Deer Hunting

Proposed deer-hunting changes awaiting House action

A proposed legislative bill that would increase gun hunting for deer by 22 days has the endorsement of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

House Bill 1282 passed out of the House wildlife committee on Thursday (Jan. 21), and is awaiting full consideration of the House, which has until Feb. 11 to act on bill or will die on the calendar. […]

Deer Hunting

In his own words: Rocky LaGrone’s 165-inch Claiborne County buck

The damp of the January morning (on Jan. 14) drove straight to the bone and clung like steel traps, much colder than the dry snow and sub-freezing temperatures I’d left behind near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the day before.

But then, that’s the way it’s always been down South – a cold that courses your body; one that numbs the toes and finger tips, tortures any exposed surfaces and makes the sway of an errant limb feel like the lash of an angry whip. I know the pain of Southern cold ever so well: I grew up in Shreveport, La., just about 200 miles east of where I was creeping Indian style through the undergrowth of Claiborne County. […]

Deer Hunting

155-inch buck with double main beam killed in Amite County

Wayne McAndrew stumbled across a piece of Amite County property available for lease in August 2009, and jumped at the chance to start his own club.

While the tract of land only encompassed 450 acre, McAndrew soon knew he had made the right decision.

“The first or second week of bow season, my buddy (Brad Balado) actually got a picture way on the other side of the lease of this buck,” the Louisiana hunter said. “Our jaws dropped when we saw the picture.” […]

Deer Hunting

Mahannah produces trophy buck

Eddie Peterson had made the drive from Waveland to Mahanna Wildlife Management Area for a draw hunt, but hadn’t had much luck until they ran across another hunter who had killed a pretty nice deer.

“He didn’t tell us, ‘Go here,’ but he told us a general area to go to,” Peterson said.

So during the mid-day lull on Dec. 16, the hunter and his buddies eased in to find stand sites. […]

Deer Hunting

Brandon youth drops 158-inch buck using Vienna Sausage

Will Foreman has hunted with his dad since he was 5 years old, and a tradition developed for the youngster during those days afield.

“We had a routine: He likes Vienna Sausages, so I’d bring a can of them and a (cold drink) to the stand,” father Terry Foreman explained. “I’d open that Vienna Sausage, and he’d eat three or four, and then he’d pour that juice out the window of the stand and say, ‘The deer are going to smell that and come out.’”
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Deer Hunting

Massive buck taken in Monroe County

The stand on the Watkinses’ Monroe County property had produced a couple of 130-inch bucks last season, so it’s been popular with the family. So it was no surprise that Kenny Watkins decided to sit the stand – even though it was technically his father’s – when he arrived on the afternoon of Dec. 2. […]

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Late is Great

Bob Mayo Jr. and I were resting on our horses following a December morning deer drive in the Bienville National Forest back in the early 1960s. Mayo’s pack of black-and-tans had just moved some deer south. We were trying to decide which way to ride to cut them off. […]

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Now or Never

As the Magnolia State’s whitetail deer season enters the “fourth quarter,” many hunters are worn out and ready for a little rest. Some of us have been pursuing our hoofed quarry for the last three months, and many may be disgusted with the lack of results thus far. […]

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Deer Dynamics

The degree of hunting pressure, nutrition, buck-to-doe ratios, management, genetics and weather can influence not just the rut’s timing, but whitetail social interactions as well. Even so, by instinct, rutting bucks usually follow the same behavioral traits — even when immature bucks get in on the action. […]

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Lucky No. 27

I couldn’t believe the size of the whitetail buck hanging in Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland’s back room near West Point. I’d known Strickland, the vice president of Mossy Oak’s video and TV production, for more than 20 years, and he never had mentioned taking a buck of this size. […]