By Jerry Kane, Nebraska Game and Parks
Wheat and milo stubble left tall following harvest provides excellent cover and hunting opportunities for pheasants and other wildlife. The 2023-2024 Stubble Access Guide displays these and other adjacent habitats open to public, walk-in hunting across portions of western Nebraska.
Through the Open Fields and Waters program, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission works with landowners to increase public hunting, trapping and/or fishing access on private lands. Tall wheat and milo stubble fields are enrolled in Open Fields and Waters following harvest each year to ensure quality cover is provided. Consequently, most of these areas cannot be included in the printed Public Access Atlas.
The Stubble Access Guide highlights an additional 35,000 acres of upland habitat open to public access in western Nebraska. It displays these recently enrolled tracts, as well as other publicly accessible lands. Many stubble fields include unfarmable pockets containing dense cover that often are underutilized by hunters.
The Stubble Access Guide is available where hunt permits are sold throughout parts of western Nebraska. Visit OutdoorNebraska.gov, then search “Stubble Access Guide” to view the guide online, as well as the digital versions of the Public Access Atlas, such as the interactive atlas map or the mobile-friendly offline atlas. These versions also display tall stubble sites and are updated throughout the hunting season.