The best two turkey calls
March 2010
I stood amazed at the display. Walking the jam-packed turkey hunting gear aisle of a local big box store checking out the latest in turkey calls, I was simply blown away by all the options. I lost count twice before I finally headed up a mind calculation of 75 different calls spread across a huge variety of brand names, call types, materials and package deals including instructional tapes and DVDs.
Try a light-goose close-out hunt
February 2010
It’s February. You’re sick of deer hunting. Your rabbit dogs are dead tired. The woods are too wet to squirrel hunt. Turkey hunting is more than a month away. It is way too cold to fish — besides the bass boat is still in storage.
Mississippi’s chill is the real deal
January 2010
The first time I went deer hunting, I nearly froze. Not to death, mind you, as the phrase is often used, but colder than a ditch digger’s you-know-what.
Primitive hunts no longer primitive
December 2009
Old-school deer hunters used to have a clear idea of what was meant by the term “primitive weapon” when it was applied to deer hunting. However, since the rule changes in 2005, the clarity of the term has gotten considerably cloudier. So let’s shed some light on its current status.
Gear up now for gun season
November 2009
Just before the start of the first firearms season last year, which the state officially calls “Gun Season with Dogs,” I made the rounds to several of the top hunting gear outlets in the Jackson area. What I found were full parking lots, a buzz of folks coming and going with some acting like they were in a sort of panic like the supplier was maybe going to run out of the exact item they needed.
October is the interlude month
October 2009
For many deer hunters, the month of October is it. Me included. The weather is starting to change. Cool fronts are coming in. Bowhunting is in full swing, and archers are already bringing bucks in for mounting and public appreciation. The saws and meat grinders at the venison processors are whining at high speed. Anticipation for the upcoming gun season in November is whelming up inside hunters of every age and sex.
Two-week bow season prep plan
September 2009
What would you say was one of the most inexcusable acts in deer hunting? Certainly the list could be quite long. But perhaps at the top of the order is when a hunter falters on the most elemental responsibility of undertaking proper preseason preparation.
Trail cams valuable this time of year
August 2009
Digital scouting cameras are all the rage these days. Indeed, they are great tools for collecting data both ahead of the oncoming deer season and during critical phases such as when bucks are rubbing and scraping.
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.
Currents
Woods Wise 
