By most accounts, last year was another good year for deer hunters in the Magnolia State. Does were easy to find and harvest in most parts of the state on private and public lands.
Ricky Case of Brookhaven is a successful deer hunter who had an excellent year last year and he’s expecting another good season this year.
“I had a really exceptional deer season last year,” he said. “On one occasion I had a 17- to 18-inch buck feed under my stand for over 20 minutes and I let him walk. I wouldn’t have done that in the past, but we were seeing a lot of good bucks on camera on a couple of my hunting areas.”
Case prefers hunting with a bow but sometimes he uses that rifle late in the season after the fall foliage has dropped to the ground.
“We had a really good buck on camera, and we had been hunting him the year before, but we hadn’t seen him last fall yet,” Case said. “On Dec. 12, 2023, we spotted old “Stickers” on one of our cameras. The date of the picture was from Dec. 4, and it was the only time we had him on there, but we just had to try him.”
Bow buck
During the next hunt, Case and his son, Tyler, went in to hunt the buck with their bows. Case put his son on a scrape line and he went in a little further.
“At five minutes after 5:00 p.m., Tyler texted me and said look behind you,” Case said. “I stood up and turned around and didn’t see anything, so I ranged an opening in that direction. Tyler thought he saw a deer heading in my direction, but he didn’t know what it was.”
It didn’t take long to find out as Case saw movement and drew his bow back immediately.
“Thwack!” As soon as the buck hit the opening Case shot and the buck fell within sight of his stand.
“This wasn’t the buck we were hunting but he was so big and wide that I couldn’t turn him down,” Case said. “The 8-point sported a tall rack with 10-inch tines and a 20 ½-inch spread. The buck was 5 ½ years old and took second place in the bow division of the Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza’s bow division.”
As it turns out, Case shot a couple of trophy bucks with his bow last year and one good one with his rifle.
Although he may not have another year quite as good as last year, the bucks are still there and it’s simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the weather cooperating.
White-tailed Deer Management Units
Delta Unit: Areas west of I-55 and north of I-20 plus areas south of I-20 and west of U.S. Hwy 61.
North Central Unit: All private and open public lands in Alcorn, Benton, Desoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tippah counties.
Southeast Unit: Areas south of U.S. Hwy 84 and east of MS Hwy. 35.
Hills Unit: All areas except the Delta, North Central, and Southeast Deer Management Units.
Delta, North Central, and Hills Deer Management Units
Method Season Dates Legal Deer
Archery Sept. 13-15 Only one (1) Legal Buck. Special permit, mandatory reporting, and CWD sampling required. Private Land and authorized state and federal lands.
Oct. 1-Nov. 22 Either-Sex on private land, open public land, and Holly Springs NF
Youth Season Nov. 9-Nov. 22 Either-Sex on private lands, authorized state and federal lands, and open public lands.
Nov. 23-Jan. 31 Either-Sex on private lands. On open public lands, youth must follow below legal deer criteria.
Antlerless Primitive Weapon Nov. 11-22 Antlerless Deer Only on private lands.
Gun (with dogs) Nov. 23-Dec. 1 Either-Sex on private land and Holly Springs NF. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Primitive Weapon Dec. 2-15 Either-Sex on private land, open public land, and Holly Springs NF. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Gun (without dogs) Dec. 16-23 Either-Sex on private land and Holly Springs NF. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Gun (with dogs) Dec. 24-Jan. 22 Either-Sex on private land and Holly Springs NF. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Archery/Primitive Weapon Jan. 23-31 Either-Sex on private land and Holly Springs NF. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Southeast Unit
Archery Sept. 13-15 Only one (1) Legal Buck. Special permit, mandatory reporting, and CWD sampling required. Private Land and authorized state and federal lands.
Oct. 15-Nov. 22 Either-Sex on private and open public land.
Youth Season Nov. 9-Nov. 22 Either-Sex on private lands, authorized state and federal lands, and open public lands.
Nov. 23-Feb. 15 Either-Sex on private lands. On open public lands, youth must follow below legal deer criteria
Gun (with dogs) Nov. 23-Dec. 1 Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Primitive Weapon Dec. 2-15 Either-Sex on private and open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Gun (without dogs) Dec. 16-23 Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Gun (with dogs) Dec. 24-Jan. 22 Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Archery/Primitive Weapon Jan. 23-31 Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Feb. 1-15 Legal Bucks only on private and open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Be the first to comment