# Nebraska Whitetail Hunt



## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

Well all the stars aligned and me and a friend from Layton are going on a whitetail hunt in Nebraska. He has been on many as he is from New Hampshire, but it is a first for me, and also my first attempt at taking a game animal with a bow. I have been out practicing and feeling fairly confident but i know that all changes when in the hunting scene. I will be practicing my "stand" shooting off the top of a carport into pasture. 
Any stories/experience/ideas you want to share would be appreciated as the last week of October cannot come soon enough.

BTW- I couldn't believe how easy it was to get tags and all in Nebraska. $195 gets you a tag and a bonus antlerless tag and they are unlimited for archery and muzzleloader meaning they don't sellout. Sounds good to me.

And a plug for a friend who is helping us out on this hunt.......he owns a MEAT SPICES COMPANY that is top notch and some of the best spice I have used. He gears some good work ups specifically for game meat. Anybody that has used it has been sold as well. Especially for the price$$$$ Check it out. :arrow: http://www.friscospices.com


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Hey Tagalong - great news on the huskerhunt. I wish you the best of luck. Do you know where you will be hunting? I used to live in Ogallala. What kind of hunt are you looking at doing? tree stand? spot and stock? sneaky ambush? The tough thing out there will be lining up the land to hunt. It is also tricky because usually those lands are limited to 1000 acres or less of contiguous land so it is VERY different than hunting in Utah. There are a few public areas along some river corridors you can hit that might produce. At the same time, most land owners are pretty good about letting you on the property if you are willing to chat them up. Don't show up opening morning, or even the night before and expect to get on. But start making those contacts now and it will help out. There are a couple of Nebraska guys who are part of this forum and might help you out as well. Best of luck.


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks- We got the land all lined up......through the friend I mentinod that owns Friscospices.
He lives in La Vista in the Omaha area and has great land and access from what I gather. He says they have been eyeing some nice bucks already. It will be tree stand hunting and that stuff is already set up and area too. So in that respect I guess it would be considered a somewhat guided hunt in the fact that it is private land and he has known the area almost his whole life.

The unit I believe he said was Wahoo but Nebraska tags archery are statewide.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Hey that's great! Sounds like everything is set then. Best of luck to you. 

My suggestion then is to get a stand of your own and practice shooting from it. Is your friend putting out any scouting cams?


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Perfect time of the year to hunt Whitetails Tag. They will be prerut then and the deer will be on scrape lines then this is the perfect time to hunt them, especially if the ground is private and the pressure is light they will keep from tending them only at night, which is commonplace with excess pressure, good luck and be sure to let us know how you do. Rattling will work great that time of year as well so bring a fresh set of sheds, the bucks are really wandering then starting to look for early estrous does. You will be perfect in my opinion that is my favorite time then to the first week in Nov. after that you might as well hunt does because that is where the bucks will be.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Hey that's great! Sounds like everything is set then. Best of luck to you.
> 
> My suggestion then is to get a stand of your own and practice shooting from it. Is your friend putting out any scouting cams?


Gary fish is right; shooting from up in a stand is a whole different ball game, the angles all change, Practice, Practice, Practice

If you like to move very much on the stand be aware that whitetails look up. Those deer will pick you off up there in a stand if you fidget around or you skyline yourself.

Have a great hunt


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## roaroftherockies (Oct 19, 2007)

Jed, that is going to be a great hunt! Good luck and I want to set something up for spices. I have tried his stuff and it is amazing! Are you going to try and film each others hunts by chance?


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

I am taking my video camera equipment and we'll see what happens. We could call the video "Rookies chasin' tail!" 

I've always wondered why they count each individual point on Whitetail?? Is it to make them feel better about shooting these undersized deer? Just curious? :shock: :mrgreen:


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## threshershark (Sep 7, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> I used to live in Ogallala.


Wear the fox hat!


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

tagalong said:


> Is it to make them feel better about shooting these undersized deer? Just curious? :shock: :mrgreen:


Tag you just may be surprised that those corn fed Nebraska bucks are not necessarily _"undersized"_


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

I hope so.......I am excited as ever about this hunt but 12 hours in the car each way is not looking pretty..... :wink:


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Its more like 14 hours.


