2014 - Page 54 of 57 - Mississippi Sportsman

April 22, 2026

With hunters having access to the woods for nearly two months, the month of December can spell a decrease in deer sightings. Maybe it’s time to change the way you’re hunting them.

Season Dates and Size Limits

January 15, 2014 Phillip Gentry

HILL ZONE — Private and open public lands east of I-55 and north of I-20 plus areas south of I-20 and east of U.S. Hwy. 61, excluding areas south of U.S. Hwy. 84 and east of MS Hwy. 35. A legal buck is defined as having EITHER a minimum inside spread of 10 inches OR aminimum main-beam length of 13 inches. Firearm seasons: Regular gun, with dogs, through Dec. 1; primitive weapon, Dec. 2-15; gun, without dogs (still season), Dec. 16-23; gun, with dogs, Dec. 24-Jan. 22. […]

Side-imaging SONAR such as this allows the angler to make the best use of the water beneath the boat.

Electronics are oh-so important

January 15, 2014 David Hawkins

A quality fish finder becomes an important tool for the angler during these fishing forays. Side imaging SONAR is all the better. Learning to identify a deep-water shad ball is the important first step in finding nearby bass. […]

A gullet full of shad and a belly full of eggs make females heavier during the pre-spawn period. This sow weighed 12.8 pounds when she was pulled from Okhissa Lake, near Bude.

Fish smart: It’s cold

January 15, 2014 David Hawkins

Winter can be an unforgiving time for careless anglers.

Heavy clothing and cold water can be a deadly combination and lead to disaster anytime a fisherman goes overboard. Hypothermia can begin affecting a body in a few minutes and can be fatal in a matter of hours. […]

Use the cold to your advantage. Keep close tabs on the weather because even a slightly warm day in winter can really trigger a bite.

Track the weather: Fronts can turn fish on

January 15, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

B.A.S.S. Elite Series pro Pete Ponds of Madison watches the long-term weather forecast during December and other winter months to find the perfect days to chase bass. […]

Metabolism facts and myths

January 15, 2014 Hal Schramm

Wintertime fishing can be a challenge, but fish do still feed when water temperatures plummet. […]

Kyle Graham's go-to lures when he fishes the Pascagoula River marsh for bass.

Rapalas and Sallys — Graham’s go-to lures

January 15, 2014 Sam Davis

When Kyle Graham fishes the Pascagoula River marsh for bass in January he has three go-to lures and a new one that he’s testing. […]

Parallel the edge of a grass line to keep your lure in the strike zone longer if bass are suspended on the edges.

Access plentiful on lower Pascagoula

January 15, 2014 Sam Davis

Marinas and boat launches with easy access to the marsh are plentiful on the Pascagoula River. Some are private pay-to-use ramps and others are public ramps that require no fee. […]

Never count out cutover

January 15, 2014 Michael O. Giles

Delta deer hunter Louie Sewell loves to hunt cutover in the late season, and that’s exactly where he was on a hunt late last season. […]

Filet mignon of the sky

January 15, 2014 Mississippi Sportsman

The tender red meat of a specklebelly goose is so prized by hunters like Jay Gunn that it has earned the nickname “filet mignon of the sky.” […]

Vickie Gunn holds a specklebelly goose taken from a manmade Johnson grass blind.

For geese, it’s all about corn

January 15, 2014 David Rainer

Paul Fitts of Fitts Farms Inc., in Moorhead said current corn production makes the middle Delta ideal for goose hunting, although the duck-hunting prospects have diminished a bit because of a lack of water. […]

Spraying down with scent killer is just one more step to eliminate another rut killer.

Rut — the time to intrude

January 15, 2014 John J. Woods

Tommy Hoff has one time of the year when he doesn’t fear intruding in a big buck’s sanctuary. He just does it carefully. […]

Another tactic to defeat the rut killers is to hang scent drips or dispensers to help fool a buck’s nose.

Calls, scents tools of the rut

January 15, 2014 John J. Woods

Today’s modern deer hunting has become as much or more science than raw hunter skill. Thanks to an ever-exploding expansion of the hunting product marketplace, hunters have a lot more tricks in the hunting backpack than ever. […]

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