42 Nebraskaland • October 2025
cabin, a simple prefab, onto a small
piece of family land. With one room
and no running water or electricity,
it reflected his practical, efficient
personality yet offered a snug retreat
in the vastness of the Sandhills.
We unpacked and, before sunset,
walked along the river bluff, scanning
the marshes below for ducks and
geese. The Calamus winds through a
narrow valley flanked by high, sandy
bluffs. Its floodplain is a patchwork
of prairie, wet meadow and curving
oxbow marshes formed in old, cut-off
channels. Ragged stands of cattails,
rushes and willows border the oxbows.
Back at the cabin as night fell, Greg
lit an oil lamp, and by its dim light
we sipped dandelion tea and played
a few rounds of cribbage, the cabin's
traditional game, until our eyes grew
heavy. We crawled into sleeping bags,
eager for the morning hunt.
The Hunt
Greg and I rose well before sunrise.
His first task was to light the propane
heater and boil water on a camp
stove for coffee and hot chocolate.
Harper soon joined us at the table,
and we breakfasted on cinnamon rolls,
a favorite of Harper's, that his wife
Angie, also a wildlife biologist, had
made especially for the trip. Greg and
I talked shop — the status of grouse
populations in the Sandhills, which
is typical for biologists. Most kids
would be bored out of their minds,
but Harper quietly listened. It seemed
her parents' passion for nature was
already sinking in.
After breakfast, Greg and Harper
pulled on their chest waders and
camouflage and loaded their .410-
gauge shotguns and decoys into the
truck. Since we hadn't seen ducks
or geese on the oxbows the previous
night, Greg chose a nearby bend in
the river where he hoped birds might
be enticed to land. Here, the river was
The scenic Calamus River valley on the Wrights' family land. Oxbow marshes — former river channels — fi ll the lower right
corner; the river appears near the top center of the photo.
