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Free-roaming trophy whitetail bucks on private ranch along the Niobrara River in northwestern Nebraska |
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This trophy scored 145 B&C, average for this ranch. This hunt is on a private ranch that has produced a consistently high success rate on mature whitetails. Covering several thousand private acres along the Niobrara River near the Nebraska/South Dakota border, the ranch is a mix of canyons and agricultural fields. There are four miles of riverbottom -- ideal whitetail habitat. The rancher/outfitter runs some cattle and owns a bed and breakfast on the property.
He allows just eight to 10 rifle hunters per year. It's hard to get in on the rifle hunt because few of the current hunters miss a year for fear of losing a spot. Success over the past 10 years has run 90% on bucks averaging between 140 to 150 Boone and Crockett points with some much bigger bucks. Hunter success was 100% the past two years with seven hunters taking a buck each year. The biggest bucks taken on the property have gross-scored more than 175 B&C, and there have been several that have netted between 165 and 170. In the past few years the rancher has added some neighbor's property to his exclusive hunting territory, and he has dramatically reduced the number of deer that used to be killed in his area. He decided to add two or three muzzleloader hunters per year. If you ever want to get in on the rifle hunt, book this blackpowder hunt, and you'll move to the top of the waiting list. The blackpowder season opens the first Saturday of December. In-line muzzleloaders and 1X scopes are legal. The outfitter has a little honey hole in the head of a canyon that leads to a neighboring alfalfa field, where no hunting is allowed by the owner. This spot has produced several big bucks the past few years. The bucks cross there coming off the field in the morning and the hunter on watch can see them coming for 15 minutes, giving him plenty of time to make the 70 yard shot as they pass by. You can hunt from tree stands and ground blinds along the river. There are some good canyons for still-hunting during the day. In the evening sometimes you might hunt a sub-irrigated meadow near a clover field or hunters take watch in one of the many canyons on the property. Some of the biggest bucks get away each year. The rancher each winter sees some great bucks scoring up to 180 B&C after the seasons. The rancher keeps a map that pinpoints where every buck has been killed on the property since 1973. He takes his whitetail hunting seriously.
The rancher let his son take this 26-inch muley in 2003. Antler bases measured 5 1/2 inches.
This buck scored 156 Boone and Crockett points
A hunter with a buck scoring 152 B&C. |
A 165-class mature buck.
20 1/2-inch inside spread.
A 155 B&C whitetail.
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156 B&C.
Occastionally a hunter gets a mule deer, such as this buck that scored 176 B&C.