Roughing it at deer camp

The nucleus of the group, two old Air Force friends, have been coming for years, since 1990 in fact. The first time that they showed, I was farming south of McCook. The plea was to be allowed to set up "Deer Camp" in my large open-front machinery shed. They were active-duty Air Force at the time stationed at headquarters SAC, Offutt AFB.

The year before they showed at my farm, they had set up their tents in the Chadron area and suffered day after day of wet snow. They were discouraged because that trip was flat miserable.

Black powder season corresponded with corn picking so my shed was relatively empty. The mighty hunters erected their tents inside the shed -- wet snow no longer a problem. Then they dragged up some large logs in front of the shed and had a big bonfire each evening.

Deer hunting was good too, and the five of them filled their tags then went pheasant hunting. Most had grown up in town so were intrigued with the farming operation.

To the pilots in the group, driving the tractor pulling the grain cart alongside the combine was just like flying formation in their B-52.

Hunting during the early mornings and evenings, playing at farming during the day and enjoying a beverage at night in front of a camp fire -- life was good!

The group has evolved over the years, but two of the now-retired Air Force guys have made it back for black powder season every year. John L. was the senior B-52 gunner in SAC and is now retired and lives in south central Texas.

John S., the retired B-52 pilot, is now a United Airlines Captain and lives in Illinois north of Chicago. He also brought Paul, his civilian neighbor, who designs and installs kitchen cabinets.

From Wisconsin came Jeff a software engineer. From Pennsylvania John's cousin, Tom, a biker and retired Pennsylvania Department of Roads worker. New this year was Andy, U.S. Army Retired, a California native now living in the state of Virginia.

Deer Camp is now located in my hangar at the Airport. My airplanes get tied outside and the hunters set up their cots in the open space. Several years ago they helped build a bathroom, complete with shower and also a rudimentary kitchen. The hangar came with an infrared heater, which while not exactly warm sure beats a wet tent. The bonfire had to go, but a charcoal grill suffices for now. Possibly a wood-burning pot bellied stove is in the future. The best part is still the evening camaraderie and great breakfasts at the Country Kitchen.

Well they aren't exactly roughing it and when I prod them to get out early the excuse is that they are also "on vacation." Eight out of 10 deer tags filled; not bad!

Driving and flying the countryside in Southwest Nebraska is a pleasure. I recommend that you go out and explore the country roads if you haven't done so lately. One day I spotted 45 deer, both muley and whitetail. I also found two separate flocks of wild turkeys, one along the Republican River and the other near Driftwood Creek. And pheasants -- many many more than I've seen in years. Mostly, we found pheasants in heavy cover and difficult to flush but there are a lot of them once again.

My guys concealed in a blind while waiting for whitetails to venture from cover on a couple of occasions watched bobcats also hunting supper. Coyotes seem to be few in numbers, and that has been due to an ongoing mange epidemic. Cottontail rabbits were spotted in their usual numbers and I was thrilled to see a few jack rabbits, which have been rare for a long time in this area.

Paul never brings a rifle or intends to shoot a deer. His forte' is the camera and I flew the countryside with him taking pictures from my Champ. Paul always brags that he gets his deer and he does by the hundreds, turkeys too and even flying formation with a semi.

South of the Republican about halfway to Culbertson I noticed a large bald eagle resting high in a big cottonwood tree. The next day flying west in my Champ I spied him again flying along with typical giant eagle strokes of his brown-colored wings. From above the brilliant white of his head and tail projected the great strength of the symbol of our wonderful country.

As in every up there were also a few downs. One was to be refused entry to a property that I have hunted for well over 40 years. And yes, I think that is the future of hunting private property in this area. More and more hunting rights are being leased to mainly out-of-town hunters and large areas of the Republican River habitat are being purchased by out-of-town persons strictly for hunting rights. Yes, I know that it is the owner's right to refuse and I respect that opinion, but it still is a bit disappointing.

The other down is an abundance of musk thistle to be found in about all the good habitat that we enjoyed searching. Musk thistle is an invasive species that has been designated a noxious weed, thus requiring control measures by the landowner.

Controlling the weed is a tough job, though, as it requires either hand-spraying or aerial application when all surrounding vegetation is dormant. A natural insect control is attempted in some areas but from what I've seen isn't entirely successful.

The week of "guiding" and associating with my nimrod friends is an annual treat for me. The State of Nebraska profits too as each of the five deer hunters this year paid out $230 and the one who hunted only pheasant $52 in license fees. A special treat this year was watching my grandson, T.J. bag his first pheasant! Thanks to Marion North, Sean Lacey and Chuck Trail who contributed time and talent to help make the hunt a success. My friends promise to be back again next year.

That is the way I see it.