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Its more like 14 hours.


Thanks that makes me feel better.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

If you want some great food a bit off the beaten path, take off from I-80 at Overton - Exit 248 and head north to the town of Sumner. You'll find a place there called "Tub's Pub." On any evening, it is the only place in this little wide spot that will have cars parked near it. Weekends Tub serves up the best prime rib you'll ever find. Great local food and worth the side trip. It is about 25 minutes off the interstate, but worth it. Then you can take the road on into the north side of Kearney, hit the old Cabelas (best prices) store on Highway 30 and be on your way to Omaha.


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

Not sure what time of the year you are going (Oct / Nov?). Early October the does are not attracting bucks, so the bucks are fighting quite a bit. That is the time to use some doe in heat scent as there are very few around at that time.

I have some pics of bucks that WILL NOT leave a doe once they are in season, so rattling will not do much good about the 2nd week of November. I guess every year could be different. I think all you will attract late in the season (mid November) are smaller bucks because they have been run off by all the bigger bucks.

A big buck will stick by a doe's side and he won't come off to fight unless he can see a smaller buck and he usually runs back to the doe. Just my opinion.

Here is an image of a bunch of young bucks running around that can't find a doe.

[attachment=27nfgjt2]Nov 17 008.JPG[/attachment7nfgjt2]

This buck is not a shooter, but an example of how they will stick with a doe in mid November. This pair stayed within 50 yards for about 2 hours. At least the animals I have seen will not move around much.

[attachment=17nfgjt2]Nov 17 043.JPG[/attachment7nfgjt2]

[attachment=07nfgjt2]Nov 17 044.JPG[/attachment7nfgjt2]

If I can find some photos of some great bucks, they were taken in October. I have also seen some great bucks taken the first week of November using some doe scent. I just like the option of hunting them BEFORE any does come into season, so the bucks are running around and ready to fight. Once there are a lot of does around, the bucks are not going to roam as much.

Another factor I like is corn is harvested starting in October, so that starts making the deer roam around a lot because they don't have the cover they once did.

The image quailty is not that good due to low light and no tripod in the heavy timber up in a tree stand. There are a lot of deer and they will come in from every direction. So getting up helps get you out of sight.

Two guys arrowed some B&C bucks last year walking. The "rest" of the story is they walked up on 2 huge bucks that had their horns locked. I think it would be hard to stalk a buck that is not in a fight or locked up with another one.


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks- Yeah we are going out the end of October........24th-28th. Sounds like I should be there right at a good time. We are going that particular weekend because it is before the official rut and on lunar cycles.......anyway I just follow orders right now. I have never hunted whitetail before and the other 2 I have hunted with have so I am just going along with them. I guess that would be the reason for the name- Tagalong-


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Looks like you and I agree on the timing of the rut and rattling and how how and when deer react huh Nueces? Good pics of a tending buck!


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

Anaconda Pintler said:


> Looks like you and I agree on the timing of the rut and rattling and how how and when deer react huh Nueces? Good pics of a tending buck!


Yeah, the big bucks will stay low (that's why they are big) unless it is pre rut or when it is brutal cold with snow cover and it forces them to eat. If they have seen humans before, the only way to catch them is when the blood quits flowing to their brain during the pre rut or rut.


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Prerut is what I like about Whitetails they are aggressively searching and competing for does. It gets a little late in the tending phase of the rut and they sometimes seem to disapear with a hot one, and do not seem to move as much. Scrape lines that do not have human intereferance is where I kill the majority of my biggest whitetails with traditional archery. I love to find a good scrape line that is wet and well tended.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

You're in a very, very good unit out there. The Wahoo unit is one of the most sought-after rifle tags in the state. You're in good shape for a good hunt. There are a ton of deer further east and you're smack dab in the middle of some really good hunting.


Now, as far as undersized. Bull. I've been in camps where there are about equal numbers of mule deer to whitetails. Aside from the racks, the body size isn't any different. Once you get a taste for them, you'll not want to eat mule deer. They eat 10x better than mule deer.

