Hot, dry conditions and some closures of private woodlands are expected to greet rifle hunters when they venture into the Douglas County outdoors Saturday in pursuit of blacktail bucks. Unless there’s a sprinkle or two this week, the county will have gone about 70 straight days without any raindrops. That will make walking quietly through the woods and stalking big game extremely challenging, at least in the early days of the season. Bowhunters have been in the woods since Aug. 25. Depending on the area, the early archery seasons ended either last Sunday or today. After a five-day break, the …




