Deer Hunting Archives - Page 90 of 124

There is still some rut activity going on in portions of the state, but hunters may need to rethink unsuccessful strategies.

Last-ditch efforts can pay dividends

December 29, 2012 John J. Woods

It’s panic time in the deer woods. The palms of the hands go damp like they did on prom night. A chill runs down the back causing shivers to ripple up and down the spine. […]

Twelve-year-old Drew Hackney shot this 165-inch main-frame 8-point while hunting in the Mississippi Delta with his father, Greg Hackney, who is a Bassmaster Elite Series pro.

Elite Series angler, son team up to tag huge Mississippi Delta main-frame 8-point

December 27, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

Hard to decide the No. 1 reason why this particular buck, a massive main-frame 8-point, means so much to B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler Greg Hackney of Gonzalez, La. […]

Allegations made against Tracy Laird and his 236 1/8-inch buck got so bad on the Internet in 2003 that he started wishing he hadn't shot it. The buck is still the No. 1 non-typical buck taken by bow in Mississippi.

Internet brings out idiocy in jealous hunters

December 26, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

Never ceases to amaze me how cruel people can be, especially those who are jealous of the accomplishments of others. […]

Scouting for deer has come a long way since the “good old days,” but a pack with some basic tools can make the job even easier.

Thoughts on the science of trail cameras

December 24, 2012 Bill Garbo

Things have really changed over the past 40-odd years when it comes to deer hunting. There would certainly be some debate regarding certain aspects of the sport, but for the most part — in my humble opinion — we as deer hunters have never had it better than we do right now, especially here in the Deep South. […]

Deer may have better senses and home-field advantage, but man has a multitude of resources to make up for this.

Late is Great

December 22, 2012 David Hawkins

Bob Mayo Jr. and I were resting on our horses following a December morning deer drive in the Bienville National Forest back in the early 1960s. Mayo’s pack of black-and-tans had just moved some deer south. […]

Louisiana's Joshua Bruce downed this 246-inch monster deer while hunting at Giles Island Hunting Club on Thursday (Dec. 20). If the Boone & Crockett score holds, it will be in the top 3 of Mississippi's non-typical bucks.

Giles Island buck measures 242 inches

December 22, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

Jimmy Riley knows bucks. It’s his job, since he’s the head guide at Giles Island Hunting Club, one of the South’s premier outfitters, and a star on Mossy Oak’s “Deer Thugs” on the Pursuit Channel.

But even he was stunned at the antler dimensions of a Giles Island Buck killed Thursday (Dec. 20)by client Joshua Bruce of Alexandria, La.

“I measured him at 242 6/8 inches gross,” said Riley. […]

When the rut chase phase begins, hunt wherever the doe population hangs out.

40 Days of Bliss

December 18, 2012 John J. Woods

OK, I confess. I was napping a little. Well, I was napping a lot. Yeah, I was asleep, but I was safely strapped into a 16-foot-tall ladder stand overlooking a harvested corn field with plenty of remaining cob litter as well as a green plot of ryegrass, wheat and kale.

The set-up was a perfect mix of natural habitat and best practices at supplemental food plotting.

I was in an ideal seat to watch deer action as the day closed out in the west. I knew this because a couple of weekends before I counted 11 deer file out of the adjacent woods at the dark-thirty timing, as they call it around here. Among the group were three bucks, but alas my binoculars were failing in the dying light. At least two of them bore multiple-tined racks, though.

The witness encouraged me to come back for another look without pressuring the stand location.

So when I shook off the dreaming at the sound of thrashing in the woods, I was not the least bit surprised to see two does bolt from cover at full throttle right across in front of me. As they a made an L-shaped run for the woods to my right and behind me about halfway there, a racked buck tore out of the woods pressing right into the hoof prints left by the two does. He was gaining on them fast and way too fast for a view in my rifle’s scope, much less to take a shot.

[…]

One man’s cull buck is another man’s trophy.

For best results, avoid taking culls

December 18, 2012 John J. Woods

The debate is fully entrenched now. It crept in through the back door, but now it pops up all over the place. It certainly caught me off guard. In fact, I probably would never have seen the issue on the Mississippi deer hunting radar screen if a co-worker had not mentioned it to me.

Jason Pope burst into my office one day with an agitated look on his face.

“Have you been reading the deer hunting forum on the state wildlife web site lately?” he asked.

I confessed I had not.

“Well, what’s all this noise about cull bucks? I think these guys are just making up excuses for having ground-checked a buck finding it was a lot smaller than anticipated, and now they’re covering their tracks by calling them cull bucks.” […]