DIY Nebraska Public Land Hunt

[Levantou]

So I was able to ask Dan the other day on a Q & A session on The Vitals Live about a DIY hunt that I want to go on in a couple of years out of state and he suggested posting my questions here. So here goes nothing...

This will be my first out of state hunt for whitetails and I am having some of my family members join. My plan is go to Nebraska so we can buy a non resident over the counter tag. My family members are more fair-weather hunters so I can't imagine getting them to purchase points to hunt a draw state. Anyway, this is where things get a little difficult.... the only way that I can get my dad to join us is if we can do some waterfowl hunting too. He isn't into deer hunting but loves waterfowl (I know, I know, I'm working on that ). So I'm looking for a part of the state to start looking into places that we can camp for a week, hunt white tails, and hunt some waterfowl all on public land. I'm not looking for anybody's spot but maybe some direction on what part of the state to even start looking and I'm wondering if this is even possible. If you would rather communicate privately, you can PM me or I'm on the Hunting Beast Facebook group and my name is Benjamin Murray.

Thank you for any help or direction that you can offer!

[Chad Gus 715]

You should also consider north dakota, archery whitetail tags are over the counter and waterfowl hunting is pretty good there.

[jmaas07]

Why wait a couple years? Do it now, you have plenty of time to pre plan and get out there this fall. Never know what the future holds

[Mopar1169]

I did my first out of state diy public land hunt last fall. It was my dad, uncle and my hunting buddy. We went to the sand hills in Nebraska. Valentine area. Mckelvin national forest and valentine wildlife refuge. Fort niobrara is now open to hunting without a permit now also. There is over 200000 acres of public in this area. Pay attention to maps though there are closed areas in the regions. Stay off anything that is blm. There are some wma's in this area too that aren't too far of a drive. Some of wma's should be pretty good this year. There was no acorns last year and a ton of corn up.

We had a ton of fun, going back the end of September for 12-14 days. It is not a eAsy hunt though gotta cover a ton of ground but once you find the deer there are lots of them. Was walking 4-12 miles a day. My buddy got a decent 8 point. I had a 140-160 in. 10 at 70 yards but didn't get any closer. If you go to this area send me a pm I can get you a starting point at least. DHD knows the area too he helped me with some info last fall.

It is a cool area. Saw elk, antelope, mule deer, porcupine and all kinds of birds.

The hunting public has a few good videos on the Sandhills worth watching. Not sure on the waterfowl hunting not a bird hunter.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/PublicAccessAtlas/

[Bonecrusher101]

This is just my thought on it. If I was going to try to do something like you are wanting to do, I’d stay focused on one thing. Out of state hunts can be expensive and challenging enough as is. They will only be even harder with a smaller success rate if you spread yourselves too thin trying to do too much.

If I want a quality hunt with my dad and he likes shooting ducks I would focus on shooting ducks with him. I’d save my out of state deer hunts to share with another hunter who would be on the same level with the same goals as myself.

[Levantou]

I appreciate all of the feedback! This was exactly what I'm looking for. This is a much safer place than Facebook .

I know having to wait a couple of years and hunting waterfowl and deer doesn't make much sense but there are just so many factors at play right now that this is my best option. It's just where I am at in life but soon I will make the switch over to making this a part of my ever year or every other year plans. This is more of a half step for me into where I really want to be.

Again, I appreciate all of the feedback that you guys gave.

[thwack16]

I graduated college in 2012 and my dad and I vowed to start going on annual out of state public land bowhunting trips starting that fall. We didn’t make it that year because I developed a cancer and that killed that trip.

We found an excuse each year until 2017. We literally text or talk about tactics or gear or something for the coming year’s trip every day now. My wife and I buy his tag for the coming fall for his birthday, and an IA preference point for each Father’s Day.

So my advice is simply to go. This year. Even if it’s just a 3 day trip. Even if you have to eat cheese and crackers for every meal from now until then to scrap up the money to pay for you and your dads tags. Even if you just waterfowl Hunt the mornings and scout for deer in the afternoons for a potential trip the next season. I promise you the experience and memories will be worth it.

[DhD]

I did my first out of state diy public land hunt last fall. It was my dad, uncle and my hunting buddy. We went to the sand hills in Nebraska. Valentine area. Mckelvin national forest and valentine wildlife refuge. Fort niobrara is now open to hunting without a permit now also. There is over 200000 acres of public in this area. Pay attention to maps though there are closed areas in the regions. Stay off anything that is blm. There are some wma's in this area too that aren't too far of a drive. Some of wma's should be pretty good this year. There was no acorns last year and a ton of corn up.

We had a ton of fun, going back the end of September for 12-14 days. It is not a eAsy hunt though gotta cover a ton of ground but once you find the deer there are lots of them. Was walking 4-12 miles a day. My buddy got a decent 8 point. I had a 140-160 in. 10 at 70 yards but didn't get any closer. If you go to this area send me a pm I can get you a starting point at least. DHD knows the area too he helped me with some info last fall.

