36 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2018
Making Goose Hunters
Story and photos by Justin Haag
Chimney Rock and the Wildcat Hills stand as a backdrop for Larry Olson's goose pit in eastern Scotts Bluff County.
I
f one were to devise a marketing
plan for goose hunting in the
Nebraska Panhandle, a scene
such as this would surely be
considered: "Big group, flying
low from Chimney Rock."
Those were the words of
outdoorsman Larry Olson of Crawford
as my son Sawyer and I were sitting
in his goose pit near McGrew along
the North Platte River valley – my first
goose hunting experience of the season
and Sawyer's first goose hunting
experience ever. It is hard to think of
a better place to have my son shoot
his first geese – or a better person to
accompany him while doing it.
Olson is well known in northwestern
Nebraska for his hunting and fishing
passion. A recently retired Chadron
mail carrier, his friendly nature makes
him as popular in the field as he was
on his delivery route. Many Chadron
residents have fond memories of "Larry
the Mailman" and his sidekick Twila
Satchell, who also retired in 2017 after
serving many years as a pleasant face
behind the counter at the Chadron Post
Office.
When Olson is not hunting or