OutdoorNebraska

K evin Hennecke traveled more than 470 miles from his home near Panama, Nebraska, to the far northwestern corner of the state for a special opportunity in Harrison. It was opening day of elk season and Hennecke was one of the 33 hunters carrying a 2013 bull tag in Nebraska's Hat Creek Unit – an area known for its pine-studded buttes and sweeping grasslands. There was a time when Hennecke would have considered this Nebraska hunt merely a dream. "I remember reading about an elk hunt in Boys' Life magazine when I was a kid, and thinking, 'Man, wouldn't it be great to travel to another state someday and have an experience like that?'" he said. "I didn't imagine that I'd be pursuing big elk in Nebraska someday." As European settlers took residence across the nation without hunting regulations in the 1800s, elk were extirpated from 90 percent of their historic range, including Nebraska. Those that didn't get shot took refuge in the mountains to the west. But thanks to a new spirit of conservation throughout the nation in the 20th century, elk began moving back into the state. Evidence of elk began appearing in the state in the late 1960s. Now, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife offi cials estimate a healthy population of more than 2,000 elk in Nebraska, where a hunting season has been in place since 1986. Hennecke began applying for permits and his name was eventually drawn. He found a guide and access to private land. While the fi rst few days of hunting were not promising, he ended up fulfi lling his boyhood dream. He took a bull with six-point rack that scored 326 inches with its longest tines 19½ inches and an inside spread of 36 inches. Most hunters consider any bull scoring above 300 to be a nice trophy. "I feel so blessed to have drawn a once in a lifetime Nebraska bull elk tag and feel just as blessed to get to kill a big herd bull right here in my home state of Nebraska," he said. ● Hunt of a Lifetime 2014 Annual Report • Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 29

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