It is a cool area. Saw elk, antelope, mule deer, porcupine and all kinds of birds.

The hunting public has a few good videos on the Sandhills worth watching. Not sure on the waterfowl hunting not a bird hunter.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/PublicAccessAtlas/

If you really wanna have wayyyy too much to do, Merritt reservoir has great fishing just up the road. I go up at least once a year to fish muskie. The Sandhills are gorgeous. I haven't been up yet this year and I'm itching to go.

[DhD]

I did my first out of state diy public land hunt last fall. It was my dad, uncle and my hunting buddy. We went to the sand hills in Nebraska. Valentine area. Mckelvin national forest and valentine wildlife refuge. Fort niobrara is now open to hunting without a permit now also. There is over 200000 acres of public in this area. Pay attention to maps though there are closed areas in the regions. Stay off anything that is blm. There are some wma's in this area too that aren't too far of a drive. Some of wma's should be pretty good this year. There was no acorns last year and a ton of corn up.

We had a ton of fun, going back the end of September for 12-14 days. It is not a eAsy hunt though gotta cover a ton of ground but once you find the deer there are lots of them. Was walking 4-12 miles a day. My buddy got a decent 8 point. I had a 140-160 in. 10 at 70 yards but didn't get any closer. If you go to this area send me a pm I can get you a starting point at least. DHD knows the area too he helped me with some info last fall.

It is a cool area. Saw elk, antelope, mule deer, porcupine and all kinds of birds.

The hunting public has a few good videos on the Sandhills worth watching. Not sure on the waterfowl hunting not a bird hunter.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/PublicAccessAtlas/

You forgot to mention how much fun walking in sand is! Don't even get me started on the places it gets into..

[Mopar1169]

I did my first out of state diy public land hunt last fall. It was my dad, uncle and my hunting buddy. We went to the sand hills in Nebraska. Valentine area. Mckelvin national forest and valentine wildlife refuge. Fort niobrara is now open to hunting without a permit now also. There is over 200000 acres of public in this area. Pay attention to maps though there are closed areas in the regions. Stay off anything that is blm. There are some wma's in this area too that aren't too far of a drive. Some of wma's should be pretty good this year. There was no acorns last year and a ton of corn up.

We had a ton of fun, going back the end of September for 12-14 days. It is not a eAsy hunt though gotta cover a ton of ground but once you find the deer there are lots of them. Was walking 4-12 miles a day. My buddy got a decent 8 point. I had a 140-160 in. 10 at 70 yards but didn't get any closer. If you go to this area send me a pm I can get you a starting point at least. DHD knows the area too he helped me with some info last fall.

It is a cool area. Saw elk, antelope, mule deer, porcupine and all kinds of birds.

The hunting public has a few good videos on the Sandhills worth watching. Not sure on the waterfowl hunting not a bird hunter.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/PublicAccessAtlas/

You forgot to mention how much fun walking in sand is! Don't even get me started on the places it gets into..

Never had a problem with sand last year maybe because it was so wet the grass was grown in more then usual. The sand burs on the other hand those things are the devil. Those things suck.

[DhD]

Yeah a wet year isn't nearly as bad. When it's really dry I wouldn't even drive thru the Valentine refuge without 4wd. Too easy to get stuck. Don't ask how I know.

[greenhorndave]

I did my first out of state diy public land hunt last fall. It was my dad, uncle and my hunting buddy. We went to the sand hills in Nebraska. Valentine area. Mckelvin national forest and valentine wildlife refuge. Fort niobrara is now open to hunting without a permit now also. There is over 200000 acres of public in this area. Pay attention to maps though there are closed areas in the regions. Stay off anything that is blm. There are some wma's in this area too that aren't too far of a drive. Some of wma's should be pretty good this year. There was no acorns last year and a ton of corn up.

We had a ton of fun, going back the end of September for 12-14 days. It is not a eAsy hunt though gotta cover a ton of ground but once you find the deer there are lots of them. Was walking 4-12 miles a day. My buddy got a decent 8 point. I had a 140-160 in. 10 at 70 yards but didn't get any closer. If you go to this area send me a pm I can get you a starting point at least. DHD knows the area too he helped me with some info last fall.

It is a cool area. Saw elk, antelope, mule deer, porcupine and all kinds of birds.

The hunting public has a few good videos on the Sandhills worth watching. Not sure on the waterfowl hunting not a bird hunter.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/PublicAccessAtlas/

You forgot to mention how much fun walking in sand is! Don't even get me started on the places it gets into..

Oh come on, it taint that bad.

[Mopar1169]

Here is the pic pudster.

Screenshot_20200702-191349.png