Mississippi’s 2020-21 hunting forecast – East Central Region

Deer

“If you’re looking to harvest a quality buck in the East Central Region, then it would definitely be at Black Prairie,” said Chad Masley, regional biologist. “We are trying to get the bucks up to at least 31/2 years of age, and we’re starting to see results as our 2-year-old harvest was a lot fewer last year.”

A typical 3-year-old buck will average 130 to 200 pounds and score between 120 to 130 points on Black Prairie.

Trim Cane, near Starkville, is another WMA with good potential for harvesting exceptional bucks; it is open for deer hunting through limited draw hunts for only youths and handicapped hunters.

“We see extremely high-quality deer on our game cameras on Trim Cane,” Masley said. “Hunters will draw for assigned stands, and this year, we’ve been putting new stands up to give hunters more opportunities at some of the really impressive bucks we have.”

Hunters have opportunities to harvest mature bucks on several WMAs in Mississippi’s East Central WMA region.

Yockanookany, just outside Kosciusko, has a 12- to 15-inch antler criteria and could be a sleeper. It has quality habitat and will produce quality bucks if there is no significant flood waters this year.

Ducks

“Trim Cane is managed for waterfowl, and we have seven waterfowl impoundments on it and our vegetative management is completed and planted. We’ve planted milo, millet and completed moist-soil management,” said Masley.

“Yockanookany and Nanih Waiya have sloughs along the river that hold wood ducks and offer good duck hunting if there’s not any flooding. Access is limited but if you put In the time and find the sloughs that hold ducks you can have success.”

Check out the hunting regions below:

About Michael O. Giles 405 Articles
Mike Giles of Meridian has been hunting and fishing Mississippi since 1965. He is an award-winning wildlife photographer, writer, seminar speaker and guide.

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