So I'm deciding to make a last minute archery hunting trip to Nebraska next week.

I've got some PTO to burn, and I figured I'd run down to Nebraska for a long weekend and do some bow hunting. As of right now, I plan on staying in Valentine and hunting on the public land in that area. I figure I can hunt Mckelvie Natl forest, Valentine NWR, or even the Natl Forest in Halsey. I also have an old wrestler buddy from college who owns some land around Wood Lake, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable asking for permission to hunt his land after barely talking the past two years.

Is Valentine a good central location to base out of, or should I be looking to go even further west?

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Archery hunting public land after gun season is going to be tough. Id recommend finding someone with a muzzeloader you can borrow, at least get your range to 100-200 yards which will help improve odds drastically. I'd probably choose to hunt smaller pieces of walk in this time of year as places like Valntine NWR get hit hard during gun season.

I second the muzzleloader recommendation. Those deer are going to be super spooky right now on public.

Thanks for the advice.

If I could afford to run out and buy a muzzleloader, or had a buddy that could borrow me one I would probably do that, so unfortunately I’m kinda stuck with my bow.

I’ll be honest, I’m from MN and I’ve really only been a stand hunter my whole life so I know it’s gonna be pretty tough, but I feel like I wait until I have all the perfect gear or until I can go during the perfect time of year to go, I’m never gonna hunt anywhere outside my local area.

I like the way you think, NR.

I was in the Nebraska Sandhills right before Thanksgiving chasing sharptails. I can't say I saw anything that would be especially helpful to you but the landscape is beautiful. Deer or no deer, it should be a great trip.

Good luck!

Good luck and dress warm!

Well, not much to report in terms of success, but I did have a really really good time out there. Definitely glad I went, but if I had to go in December again I'd probably bring a muzzleloader. There weren't too many other hunters out, I only saw one guy that wasn't road hunting the McKelvie. I also didn't expect to be hunting on top of mountain lion tracks at one point either but that added to the adventure of it.

Now I just need to decide if I wanna sell off my Canada goose spread for better gear or not, cause what I currently have is pretty pitiful lol

NR_Hunter said:

Well, not much to report in terms of success, but I did have a really really good time out there. Definitely glad I went, but if I had to go in December again I'd probably bring a muzzleloader. There weren't too many other hunters out, I only saw one guy that wasn't road hunting the McKelvie. I also didn't expect to be hunting on top of mountain lion tracks at one point either but that added to the adventure of it.

Now I just need to decide if I wanna sell off my Canada goose spread for better gear or not, cause what I currently have is pretty pitiful lol

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What kind of deer numbers did you see? Many bucks?

LCH said:

What kind of deer numbers did you see? Many bucks?

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We didn't see a single buck. In the more open areas of McKelvie we saw a fair amount of mule deer does, and a few white-tails. We hunted some areas that were rife with fresh sign, but after not seeing any deer in those areas I can only assume my entry wasn't good or I was set up on night travel.

We did see some big bull elk tho, not sure if they were escaped farm animals or if there actually is populations of them in North Central NE.

NR_Hunter said:

We didn't see a single buck. In the more open areas of McKelvie we saw a fair amount of mule deer does, and a few white-tails. We hunted some areas that were rife with fresh sign, but after not seeing any deer in those areas I can only assume my entry wasn't good or I was set up on night travel.

We did see some big bull elk tho, not sure if they were escaped farm animals or if there actually is populations of them in North Central NE.

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Thanks for the report, sounds like tough hunting. I've thought about giving the ML season a go.

LCH said:

Thanks for the report, sounds like tough hunting. I've thought about giving the ML season a go.

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Just to clarify, we didn't see a single buck on public. We saw a good handful of small WT bucks on private land along the Niobrara.

That area has been tough deer hunting for 5+ years now. I do believe it's on the rebound though, a few more years should tell. We're the elk around mekelvie? There are quite a few in Nebraska.

Husker hunter said:

That area has been tough deer hunting for 5+ years now. I do believe it's on the rebound though, a few more years should tell. We're the elk around mekelvie? There are quite a few in Nebraska.

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Yah one I saw was on the north side of Mckelvie, and then I saw a small group on other side of the river just north of McKelvie on private land.

I knew Nebraska had elk I just assumed they were all further west. Was super cool to see for a Minnesota boy.

