Reprising His Last Lecture

This is a video you need to watch by Randy Pausch!

Guerrettaz 11 pt. Buck!

My 11-point I shot on the last day of the first firearm season.

Zac Guerrettaz, 21, is a friend on mine on my MySpace. He loves to hunt and fish 24/7 365. He lives in Farina, Illinois where the big whitetails hide. He also enjoys hanging out with friends and family. He is a Firefighter and loves the thrill of knowing that he is helping people. Below is his story of a memorable day of deer hunting with his cousin in our great outdoors!

The buck I am kneeling down by is my eleven pointer that I shot during the First Shotgun Season. Here is how it all went down - My cousin Miles and I had been switching off days of filming each other and he was up to bat. We went to a piece of property that hadn’t been pressured for a few days and not pressured at all on the north end, so we sat up in a little ground blind right before daylight. Just as soon as you could see, we had a little 6 point 80 yards in front of us. I wanted to get some footage of him so I turned the camera on and proceeded. Then the buck started acting funny so my cousin made a couple grunts at him and after a couple minutes he ventured off. This is when it all went crazy! We hear some crunching coming through the woods and its a shooter buck headed right down our throat, but when I turned to get him on film he caught me moving and spooked off. So we changed to plan B. I rattled for about a minute and up in front of us here came another little buck from the same spot as the other one previously. When he got to 60 yards he turned and started posturing and angling away from us. I said there has got to be something big in the field that we can't see. We crawled to the edge to see that there were 7 bucks, two that were shooters all fighting and running around at the end of the field. So we came up with a plan that I would try and stalk them while he sat in his deer stand that was in a funnel. That way if they spooked they would run right to him. I started stalking and eventually got to where they was but they had moved on. I peaked around the corner and there stood a doe feeding in the cut bean field. I had a doe tag so I fired a shot at her connecting hitting her good. As I reloaded, I caught movement to my left running right into the field. Out steps a shooter broad side 45 yards. At this time I had only one shell left because while stalking I lost all of my shells. I took steady aim because I knew I had to make this one shot count. I connected hitting him through the front shoulders. Then he comes running right at me and veers off in the woods headed straight for my cousin. I get on the phone and tell him I hit him he is headed your way and hang up. I then start looking for blood so I can mark where I shot, when I hear my cousin shoot. By that time I could see my buck expired laying in the creek. I call him and he says he is down, I said I know I found him. He says no he is laying out in the field. I dropped him in his tracks. Well what ended up being the best day in the woods for action and it paid off for both of us, because the deer that he thought was mine ended up being a different buck and we were both awarded with two very nice bucks. It will definitely be a memory that I will never forget. My congratulations to both Guerrettaz and Miles!

Miles and I with our bucks we shot two minutes apart and 100 yards apart.

Locked Antlers of Two Bull Elk

T. J. Robertson describing his day at the office on November 29, 2007. He said he got a call that two bull elk were locked up and one was dead the other still alive. The bulls were in a field about 15 miles Northeast of Monticello. When he got there he actually found two bulls locked antlers. He thought this only happened in other areas. T.J. and another staff member decided they were going to tranquilize the bull and saw apart the antlers...one problem...they did not have enough of the drugs to do a good job. So they walked out and sawed the one point off of the dead bull's right antler. Then had to saw the main beam of the left antler to get the other bull free. The whale tail was over the bulls eyes, lodged between the eye guards. When they cut it free the bull stood there for awhile catching its breath with the piece of the antler still in it's antlers. When it took off the piece of antler came out.....WOW! He said, this for sure was one of his most memorable days! Enjoy the pictures in our great outdoors! Charming, Just Charming!

T.J. Robertson

Conservation Officer

Moab District

State of Utah, Division of Wildlife Resources

Jenny's Buck

Jenny came to my MySpace this week and asked me to be her friend. On her MySpace I noticed that she had harvested a real nice 8 point buck back in November 2007. I asked her if she would tell me the story of her harvest. Here in her own words is the story behind her successful hunt.

I was in a stand I had been in before in a palmetto bottom off a creek. The wind was light and swirling and it was trying to rain. My husband was about 300 yards away, and my son was in a tower stand we built overlooking a huge field. Well I kept hearing, what I thought were hickory nuts falling from the trees behind me and realized that the sound was in the same spot each time. I eased around to look and it was my buck at the edge of the creek getting ready to cross. I guess he had smelled me, but considering he was only 12 yards from me, I wasn't surprised he smelled me. I think he was bedded there and I walked right by him coming in to my stand. Anyway, I let him cross the creek and when he got settled on the other side, I took my shot. He ran only 15 yards and crashed. Oh yes, my son killed a deer that morning also with his new Ruger .308 compact that was an early Christmas present from us.

My congratulations to you Jenny!

Jenny, 36, was born in Florida, and now lives in Mill Spring, North Carolina. She has been married to her husband Bryan for seventeen years and they have two boys, Bryan, 16 and Boone, 13. She said she loves to hunt and that's what she looks forward too in our great outdoors! This is a sweetthing!

