Mississippi’s outdoor scene was certainly not lacking in newsworthy stories throughout 2024. We looked at MS-Sportsman.com and we came up with the 5 most-read stories of 2024. Hope you enjoy looking back at them.
5. MDWFP announces new crappie regulations
From News Reports
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) announced new daily creel limits for crappie at Lake Washington and the four Flood Control Reservoirs (Grenada, Enid, Sardis, and Arkabutla). The new regulations went into effect on July 24.
At Lake Washington, the daily creel limit for crappie is 20 fish per angler. The minimum length limit for crappie remains at 11 inches.
At Grenada, Enid, Sardis, and Arkabutla Lakes, the daily creel limit for crappie is 10 fish per angler and the daily boat limit is 25 for boats with three or more anglers. The minimum length limit for crappie remains at 12 inches. In addition, fish may only be cleaned at designated fish cleaning stations if available, not on the water or in the boat ramp parking lots.
Read the full story here.
4. Hunter’s first bow buck is a trophy
By Michael O. Giles
Seth Swilley first spotted the buck on his game camera last year and started hunting him during bow season. Though he hunted the buck he never got a shot and passed on smaller bucks in hopes of getting a shot at the bigger buck.
This year, the buck appeared on his game camera and his quest continued during this bow season.
“I’ve been after him since last year,” Swilley said. “He was a 10-point last year and I saw him but didn’t get a shot. During the velvet season he appeared back in the area and I began my pursuit again.”
Read the full story here.
3. Crystal Springs third-grader tags trophy Hinds County buck no one knew existed
By Dan Kibler
Joey Hydrick told his 9-year-old son, Henry, that his deer-hunting career has likely already reached its high-water mark.
The two were standing at the end of a food plot near Edwards in Hinds County the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 29, admiring a 247-pound, 9-point, 166-inch buck that Henry had dropped at 160 yards with his Savage 7mm-08 – a buck no one who hunted the property knew even existed.
“The first thing I said was, I told him, he may never get another chance at a buck like that one again,” said Joey Hydrick, who actually took a bigger buck, a 168-inch trophy, in 2018 in the Delta.
“Dad was more excited than me,” said Henry Hydrick, a third-grade student at Copiah Academy in his hometown of Crystal Springs. Then, I thought about what I had killed: the buck of a lifetime.”
Read the full story here.
2. Mississippi’s 2024-2025 deer seasons
By Michael O. Giles
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.”
Read the full story here.
1. Brookhaven bowhunter nails velvet buck
By Michael O. Giles
Derrick Stewart of Brookhaven had been watching a buck for at least four years when it unexpectedly showed up on his game camera in Lincoln County this fall.
“I’d been chasing the special buck for four years and only had him on the camera during daylight hours a few times before this year and it was during the late season,” Stewart said. “Then unexpectedly he showed up on the camera every day from Monday through Thursday the week of the special velvet season at the same time each day so I had to change my plans.”
On the first day of the special velvet season, Sept. 13, Stewart went to the woods and got to the stand at 4:30 a.m.
“I wanted to get in there earlier than the buck so that I wouldn’t spook him, but I waited until about 4:30 so that I wouldn’t spook any other bucks that were usually coming in much earlier,” he said.
Read the full story here.
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