My brother and I were planning on going with a muzzleloader for the December 1st opener because it worked out with his school schedule. We were going to leave Friday night after a basketball game he had to supervise and hunt 4 days to return on Wednesday. However, as it drew closer to that weekend, the forecast called for 8" of snow on Saturday and more on Sunday so we decided to hold off.

Well... I'm running this trip back next week. Not super thrilled to be hunting NE again but I could use the experience for when I get a cool tag in a few years. The big differences this year is obviously the time of year. Instead of hunting in December, I'll be going the week before Firearms opener while the rut is should be going pretty strong. I'll also be hunting alone, and I'll have access to some private land due to helping an old wrassling buddy brand cattle this spring.

My biggest question for the hunt talk is... Should I target the private land I have only a slight knowledge of, or hunt the Mckelvie again and try to get a mule deer in the areas I hunted last December. The private is mostly one of those cedar canyons on a creek, and from where I've seen while turkey hunting out there, there is plenty of deer sign.

Anyways, I'm a chronic over thinker, but looking forward to spending a week alone with just one mission in mind.

Sounds like the creek bottom would be a good bet. Maybe take a stand and hang it , might be a cottonwood growing in that bottom. A pinch point along that creek would also work out I bet.
Good luck!

Hunt the private hands down!

Well... Everyone who steered me towards the private definitely gave the best advice. I ended up seeing more big mature bucks in 2 fulls days of hunting that I have in most of my life deer hunting in MN. I saw tons of small bucks, a handful of 2.5 year old deer, and two real bruisers.

I ended up shooting a smaller buck, and I kind of regretted it but only because I had a full day left to hunt. It was the first buck I've ever killed with a bow so it felt good to get that out the way, and even though I had time left, I really felt a lot of pressure to have ANY kind of success, especially after a few blunders. All in all, it was a good trip. Good confidence booster to know I can run an out of state trip by myself, and get a deer broke down and packed out by myself. Shout out to Randy's animal break down videos for that.

I gotta talk about my blunders tho because I'll feel a little better about myself if I atleast can get a laugh out of someone. Blunder 1 came when I moved in my pop up blind while I was watching a doe hop around in a field, and I shifted in my blind when she wasn't looking. The second I shifted my weight I heard a hoof stomp and looked straight ahead and there was a mature buck looking straight into the blind at 40 yards. Not sure how I was so enthralled with a doe 60 yards away I missed a trophy buck right infront of me, but I did, and it felt bad. Part of my problem is always second guessing myself and getting down on my set up, so I lose discipline and move around when I should be more ready.

Blunder two was when I bumped a giant buck with a doe out of a bed right next to an abandoned farm house while I was holding a pack of baby wipes. After I got done using the baby wipes about 10 minutes later, I went to go see exactly where the buck was laying. I'm standing there with my phone to text a buddy how bad I am at deer hunting and a different buck starts walking right into where the buck and doe were laying. It walked from 30 yards to about 5 yards right at me like a tame deer about to beg for food, all while I'm trying to put my phone away and clip my release into my bow. I got a cool pic of the deer right in front of me, but I would have much rather been drawing my bow instead. Lesson learned: always stay in the fight, even after a screw up.

The buck I ended up killing almost turned into a blunder even. After taking the shot, I sat in my blind for about 30 minutes. I really wasn't that confident with my shot placement, I thought it might have been a little low and back, so I didn't know what kind of blood to expect. I find my arrow covered in blood, and blood pretty much all over the ground. I could see very easily the direction the buck went and just following the trail about 15 yards I had blood smeared all over my boots and pant legs. I assumed it the shot had to fatal based on the amount of blood, but stayed in stealth mode. After about 75 yards of slow creeping I see the buck, laying on side, head on the ground, completely motionless. I assume the buck to be dead at this point. I walk up to the deer and much to my surprise, he starts to get up and run. I tried to draw my bow back as fast as I couldn't get it drew back an aimed. I quick ran about 30 yards to my left to where the cedars opened up hoping to see the deer and he was just standing there looking back at me. I didn't have time to range it so I just put the 40 yard pin on my squeezed off. The second arrow hit him, he jumped, ran about 20 yards and then gave up. I waited an hour before I went up to him at that point and by the time I did he was deader than 4 in the morning.

Anyways... thanks for reading if you got the end of this and I didn’t proof read any of it so I know it wasn’t an easy read. I don't have many friends who hunt to tell these stories too.

Okay! I laughed. I'm always moving when I should be still and I'm still when I should be moving. Story of my life.

Congrats and you came home successful while having a good time. That is all that counts.

Great job.Congratulations!