24 Nebraskaland • January-February 2023
The two, who live in Alma and Republican City, respectively, have been hunting
together since they met after Plate moved back from California in 2014. They hunt only
a little in Nebraska early, and in recent years, travel to Wyoming or Montana to chase
grouse and Hungarian partridge. But come late November, after rifle deer season closes,
you will find them combing through grasslands, weedy draws and thickets of south-
central Nebraska nearly every weekend in search of pheasants and quail.
The slow start isn't about avoiding the early season rush of hunters. It's waiting
for the weather to cool off. "Once it gets cold, those birds kind of move into the cover
where you can approach a little bit easier," Werner said.
