Helmer's book documents Nebraska's hunting stories

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When Hannah Helmer shot the state-record elk in 2016, it lit a spark in her father.

Joel, already a lifelong hunter and freelance writer in addition to his full-time work at Concordia University, decided to stop thinking about writing a book on Nebraska hunting and actually do it.

Four years later that book is ready for its release.

Nebraska Bucks and Bulls: The Greatest Stories of Hunting Whitetail, Mule Deer and Elk in the Cornhusker State is scheduled to hit bookstores Oct. 1 via UNL Press, but Helmer has already done signed copies at Chapter's Books and Gifts in Seward and at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Lincoln.

Helmer is an official scorer with the Boone and Crocket Club and used the records book, as well as records available at Game and Parks Commission in Lincoln, to get contact information for those he was interested in contacting for the book. What resulted is 68 chapters spread over 350 pages of hunting stories dating back to Nebraska's first organized hunt in 1945.

Researching that story was one of many rewards for Helmer through the process. He passed by a mule deer head in the Game and Parks building dozens of times before stopping to read the plaque attached. The son of the man who shot that deer donated it. So Helmer contacted the son, who lived in Massachusetts. Through those conversations he discovered RA Wirz, who grew up near Halsey, shot the record mule deer in the first hunt contained to Halsey National Forest.

“RA went out that morning and ended up shooting a really nice buck in 1945,” Helmer said.

In addition to record books at Game and Parks, Helmer used online databases, social media, obituaries and word of mouth. He set up the NEGreatestBucksBulls Facebook page so people could get in touch with him and so he could get word out about the project.

The book contains 24 current or former state-record hunts. Three of the stories come directly from Seward County.

But each chapter isn't about just the hunt. At the front of the book, ahead of a forward by Game and Parks biologist Randy Stutheit, is the line “the story is as important as the hunt.” Helmer said he firmly believes that. The stories include Nebraska ecology, geography and history, as well as the personal stories of those involved in each hunt. Each increment is part of something bigger, which is how Helmer has viewed hunting since he started over 30 years ago.

“It attaches us to adventure, weather, to excitement, fun,” he said. “Hunting's not just about the killing of the animal. It's necessary but it's one little piece. It's about family, sharing that experience with family and friends.”

Helmer mentioned his daughter's kill from 2016. That hunt created a memory that will last the rest of their lives, he said. And now if people don't believe them, she's on the cover of the book for proof.