December 2011 Archives - Mississippi Sportsman

This Jefferson County club’s buck-management plan has impressive results.

Now or Never?

December 5, 2012 Todd Masson

Ronnie Corkern had to wait only one year to see the value of quality-buck management. […]

During cold weather, bass in river systems head to the backwaters.

Winter bass

December 29, 2011 Hal Schramm

If you like to catch big bass, appreciate solitude on the lake, and know how to dress for cold weather, good bass fishing awaits you in Mississippi’s waters. […]

Chotard Lake was hit hard by the record flood of 2011, but the crappie fishery is as good as ever.

The fall 2011 fishing season has provided some surprises and some wonderful crappie fishing for lots of us Mississippians. First of all, the weather changes have been more abrupt, with cold weather fronts coming more often and with greater intensity than recent years. […]

On mild winter days, the trout fishing can be really good.

A new winter tradition

December 1, 2011 John E. Phillips

During December, most of us are thinking about Santa Claus, children getting out of school and upcoming bowl games. However, on Christmas Day, when the presents are all unwrapped, and the toys are put away, these memories still aren’t nearly as long-lasting as fishing trips with mom and dad. […]

Winter bass

December 1, 2011 Hal Schramm

If you like to catch big bass, appreciate solitude on the lake, and know how to dress for cold weather, good bass fishing awaits you in Mississippi’s waters. December signals the end of fall fishing and the start of winter fishing throughout the northern two-thirds of the Magnolia State. And there are bass to be caught. […]

After observing the author fire over 80 rounds, Jeff Lewis found Final Finish bullets, which start off coarse and use progressively finer coatings to polish out the bore in most popular rounds, reducing the time and money spent using standard ammunition.

Breaking in the .22-250

December 1, 2011 Gordon Hutchinson

I was more than a little frustrated, and embarrassed to boot.

Invited to Jeff and Karen Lewis’ Agriana Plantation in Tensas Parish, I had promised to help them sight in Karen’s new .22-250 bolt-action rifle. […]

A high-quality onboard smart charger can handle short- or long-term battery storage 24/7.

Off-season battery care

December 1, 2011 Allan Tarvid

Fishing and boating tend to slow down during the winter months, but letting your battery maintenance slow down can be expensive. […]

MS-Sportsman.com user BuckDat88 posted this photo of a big Claiborne County buck on the Trail Cam Contest forum. Now he’s hoping the deer will make the mistake of walking around in the daytime while he’s sitting a stand.

Eyes in the woods

December 1, 2011 John J. Woods

The firestorm over the use of digital trail cameras for deer hunting rages on. The debate among hunters is whether the information revealed by trail cameras is of any real value or is it just imagined? […]

Throwing 3 to 5 ounces of weight took a toll on Elias’ arm and back, but all the pain went away after he received the $100,000 check for winning the FLW Guntersville Lake Tournament.

The $100,000 bass tactic

December 1, 2011 Paul Elias

I was at Pickwick Lake on the Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee border helping with a weigh-in at a cancer benefit when one of the fishermen in that tournament called me over to his boat after the event ended. […]

It doesn’t take the most expensive or high-tech trail camera to get the job done.

Trail camera deployments and features

December 1, 2011 John J. Woods

“Equipment wise, I use basic trail cameras that are readily available to every hunter,” said Bill Garbo of Madison. “I don’t use any camera that is especially fancy or particularly expensive.” […]

Cover: December 2011

December 1, 2011 Mississippi Sportsman

Jason Garbo puts trail cameras to use to kill big bucks. See the special feature beginning on page 8 for more details. […]

Jason Garbo’s wife Tren also gets into the hunting action taking her own buck.

Specialized camera features

December 1, 2011 John J. Woods

“There are many excellent makes and models of trail cameras on the market today. However, no matter which brand you choose, I believe one of the most important factors is to use a digital trail camera with a fast wake-up and trigger speed,” Bill Garbo recommended. […]