Valentine NWR Nebraska Bowhunt

[4XBOWHUNTER]

Hello,

I am heading out in October on a DIY bow hunt in the Valentine area, this is a pre scouting/hunt as I plan to come back with my son and cousin in December for the muzzleloader hunt. A few areas I've been researching are Valentine NWR, Bobcat and long pine. Does anyone have any information they would be willing to share on any of these areas? I am not looking for anyone's location or spot.
I am curious as to if the bedding/food source is the same in Nebraska as it is in Wisconsin. I hunt a lot of river bottom, swamp and cattail areas here but the big difference I see is our deer typically have AG fields to go to where is it seems like a ton of grasses are in Nebraska and they probably do not need to travel as far for feed?

I plan on heading straight to the conservation office once I get out there and talking with them about access and camping locations etc.


Hunting pressure?
Quantity and Quality of deer herd?
Typical bedding areas and food source in Nebraska?

Thank you for any help, it is appreciated.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Head over to the new members section and give an intro.

Stick around and be a part of the forum and your questions will be answered.

 

[HighPlainsHunter]

I've done some work over at Valentine NWR so am somewhat familiar but never have hunted it. Sandhills are unique in their own ways and also can be really strenuous as walking in sand is much different than walking on hard ground. Even driving can be hazardous as we has to use off road equipment to work in that as OTR trucks are useless once you get off the gravel. They are wide open and once you lose sight of a landmark it all looks the same, just endless sand and hills.

I suspect you will not see a whole lot of pressure during archery hunting but I would recommend coming the week before gun season if you want the best hunt. December is also fairly low pressure in other parts of the state where I hunt. Gun season is a different story as that is close enough to Omaha to get plenty of folks driving over.

I don't know about the herd but there are some mule deer in that area along with whitetail. There is still some ag land in that area, look for circles on google earth, those are pivots. There will also be lush hay meadows in the sandhills that you can see on google earth, that is the likely feed source.

If you want to hunt like you do in Wisconsin you might try Merritt reservoir. There are thick cottonwoods/river bottom type terrain around parts of the lake.

I assume you are using this but if not it's really helpful.
http://outdoornebraska.gov/publicaccessatlas/

 

[4XBOWHUNTER]

Thank you for the reminder, looking forward to all this forum has to offer and hopefully I can repay some of the advice in the future.

 

[4XBOWHUNTER]

Thank you for the help High Plains Hunter, as much as I love to hunt Wisconsin, I am hoping to get out and put some miles on and try spot and stalk.

 

[Daubs]

I've hunted the Sandhills hard for years now. Mainly Valentine Refuge. I've heard of Long Pine, but not Bobcat. Note: I'm chasing muleys and spend 99% of my time in the hills, away from river bottoms, low lands.

Here is what I know related to your questions:

Hunting pressure?: Valentine gets slammed during the rifle season. Out of state over the counter tags are easy to get, and relatively inexpensive. You will actually see more out of state hunters at Valentine than in-state. I routinely see license plates from Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Kansas, even Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, talked to one guy who drove from Oregon. Sandhills are unique. I love it! Wouldn't hunt any where else. I've never bow-hunted the area, but plan to in the coming years.

Quantity and Quality of deer herd? In my experience, whitetails tend to keep close to timber, lakes, marshes, low lands. Mule deer tend to be up in the hills. Disease hit the area hard in 2011-12, and the deer population suffered. I think it's rebounding, and harvest numbers were up last year.

Typical bedding areas and food source in Nebraska? This is a difficult one to nail down. Again, whitetails tend to stick lower elevation. Yes, deer will hit the alfalfa / corn fields, but those are few and far between, and not on the refuge. This is cattle country, and you will see endless grass. I've seen whitetails and mule deer grazing on grass pretty much everywhere in the Sandhills. As far as water sources...the Refuge is full of lakes...and all the public land in Nebraska is fenced off in pastures for cattle grazing. And each pasture has a windmill / stock tank. So water sources are EVERYWHERE! I've not cracked the code when it comes to finding food sources.

Bedding areas? Again, crap shoot. I found a bed area up in the hills and hunted near it for two days...the deer never returned. My theory is Mule deer have so much food and water resources in the Sandhills, they just wander, find a place to bed down...never the same resting place as the night before.

Call the conservation office before you head west. They will give you good information.

General advice:
- Get a GPS and never, NEVER leave your truck without it. Sandhills all look alike...it's easy to get lost. A few years back a park ranger almost died...he got lost in the Sandhills in a snow storm. Not good! I hunt alone, so always take my inReach as well.
- Bring good boots. You are going to need them. When rifle hunting I routinely log 6-7 miles per day, and as many as 12 miles one day.
- Bring good glass. Good 10x glass is great, even consider a spotting scope.
- Bring a decoy sled to haul out your deer. No vehicles off road on the Refuge. Game carts are good, but the wheels tend to do poorly in the sandy soil. Decoy sled worked best.
- Yes, check out Merritt

Good luck, Daubs

 

[HighPlainsHunter]

Thank you for the help High Plains Hunter, as much as I love to hunt Wisconsin, I am hoping to get out and put some miles on and try spot and stalk.

I hear ya. What has worked for me in Nebraska is spending the first part of the day spot and stalk and then finding a spot to sit in the evenings once I'm tired as the deer start moving. Sneaking up on a mule deer in the Sandhills is no small feat as there is not a lot of cover.

As mentioned be careful in the sandhills, it's a rough place to navigate during snow. GPS is key.

Don't overlook some of the small walk in pieces. Those huge chinks are nice but many of the walk in pieces are really good during the archery hunt, especially if they have some ag land and nobody else is hunting.

 

[4XBOWHUNTER]

Thank you for the advice Daubs it is greatly appreciated. I will keep researching and once I get out there do my best to put in the miles. I am really looking forward to this new adventure.

 

[4XBOWHUNTER]

Thanks again High Plains Hunter, I will keep doing my research and see what I can pick up on from google earth.