Also, there are almost too many deer out here and they really need some thinning. Keep an open mind, there are some very nice deer to be shot, but your tag is either sex with a bonus antlerless tag. If you don't see a shooter buck, please fill both tags. Shoot two does if you have to. It really will help the herd out here. I've shot three does in the last two years because I haven't seen a shooter buck. I've got some good spots marked out and I'm hunting MZ and archery this year....that's 4 tags for me. They will all be filled. 

Good luck.

If there are any other flatlanders out here enjoying "The good life" let me know...maybe we could get together on a hunt somewhere. I have some pretty good pheasant hunting spots that have produced some good numbers of birds.

Caddis


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

> I have some pretty good pheasant hunting spots that have produced some good numbers of birds.


I am hoping to make it out this fall with Trout. Yesterday, again the mrs. suggested I might enjoy a good pheasant hunt with the pooch this fall. I'd love to hit those fields around Grainton with the Trout learning a little from Ruby.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Um, that can be arranged. I've got a couple other good spots as well. You tell me when and where and I'll be there. I'll take the smokepole in case we see a deer also....

Let me know when you'll be around and I'll make myself available. 

When the Mrs. says that you need to take a trip, you must take a trip...out of principle.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

It'll be late november, or even early december before I can swing it. It is sad when I know this far in advance what weekends are booked up already! But a little snow in the fields is no biggie.


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## Mr. Loopy (Dec 20, 2007)

I want to come and shoot some pheasants.... me too, me too!!!


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I don


Mr. Loopy said:


> I want to come and shoot some pheasants.... me too, me too!!!


I don't know Caddis8. Should we let Loopy come too?


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Mr. Loopy can come. We scouted the places you sent me last year, so he already knows the goods. He's a shady character, but I'm trying to help a guy out, so we'll take him.

I have to say he can come because he'll come to my desk from 30 feet away and swat me. He's substantially bigger than me, so I don't want to end up in trouble. 

By the way, are you going to be in town next week(6-12?) Let's get together for lunch if you're around.


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## Renegade (Sep 11, 2007)

You will have a great hunt out here in Nebraska. I spent the afternoon hanging stands & placing cameras along the Republican River in southern Nebraska. I'll put up some pics when I get them.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Hey Renegade, 

You probably have the place all staked out and that's really cool. If you ever want company, I'm a novice at this bowhunting stuff, but I'd love to tag along sometime to learn more about bowhunting and learn more about the area. Heck, I'll even shoot does and not bucks....I just like the meat. 

Anyway, good luck. It's been a pretty good year from what I hear, especially east. You guys got a lot of water.


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## Mr. Loopy (Dec 20, 2007)

Pheasants can wait!! I will be archery hunting for the first time this year in Nebraska. I am going to place my stand out in a week or so, and I will be ready to go!! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!!!!


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## JedInUtah (Sep 10, 2007)

Me too........2 months and counting......I will be out there from the 23-28th of Oct. in the La Vista area around Omaha.
You guys that do whitetail out there really need to try out some of these friscospices! http://www.friscospices.com That stuff is legit. It is a NE based company.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Hey Mr. Loopy - 
I had lunch today with Caddis8 back here in Utah. I set him up with some utahwildlife.net stickers. Be sure you get one from him upon his triumphant return to "The Good Life." I hope I can hook up with you guys on some ditch parrots this winter.

GaryFish


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks again, Gary. It was great to meet you and put a name to the face. I look forward to the ditch parrots later this year.


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## Mr. Loopy (Dec 20, 2007)

Sounds like a good plan. Can't wait to do so more hunting this year!


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## Mr. Loopy (Dec 20, 2007)

caddis8,

FYI - Nick and I are going hunting on the 19th and 20th. We are taking the day off on the 19th and will probably leave early on the 18th to maybe hunt that evening... We will be coming home that Saturday night.

He might be bringing a friend. I know that's already a substantial group for Nebraska archery, but I wanted you to know that you are still invited if you want to come and don't mind the group. 

I got my stand and Rob and I are putting it out tonight...


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## Renegade (Sep 11, 2007)

I'd love to have ya tag along sometime caddis, the only problem is I sometimes don't know if I'm going out until that day! 

I'll keep ya in mind though. It's going to be a busy fall, moving/rifle elk hunt in Utah/bowhunt in Nebraska/YO Ranch hunt with NUGE in Dec.


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