2014 - Page 40 of 57 - Mississippi Sportsman

Mark Boyd is a firm believer in not calling to turkeys before the season opens. He doesn’t want to educate them earlier than need be.

Decoys can close the deal, or they can close the door

April 15, 2014 John J. Woods

Turkey hunters are always looking for an edge, and under certain circumstances decoys can be exactly that — an advantage that helps close the deal on a spring gobbler. […]

One of Boyd’s favorite turkey hunting locations is the Homochitto National Forest.

Homochitto National Forest isn’t easy to hunt, but worth it

April 15, 2014 John J. Woods

Mississippi is blessed with six U.S. National Forests, combining to provide the state with a huge public land hunting resource that is spread across the entire state. […]

Dan Smith of Ridgeland caught this egg-filled female largemouth at Neshoba County Lake in 2013.

Top spots for fishing the bass spawn

April 15, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Pete Ponds wishes his schedule would allow him more time to fish several of the smaller waters in Mississippi. […]

Good ‘shades’ are critical

April 15, 2014 Mississippi Sportsman

Ask Pete Ponds the most critical factor in successful bed fishing for bass and he is quick with the answer: “Being able to see the fish.” […]

The Meek approach to calling

April 15, 2014 Michael O. Giles

Paul Meek started out hunting turkeys for fun, but over the years it transformed into a desire to make the best turkey calls. […]

Joey Rose made this cedar slate call and used it to harvest numerous gobblers.

“Friction calls is a sport to me,” said Meek. “I make mouth calls and use them some too, but I don’t depend on them in public areas because they get burned up by calling. A lot of beginning hunters think they’ve got to use the mouth calls because they think they’re better in some way. […]

Yep! It’s the yelp

April 15, 2014 Michael O. Giles

What is the call maker’s favorite call?

“I’m tempted to say whatever works,” said Meek, “but I guess if I had to choose one call to make all the time it would be a yelp. You can call up and kill more gobblers with just a plain yelp than by making any other call.” […]

Crappie pros often use high-quality coolers with oxygen tanks to keep minnows lively.

Minnow maintenance vital to fishing success

April 15, 2014 David A. Brown

When crappie favor minnows, either on bare hooks or jigs, keeping your live baits alive is of paramount importance. Live wells will do the trick, but when they are situated at the stern fishermen kill a lot of time walking back and forth for reach replacements. […]