on out and kill some. Turkeys everywhere they said.

Nebraska was definitely on the forefront of pimping out their turkey resource. I vividly remember the full page ads in hunting magazines/digests "Come for a merriam's, stay for two more!" (or something similar) that started a decade or so ago. And advertising all the great turkey hunting public land they had.

Fastforward to today, Chadron is basically a meme due to the mass attention it gets and how far it has declined in quality thanks to the internet (and Nebraska Game and Fish's own advertising campaign!)

Ought to be a lesson to other state agencies, but the past couple years have showed us different with states paying YouTubers and influencers to come hunt.

[Tail Feathers]

I'm guessing they will shorten their season.  It's pretty long.  With youth and archery it's nearly two months.  And I second all the emails they send.

[deerhunt1988]

I'm guessing they will shorten their season.  It's pretty long.  With youth and archery it's nearly two months.  And I second all the emails they send.

Really long season! I thought archery opened in April, but it actually starts in March. I believe that is the longest season in the country.




Definitely not cutting much opportunity if its pushed back a week. I'd much rather see a week knocked off than a bag limit of 1.

[Dtrkyman]

They need to change their tag system, you can buy a tag and print out as many as you like!  Definitely some taking advantage of that!  I know a violator is a violator regardless of laws/rules, but it makes it way to easy to shoot multiple birds and appear legal!

I hunt a different state that has a really low harvest number and almost no one shoots a second bird, I have shot 2 birds each year I hunted there, and with the amount of pressure I see there is no way there harvest numbers are accurate, or it has the worst turkey hunters in the country!!! 

[Stoeger_bird]

They need to change their tag system, you can buy a tag and print out as many as you like!  Definitely some taking advantage of that!  I know a violator is a violator regardless of laws/rules, but it makes it way to easy to shoot multiple birds and appear legal!

I hunt a different state that has a really low harvest number and almost no one shoots a second bird, I have shot 2 birds each year I hunted there, and with the amount of pressure I see there is no way there harvest numbers are accurate, or it has the worst turkey hunters in the country!!!

Yea Dave "Pinhoti" Ownens got busted for this in 2017 but what a role model he is you know.

[Stoeger_bird]

I believe he also got busted in either Georgia or Alabama also before that. Doesn't that make him an habitual rules breaker? More like Pinpoachie right? 

[Yoder409]

Good friend of mine is an appointed Nebraska commissioner.  I'll have to talk to him.  See what the consensus is for the final plan.

[Paulmyr]

They need to change their tag system, you can buy a tag and print out as many as you like!  Definitely some taking advantage of that!  I know a violator is a violator regardless of laws/rules, but it makes it way to easy to shoot multiple birds and appear legal!

I hunt a different state that has a really low harvest number and almost no one shoots a second bird, I have shot 2 birds each year I hunted there, and with the amount of pressure I see there is no way there harvest numbers are accurate, or it has the worst turkey hunters in the country!!!

Yea Dave "Pinhoti" Ownens got busted for this in 2017 but what a role model he is you know.

Could you provide more info on this? The only thing I could come up with was a Rodney Owen from Mo commiting game violations in Ne.

[Tail Feathers]

Good friend of mine is an appointed Nebraska commissioner.  I'll have to talk to him.  See what the consensus is for the final plan.

Please share with us as you are able.

[Kylongspur88]

Dang that's crazy since I got 487 emails from Nebraska game and fish and the NWTF this year telling me to come on out and kill some. Turkeys everywhere they said.

Kentucky does the same bs for turkeys and especially deer. They love to advertise "come hunt the peak of the rut with a rifle on an over the counter tag." Now the average guy has been priced out of hunting and there's no shortage of grifters making a nice profit

[TonyTurk]

They need to change their tag system, you can buy a tag and print out as many as you like!  Definitely some taking advantage of that!  I know a violator is a violator regardless of laws/rules, but it makes it way to easy to shoot multiple birds and appear legal!

I hunt a different state that has a really low harvest number and almost no one shoots a second bird, I have shot 2 birds each year I hunted there, and with the amount of pressure I see there is no way there harvest numbers are accurate, or it has the worst turkey hunters in the country!!!

Yea Dave "Pinhoti" Ownens got busted for this in 2017 but what a role model he is you know.

Could you provide more info on this this? The only thing I could come up with was a Rodney Owen from Mo commiting game violations in Ne.

I also could not find anything on an internet search for violations by Dave Owens.  Maybe I don't know where to look? 

[Dtrkyman]

I don't remember any specifics about Owen's but I thought he even did a video about making a tagging mistake?

happens I won't hold it against em.

[Yoder409]

Good friend of mine is an appointed Nebraska commissioner.  I'll have to talk to him.  See what the consensus is for the final plan.

Please share with us as you are able.

If I am privy to any insight, I will definitely let you know.