Crofton waterfowler John Schuckman took these greenheads from his decoy spread on the Missouri River. Photo courtesy of John Schuckman

If you're one of the many freelance waterfowl hunters in Nebraska -- those who don't have a permanent blind or pit -- December often makes finding a spot to hunt rather difficult. That quandary can be resolved if you'll take the time to check the public hunting areas in our state to see which ones are holding birds.

Last fall and winter was somewhat dismal for many hunters -- even for those with blinds in places such as the Platte and Republican River valleys. Drought in the central and western parts of the state cut into the water supply on these rivers and the reservoirs on them. Adding to the problem of reduced numbers of waterfowl was an exceptionally mild winter that caused birds to stay in the Dakotas and southern Canada until late in the season.

Mark Vrtiska, waterfowl program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in Lincoln, said a lot of the public hunting areas in south-central Nebraska, the Rainwater Basin, and in the Sandhills were short of water and, thus, short of waterfowl last fall.

Avid waterfowler Keith Brown of Waverly declared last year's hunting disappointing. "I did quite a bit of hunting with buddies Barry Bales of Fairbury and Jim Shaw of Lincoln," he said. "Barry and I hunted the Little Blue River for ducks and had a few good days.

"Jim and I tried to hunt the Rainwater Basin marshes, but the ones that did have some water had so many hunters on them that hunting was poor at best. On a positive note, we did have some pretty good early-season teal hunting.

"The weather in December and early January was too mild," Brown surmised. "We did kill a few ducks and Canada geese around Lincoln in the cut cornfields. These were birds that stage on areas such as Branched Oak, Twin Lakes, and on the small park lakes in the city of Lincoln.

"We did get some fair-to-good rains in the spring, so we are hoping for improved December and January hunting on mallards and Canadas."

Low water cut into hunting success last fall on the storied Platte and North Platte rivers as well. "Both the duck and Canada goose kill was down on the Clear Creek Wildlife Area last fall," said game biologist Lance Hastings of North Platte. "The geese never did show up in normal numbers, because of the mild weather in the Dakotas and Canada. We had a couple of minor pushes of geese and ducks, but we didn't see any major ones."

According to Hastings, the controlled hunting area at the Clear Creek WMA was open from Nov. 6 through Feb. 1 last year. He reports that a total of 390 hunters used the pay-to-hunt blinds, killing 244 Canadas and 184 ducks, 146 of the latter being mallards. That kill was down significantly from the 2003 season, when 479 hunters took 396 Canadas and 406 ducks.

"The waterfowl harvest on the area is really dependent on the weather north of us," Hastings said. "For example, when the Dakotas get a number of short-lived cold fronts and snow, we see the birds move in over a longer period, and the hunting success improves. We are hoping to see that happen this year."

Aaron Schad and his brother Murray, both of North Platte, are two of the hundreds of hunters who hunt private land from permanent blinds or pits. Their blinds are just west of North Platte on the South Platte River.

"We have pretty good hunting on greenheads and do get a few Canadas as well," he said. "The water in the river and sloughs where we hunt has been pretty low the last four or five years due to drought; thus, our hunting hasn't been as good as it can be.

The low-water problems along the Platte appear to be improving, said 61-year-old Dick Prasch, a veteran hunter from Lexington. "I saw more water on the river this past summer than I have seen in four or five years," he said. "I really don't know where it came from, but we did have some good spring and early summer rains. Even the ground-water level was up. I have a blind on a warm-water slough along the river, and we had 4 or 5 inches of water in the blind last spring and summer. I have never seen that before, so we are even getting a recharge in the ground water.