Deer hunters had work cut out for them in SW Nebraska

Deer season wrapped up Monday afternoon with the final deer of the season being checked in by 1 p.m. Hunters had Sunday to harvest their deer.
Sophie Gobber, Nebraska Game and Parks Conservation Officer for Chase, Dundy, Hayes and Hitchcock counties, said area residents said a lot of the big herds of deer are gone and numbers are down.
Many non-resident hunters left early because of the lack of deer, she added.
Angie West with Wauneta Crossroads said hunters stopping in said deer numbers were down.
At Lakers Bait & Tackle, Ron Schoenberger said doe hunters had pretty good success, but trophy hunters had tougher luck.
Gobber noticed that more Dundy County hunters took doe, while hunters in Chase County had more trophy bucks.
She said the deer in southwest Nebraska are healthier than the deer in other parts of the state, but high number of permits issued for the region in the last five years has driven down the population.
Last year all deer were checked in through Telecheck. This season marked the return of check-in stations.
Wauneta Crossroads checked in 280 deer, including 32 from kids under 16.
West said she saw a lot of familiar non-resident hunters and a lot of father-son groups.
Schoenberger checked in 244 deer at Lakers Bait & Tackle.
He said they checked in 157 mule deer and 90 white tail deer, and 196 bucks compared to 48 doe.
Check-ins got off to a slow start with a lot of little deer, but Schoenberger said as the pace picked up a lot of nice deer were taken.
Most deer were taken the opening four days of the season, he added.
Overall, Lakers checked in 203 deer from Chase County, 24 from Dundy County, 10 from Perkins County, five from Hayes County and one each from Furnas and Hitchcock counties.
Twenty-six deer were taken around Enders Reservoir, Schoenberger said.
Safe deer season
Gobber said the season went well.
One of the season’s biggest concerns were calls about hunters in the timber around Enders Reservoir without their hunters orange.
Gobber issued a lot of warnings, but she said the tickets she issued were to non-resident hunters.
This was Gobber’s first deer season as conservation officer in the area.
She said it was a lot of fun and she appreciates the trust of the landowners who contacted her.
“It was good to meet them and have them introduce themselves,” Gobber said.
Muzzloader season begins
    Muzzleader season will run through the month of December in Nebraska.
    Archery season continues until Dec. 31.
    Permits are unlimited for both seasons and available at on the Nebraska Game and Parks website, https://ngpc
home.ne.gov/.
    Antlerless Late Season will be Jan. 1 to Jan. 16, 2022 and Late River Antlerless will run throughout the month of January.
Wauneta Crossroads
announces raffle winners
    On Wednesday Wauneta Crossroads announced the winners of its gun raffle. Michael Hiett won the Ruger American Creedmoor 6.5 rifle and Chad Nordhausen won the Ruger 9MM. Double 9 Firearms also sponsored the event.
    Proceeds of the raffle go to the Hunter Education program.
    Winners of the Nebraska Game and Parks’ Lifetime Permit winners are Kaci Burke, Bryce Mandeville, Aaron Sinclair and Luke Kuenning. Wauneta Crossroads draws four Hunter’s Safety students each year for the permits.
    Facebook followers will soon be able to vote on the Wauneta Crossroads page for the Big Buck Contest. Deer checked in a Crossroads will be narrowed down to 10 and their pictures will be posted. The buck with the most likes will be declared the winner.