By Kyle Shepherd

North Platte, NE- NCORPE (the Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Project) is opening approximately 3,500 additional acres for public access including bird watching and hunting this fall.  This will bring the total public hunting acres to 5,120 and a total of 6,800 acres of public access including hiking and biking trails.

NCORPE has been restoring retired corn and potato fields back to native prairie.  With this restoration project comes a benefit, hunting.  Early successional cover (weeds) are loved by pheasants and other game birds.  “The hunting the last few years on our public areas has been excellent,” NCORPE Range Manager Bill Sellers says with a grin.  NCORPE opened and managed 1,600 acres to public hunting two years ago as a pilot program.  “The pilot was successful and the property was respected, so the board approved opening another 3,500 acres up” says Sellers.  Some of the property is just 15 miles from North Platte and I-80.  There should plenty of interest, both locally and nationally, with pheasant, grouse and deer hunters.  “I can’t wait to try the new acres on the NCOPRE property,” says avid hunter Mike Murphy from Valentine, “the stuff last year was outstanding.”  “Nebraska needs more public hunting land, hopefully NCORPE can help” says Sellers.

Not only should the pheasant hunting be good, so should grouse and mule deer.  One item of note is that deer hunting is only allowed by bow and arrow or shotgun.  “Some of the neighbors were concerned about stray bullets, so to be good neighbors we decided archery would be best” says NCORPE General Manager Kyle Shepherd. 

Designated parking lots are being developed and the property will be walk-in only.  The property is listed in the Nebraska Game and Parks Hunting Atlas which is available where hunting permits are sold.  All state and federal hunting regulations along with additional NCORPE regulations apply to hunting on the NCORPE property.

Contact Bill Sellers at 308-534-6752 or ncorpe.org for more information.