Deer dominate most-read stories on site
Mississippi’s outdoor scene was certainly not lacking in newsworthy stories throughout 2022. It seemed like a month never passed without something of great interest to hunters and fishermen taking place — some good, some not so good, some just interesting.
We looked at MS-Sportsman.com and we came up with the 5 most-read stories of 2022. Hope you enjoy looking back at them.
1. Mississippi adopts early season; finalizing rules and regulations
By Mike Giles
Mississippi deer hunters will have a chance to harvest bucks during their velvet stage according to the recently proposed 2022–2023 White-tailed Deer Hunting Seasons and Bag Limits by the MDWFP if the proposal is passed as proposed at the May 19 board meeting.
Effectively, bow hunters will have a chance to harvest a “velvet antlered” buck in September if the proposal is affirmed and becomes law.
Read the full story here.
2. Public land brute bites the dust
By Mike Giles
Creek Baham of Loranger, La., and his family and friends were hunting in Winston County over Christmas week. They were all hoping to score with a buck, or at the very least harvest a doe for meat. Baham, a student at the University of Louisiana Monroe, was itching to get into the woods and harvest a buck, but things weren’t going well for the group, as nobody had harvested a deer up to that point.
“We had not seen a deer yet,” Baham said. “I went to a stand early that morning and did a little calling with my grunt call but really had not seen or heard a response.”
Baham wasn’t giving up, so he kept at it. Things made a drastic change on Dec. 21, 2021.
“I was looking out into the open bottomland hardwoods and saw two deer scatter,” Baham said. “I lost sight of them and then I saw a doe dart into the bottom. Then I saw another big old doe on the ridge to my left and she got my attention as she was moving. I was looking at the does and they were eating, and I looked back down the ridge and there was horns coming down the side of the hill. I lost him for a second and then saw him walking and watching the does.”
Read the full story here.
3. Franklin County hunter shoots monster boar
By Mike Giles
A coal black boar tore through the succulent food plot rooting for acorns, grubs and whatever he could find to devour. This massive hog had wreaked havoc on the surrounding fields and woods and was a huge problem. In fact, these wild hogs are a nuisance and threat to wildlife and habitat when their numbers get out of control, and they are out of control in many areas.
Payton Harris joined his fiancée Katherine Shell on Saturday night, April 9, for a hunt on the Shell property in Franklin County in search of this monster hog. They got into their stand about 8 p.m. and got ready for the wild boar.
“We’d spotted him on cell cameras and he was on our hit list,” said Harris. “I recently moved to Flowood and love to hunt deer, but after deer season is over we get out the hog gear and get after them. The Shell family introduced me to hog hunting and it has been a passion ever since.”
Things started slowly with only a possum making an appearance but suddenly the wild boar showed up with tusks popping and snapping as he tore the ground up looking for something to eat.
“I looked and one minute there was nothing there and the next the boar hog was 60 yards away from us,” Harris said. “I got him in my sights and squeezed the trigger.”
KA-BOOM! roared the .308 rifle and the hog collapsed instantly.
Read the full story here.
4. Wesson hunter kills personal best buck
By Brian Cope
Robbie Lepard of Wesson killed a big 9-point buck in Hinds County on Nov. 26 after a major rainstorm. He killed the deer with a long-distance shot from his .300 Win Mag around 5 p.m. while hunting from a ground blind surrounded by a 100-acre ryegrass field.
Lepard had an encounter with the same buck last year, but he decided to let it walk, hoping another year would help the deer reach its full potential. It worked out, and this season, the 9-pointer showed up twice on his trail camera. One of those was a nighttime photo, with the other one at 8:45 a.m.
“We have a ground blind set up on a pond dam that’s pretty much in the middle of a 100-acre ryegrass field. I sat through a monsoon of a storm for about an hour,” Lepard said.
Once the rain cleared, he began to see activity.
Read the full story here.
5. Youth hunter kills trophy 8-point buck in Leflore County
By Brian Cope
Neely Jordan, 14, killed a trophy 8-point buck in Leflore County on Dec. 10, 2022. She shot the buck around 4:15 p.m. with a 7MM-08 from an elevated shooting house while hunting with her mom.
The deer has been gross green-scored at 144 5/8 inches. The bases measured 5 1/2 inches, the main beams were 22 1/2 inches and the inside spread was 19 1/2 inches.
It’s a hunt that Neely said she’ll never forget.
Get the full story here.
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