Sanctuaries pay big-buck dividends
July 2009
“My first encounter with the hunting land management concept of maintaining a game sanctuary was when I took over control of Eagle Spirit Outfitters outside of Steamboat Springs, Colo.,” said Jim Sanchez. “Whether we’re talking elk, mule deer or whitetails, the idea is to set aside a sanctuary where game can escape to rest and recoup.”
Want quality deer? Don’t take summer off
June 2009
Last month, we discussed the critical importance of investing time and money in establishing spring and summer food plots plus advocating springtime habitat alteration projects. Remember these are critical growth months for young fawns, nursing does and regeneration of new antlers for bucks. These spring plots go a long way toward supplying high-quality nutrition to help the deer put on weight grow strong. It’s also the best time to get other work completed on the hunting property as well.
Spring is best time for wildlife plantings
May 2009
Garden Mama is a local Jackson radio personality whose real name is Nellie Neal. She is the quintessential gardening, planting, pruning and botanical expert. Her call-in show offers plenty of practical advice on a wide variety of gardening and general plant care information and suggestions for how to help yard and garden plants propagate and survive.
This is the month we wait all year for
April 2009
The gobbles of a wild tom turkey reverberating throughout a spring woods is the Holy Grail of turkey hunting. It is the single most defining moment for a turkey hunter that he has successfully slipped undetected to within hearing distance of America’s largest game bird.
Think outside the box for turkey calls
March 2009
Rarely does just one turkey call work on every gobbler every time. Even the call that I rely on the most, singularly because it has been the top producer over the last 15 years, does not always fool a gobbler.
It’s now or never for this checklist
February 2009
It may be hard to imagine it, but some outdoors folks are just tired of hunting by this time in the long Mississippi season of mega-options. They burned out on deer hunting a month ago, took in a dove hunt or two, shot at some ducks and took the kids on a squirrel hunt.
For best results, avoid taking culls
January 2009
The debate is fully entrenched now. It crept in through the back door, but now it pops up all over the place. It certainly caught me off guard. In fact, I probably would never have seen the issue on the Mississippi deer hunting radar screen if a co-worker had not mentioned it to me.
Now’s the time to bag your trophy
December 2008
Gather around the campfire boys, it’s time for some soapbox preaching. It’s the heat of the deer hunting season. Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot and the whitetail buck testosterone is running wild.
Is vanilla your favorite rifle flavor?
November 2008
Wake-up calls can come from the strangest places at the strangest times. While attending a gun show in Jackson a few months back, I got a rude awakening from a guy walking the show floor. I was carrying a Remington 700 Mountain Rifle with the detachable magazine, which is no longer made, with the intent to sell or trade it.
Bow-buying basics for starters
October 2008
Archery hunting continues to be a fast-growing sport. With bow season just opening, many hunters are still on the fence wanting to try it for the first time.
Gear up right for September doves
September 2008
Is it just my imagination, or has the shooting sport of dove hunting been gaining popularity over the last few seasons? I have heard more talk among hunting contacts that indicates an upsurge in dove hunting interest.
Think outside the box for fall plots
August 2008
It’s never too early to plan ahead for fall wildlife food plots. It may be hot as a firecracker outside with sweltering humidity to match, but the universal targeted Labor Day planting date is fast approaching.
So-called black rifles are going green
July 2008
The recent revolution over the so-called “black rifles” is an interesting anomaly to me. More than 20 years ago, I peddled an article to several hunting magazines on the idea of using modern military style rifles for hunting. These were not the surplus 98 Mausers, 03 Springfields or British Lee-Enfield 303 type rifles that the post-WWII hunters used for years, but the next generation of AR-type firearms like the AR-15 (not M-16), FN-FALs and HK-91s.
Nothing to hunt this month but bass
June 2008
If somebody should happen to ask me advice about bass fishing, I would just laugh. I could count on one hand the number of largemouth bass I have fielded to the stringer.