Columns
CWD is here!
I had something else in mind originally for this column, but the recent happenings regarding the finding of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a Mississippi deer is more important than anything else. […]
Articles by Bill Garbo
Columns
How’d that happen?
On one particular afternoon in mid-January, my son-in-law, Jody, had the itch to head over to his favorite deer-hunting area to try and get a crack at a couple of elusive, mature bucks he had captured on trail camera. […]
Columns
Food for thought:
By the time you are reading this, unless you live in the extreme southern part of Mississippi, the 2017-2018 deer season will already be “in the books,” as they say. […]
Columns
Rate that buck
Well, we once again find ourselves at the close of another year and headed straight into the clutches of what passes for winter here in the Deep South. […]
Deer Hunting
Map out the deer rut
It is finally here! Just like when we were kids, the wait for Christmas seemed like an eternity. So it is for me, and, I am certain, all other serious diehard deer hunters. […]
Deer of the Year
Ethredge’s ‘cactus buck’ busts 200
With one buck in mind, Stan Ethredge raced home on Oct. 20, 2017, at the end of a fall family vacation to the Smoky Mountains, as fast as traffic and his good senses would allow. […]
Deer Hunting
It’s time to recalibrate
Well, we survived another Deep South summer, although this one seemed to be more wet at times than hot. My hope is that, in spite of the heat and humidity, you have long since been visiting your hunting properties mowing, spraying, repairing and building stands, supplemental feeding, and working trail cameras. If not, you are late and already running behind, and it is time to get the lead out. […]
Deer Hunting
Practical strategies for success
In the last couple of installments of “Happy Trails” we have been peeling the onion back a few layers on the finer points of supplemental feeding. During the preseason period from late spring to early fall, consistent and properly done supplemental feeding accomplishes multiple things for your deer herd and potentially you as a deer hunter […]
Deer Hunting
Supplemental feeding in better focus
In last month’s installment we discussed minerals and supplemental feeding of deer in Mississippi. This is still a controversial subject depending on who you talk to. Proponents call it supplemental feeding, opponents call it deer baiting. It has been two years now since the MDWFP loosened the regulations regarding: Rule 2.4 — Supplemental Feeding of Wild Animals Outside of Wildlife Enclosures. Let’s drill down on this subject a little deeper and see what is legal and what is not, and how to properly use supplemental feeding to best affect. […]
Deer Hunting
Helping your deer herd
I sit down to write this installment of Happy Trails after spending yesterday morning in the deer woods of southwest Mississippi, attending to tasks associated with supplemental feeder sites and salt/mineral stations. It was hot and humid and horse flies the size of nickels were buzzing around our heads, but other than that it was a fun and interesting time. […]
Deer Hunting
More jawbone talk
In recent installments of Happy Trails we have kicked around various aspects of both the science and art of aging whitetails on and off “the hoof.” Most deer hunters want to become as proficient as possible at estimating deer age BEFORE pulling the trigger, but it is equally important to either confirm or revise your eyeball estimate after the kill. […]
Deer Hunting
Ground proving buck age
We began a general discussion of this topic in the recent February, 2017 installment of Happy Trails. Let’s now go a little further and expand the discussion. Ground proving bucks means harvesting bucks that you believe meet your minimum goals, collecting their lower jaw bones for “tooth replacement/wear” age estimates, then comparing the earlier “live on-the-hoof” eyeball age estimate with the jawbone indicated age for confirmation or clarification. […]