Nebraska DIY Hunt
- Thread starter Cass.via
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HighPlainsHunter
Active Member
Sure. Go book a room at one of the state parks or other lodging near public land (USFS, BLM, WMA, state park, etc) in the Western part of the state for for a week. Get a deer/antelope/turkey tag(s) and go hunt hard every day. Valentine, Thedford, Scottsbluff, Harrison, etc..
It's really not difficult with OTC tags.
It's really not difficult with OTC tags.
Hilltop
Veteran member
7 year member and only 1 post?
Public land opportunities are fairly limited in Nebraska. We have plenty of deer but most reside on private property. If you are looking for opportunities at multiple stalks, I would recommend Wyoming or Colorado in the high country. There are some decent areas that can be drawn with 0-1 point and I think your overall experience would be much better. For what it's worth, I have lived in Nebraska for 20 years and have only harvested one buck mule deer here. In that same period I have taken several nice Wyoming bucks. Good luck to you.
Public land opportunities are fairly limited in Nebraska. We have plenty of deer but most reside on private property. If you are looking for opportunities at multiple stalks, I would recommend Wyoming or Colorado in the high country. There are some decent areas that can be drawn with 0-1 point and I think your overall experience would be much better. For what it's worth, I have lived in Nebraska for 20 years and have only harvested one buck mule deer here. In that same period I have taken several nice Wyoming bucks. Good luck to you.
hunttrap
Active Member
I've spent considerable amount of time in halsey and chadron area. Be prepared to walk 10-15 miles a day. You probably will not see much for deer, but you might get lucky. It's a tough hunt. Be prepared to be mentally tough because going up and down those sandhills for a week straight and not seeing much makes it tough. All public land Ive hunted here in Nebraska gets pounded really hard. Even early season I've noticed. I think people have velvet muleys on there mind early season. I would go in with the expectation to see maybe 1 130-140 inch or so inch deer and a few fork bucks. Sorry I don't have better news. This has just been my experience.
HighPlainsHunter
Active Member
There are plenty of deer on public land during archery season most of the time but he deer numbers are down quite a bit in parts of the state compared to where they were in 2010.
I had a lot of fun hunting public land in Nebraska back then and never had issues with other archery hunters aside from antelope season which gets pretty busy in the NW corner of the state.
The whole trick to hunting Nebraska is feed. Some placed the ag land backs right up to public and the deer go back and forth every day. Other places like walk in land have agriculture on them so you have more flexibility. Go look at the interactive public access atlas and you will find lots of places to hunt public land in Nebraska.
https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/publicaccessatlas/
I can assure you that many of those smaller properties you see do not have archery hunters on them on a regular basis. I used to live out by a section of CRP. Never once did I see a person hunting it over 6 years including rifle season. Don't overlook those little pieces, many are great hunting and most people don't bother with those, especially if it's a long dirt road drive and away from populated areas.
I had a lot of fun hunting public land in Nebraska back then and never had issues with other archery hunters aside from antelope season which gets pretty busy in the NW corner of the state.
The whole trick to hunting Nebraska is feed. Some placed the ag land backs right up to public and the deer go back and forth every day. Other places like walk in land have agriculture on them so you have more flexibility. Go look at the interactive public access atlas and you will find lots of places to hunt public land in Nebraska.
https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/publicaccessatlas/
I can assure you that many of those smaller properties you see do not have archery hunters on them on a regular basis. I used to live out by a section of CRP. Never once did I see a person hunting it over 6 years including rifle season. Don't overlook those little pieces, many are great hunting and most people don't bother with those, especially if it's a long dirt road drive and away from populated areas.
Do not be shy about contacting landowners for permission during bow season in Nebraska, do your homework via Onxmaps or some other means for landowners. Do it this summer, best bet is to take some time this summer for a scouting trip. Pine Ridge area and Valentine area can be tough for permission, highly sought after area, there are other areas of Nebraska that hold mulies that permission would come easier.
Muley bound
Active Member
I’ve hunted Nebraska quite a bit over the last 4 years. From what I have experienced, the public land gets hit pretty hard. I’ve been fortunate enough to hunt private land and it’s been some of the best deer hunting (mulies and whitetail) I’ve experienced. I have a friend who hunts public land in north central Nebraska, he sees quite a bit of deer and has taken a few. Mostly smaller bucks like forkys and small 3x3s. Like previously mentioned, I would definitely try to get some permission for private. If not, I still wouldn’t let stop me from going and having a great time chasing deer!
Read the regulations! Find out where you are allowed to hunt and then see if you want to hunt there. It all flows downhill as you get more and more questions - you can figure stuff out about out-of-state hunting. Don't be afraid to read a lot of stuff and make some phone calls.
Enjoy the process.
Enjoy the process.