36 NEBRASKALAND • OCTOBER 2016
O
ut to prove that Nebraska still has great pheasant
hunting, Game and Parks Commissioners created
the "Rooster Roundup" in 2015 to see for
themselves the state of public pheasant hunting
in Nebraska. Led by the late Commissioner Lynn
Berggren of Broken Bow, who was an avid pheasant hunter
and a strong proponent of aggressive habitat management for
these birds, several walk-in public hunting areas across the
state were chosen for this experiment. Commissioners Robert
Allen and Dick Bell also joined the effort.
The purpose of the Roundup was to tell a story about
how planting suitable habitat can help increase upland bird
populations and thus allow for hunting success on public
lands. The commissioners believe in the "if you build it, they
will come" concept. Good habitat will hold birds. And if you
have birds, hunters will come and continue to pass on the
tradition.
Rooster Roundup hunts took place over November and
December in 2015. The commissioners traveled to several
locations to hunt birds: Sherman Reservoir State Recreation
Area (SRA) and Wildlife Management Area (WMA) near
Loup City, Davis Creek Reservoir WMA south of North
Commissioners'
Hunt
Rooster Roundup Shows Bird
Numbers on the Rise
By Jenny Nguyen and Julie Geiser
Commissioner Robert Allen hunts
at Grove Lake Wildlife Management
Area near Royal with his black
Labrador retriever, Moon, and French
Brittany, Cate.
