ABOUT LOST OTTER RANCH
The Ranch. The Name.
The People Behind It.
Lost Otter Ranch isn't a hunting operation that found a piece of ground. It's a piece of ground that found its purpose.
THE RANCH
Built by Nature. Refined by Intention.
Lost Otter Ranch sits where the Wildcat Hills meet the North Platte River valley — a geography built by nature for birds and refined over years by intention. This stretch of western Nebraska doesn't just attract waterfowl and upland birds. It holds them. Flooded millet, native aquatic grasses, managed waterways, planted food plots, and fourteen ice eaters running through the coldest weeks of the season — every element of this habitat has been built, maintained, and improved with a single goal in mind: to create the conditions that make genuinely great hunting possible.
This is not a lease. It is not a turnover operation running the maximum number of groups through a calendar. It is a privately managed property, hunted selectively, preserved deliberately, and shared with those who understand the difference.
THE NAME
The Otter Who Gave This Place Its Name
The ranch is named after the otter who has made this property home for years. His presence isn't a novelty — it's a declaration. Otters are unforgiving judges of habitat. They don't stay where water quality fails, where ecosystems are broken, or where the land has been taken for granted. He's here because this place has earned it — healthy water, thriving wildlife, and a balanced ecosystem built through years of deliberate stewardship.
He's been photographed from the blind. He shows up on the coldest mornings and the most ordinary ones. He is part of what this place is — a living measure of an ecosystem that is genuinely working.
MEET THE GUIDES
David Bollish
Owner & Lead Guide
With nearly two decades of professional guiding experience, David has worked across both high-end Beretta Signature Lodges and small, independent operations — learning what consistently produces results and what doesn't.
He manages over 450 private acres with six established blinds and has access to several other premier properties, allowing hunts to be built around real bird movement, weather patterns, and migration stages.
He runs a deliberate, detail-driven operation where preparation, ethical harvest, and client experience are non-negotiable. The goal is to build long-term partnerships with clients who value the hunt, the resource, and the experience as much as we do.
Noah Shaddick
Head Guide
Noah has been immersed in waterfowl hunting since the age of eight, when his grandfather first introduced him to the outdoors. What started as early mornings in the field developed into a lifelong commitment to understanding birds, conditions, and ethical harvest.
He has grown up within this operation — spending years learning every aspect of scouting, field setup, calling, and post-hunt management directly within our system. He is the only person fully trusted to work the property independently and assist with clients in the field.
Noah doesn't come from a traditional guiding background. What he brings instead cannot be taught: long-term, hands-on experience in the exact terrain and conditions clients hunt today. He is highly effective in waterfowl calling, reading bird behavior, and adapting setups under changing conditions — and deeply committed to ethical harvest and respect for the land.
His standard is simple: preparation matters, details matter, and every hunt should reflect respect for the birds, the land, and the client experience.
HOW WE OPERATE
Two Guides. One Coordinated Plan.
Every hunt is run as a two-guide system with both David and Noah actively involved in preparation, execution, and breakdown — allowing us to:
Noah leads field execution — calling, blind management, and on-the-ground adjustments — while both guides remain fully engaged in scouting, logistics, and hunt planning. The result is a tighter, more responsive hunt where decisions are made quickly and based on real-time field information, not assumptions.
THE EXPERIENCE
Early light.
Coffee warming your hands.
Labs surging with energy, ready to work.
Steam rising off open water on a frozen morning.
Motion in the spread.
The whistle of wings working the wetlands.
Meals that earn their place after time in the cold. Conversations that don't need a reason to keep going. The field has a way of stripping away the noise and leaving something more honest in its place — and that tends to stay with people long after the drive home.
This is what hunting was always supposed to feel like.
Limited dates —
Private groups only
To protect the quality of the hunts and maintain healthy habitat, Lost Otter Ranch schedules a very limited number of hunts each season.
When these dates fill, the season is closed.