They Are Just Beautiful

Recently, Jane Hartwell, right, from Portland, Maine, and Marjorie Barry of Hingham, Mass., looked at the Vicksburg Waterfront Murals on Levee Street. "They are just beautiful," the women said of the works by Louisiana artist Robert Dafford. Twenty-two murals have been completed along the flood wall at Vicksburg's City Front.

Brett Chigoy, a staff member of artist Robert Dafford, puts the final touches on the latest mural that was unveiled last Saturday. It's called, "The Founding of Vicksburg and Methodism." It depicts Newit Vick greeting a Methodist circuit rider. The ceremony was held inside the Methodist Church which sits on the land that was given to the Methodist Church by Newit Vick's family.

Back in 1877, a Methodist circuit rider, the Rev. Tobias Gibson, established the Hopewell congregation in Warren County. He was the first to bring Methodism to Mississippi, traveling by boat down the Mississippi River and landing in Natchez. Newit Vick, a Virginia native, moved to Mississippi from North Carolina in 1804, and established a ministry in Jefferson County. His home near Spring Hill was the site of the first meeting of the Mississippi Methodist Conference. When Vick moved west and established a plantation on the Mississippi, naming it Open Woods, he and Foster Cook erected a log cabin nearby for worship. It is depicted in the "The Founding of Vicksburg and Methodism."

After Vick's death in 1819, his son-in-law, John Lane, incorporated the settlement then known as Walnut Hills in 1825 and named the town Vicksburg after the Methodist preacher. The town's name was originally "Vicksburgh," and reasons for the dropping of the last letter is unknown. Vick's son, John Wesley Vick, deeded the lot at Crawford and Cherry streets, which became the site of the first Crawford Street church. Vick gave to slaves the building on Cherry Street that was renamed Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal. That church was rebuilt on First East Street and continues today as Wesley United Methodist Church.

Next on the mural project will be one commemorating the Vicksburg Theatre Guild's record-setting production of "Gold In the Hills," and one depicting the Miss Mississippi Pageant.

Five other murals are partially funded, but are in need of more sponsors to finish raising the $16,500 it takes to get reviewed and approved. They are representations of the 1927 flood, Planter's Hall, Rosa A. Temple School, Koestler's Bakery and The Governor Kirk Fordice.

New Hampshire Deer Harvest

Paul DeBrosky and his 10-pointer.

Paul DeBrosky came to my website "A Dixie Lady Deer Hunter" and signed my guestbook this morning and said that he was going through his old site, "The 200 Pounder Club," and saw my site was still active and was going to send me a couple photos of this years deer harvest. He invited me to stop by his site, New Hampshire Whitetail" to see its growth. He said these two bucks were taken out of Deerfield, NH. His son Adam is sitting between his 10-pointer who dressed out at 191 lbs., and Adam's 5-pointer which was taken down 10 minutes after his about 1/4 mile from him. He said, I heard the gun shoot and got the phone call while I was tracking blood, his words were "God I love this place"! He has been in the woods with me since he was 5 and he's now 29 year old. All our deer (42) except one came from what we call "Jakes Place" in Deerfield NH. My congratulations to you both on your fine deer harvest in our great outdoors! Charming, Just Charming!

Vicksburg On The Hunt

Billy Branning, 10, took down this nice 8-pointer, the same deer his sister, Stormy, left, missed two day before. Stormy, 9, and their sister, Becca, were hunting with their paw paw Bill Gilfoil in Claiborne County when Billy shot the deer with a .243 rifle. The deer weighed 210 pounds and had a 15-inch spread. They are the grandchildren of Bill and Becky Gilfoil of Tallulah and Dutch and Ron Anderson of Vicksburg. Mac and Dana Branning are the children's parents and they live in Burnell, FL. Congratulations to Billy for harvesting this fine 8-point in our great outdoors! This is a sweetthing!

Polar Bear -vs- Sled Dog

These are pretty cool pictures - incredible!!


The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his huskies when the polar bear materialized out of the blue, as it were:

Obviously it was a well-fed Bear...Stuart Brown describes Norbert Rosing's striking images of a wild polar bear.

Playing with sled dogs in the wild of Canada's Hudson Bay

The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs......

Recovering Well

Back home and recovering. Glad it's behind me. Appreciate the kind words and prayers. I'm looking forward to dancing again and ready for next deer season even if I may have to hunt under the deer stand! :)

Hospitalization

Getting ready to go to the hospital to have knee surgery this morning. Will be back online later....Marian
PS: Hold the fort down!

My New Card

Proud of my new business/calling card!

Winter's Landscape

I have a long time cyberspace friend by the name of Dave who lives in Indiana and he sent me these photos a few days ago. Dave said he managed to get out just after dawn one morning before the wind came up and blew the snow off of everything...He said, Even though it's stark and cold, there is great beauty in winter landscape...Hope you enjoy!

Dave

Happy "66" Birthday Bob!

Robert "Bob" was born in Dearborn, MI, on February 21, 1942. He attended elementary school in Detroit and graduated from Boys Town, in Omaha, NE. He recieved his BS Degree from University of Memphis at Memphis, TN. He has a son, Greg and a daughter, Karen and four step-daughters, Theresa, Kathleen, Debra and Marian Suzanne. Bob retired in 1994 from Anderson-Tully Lumber Company as Director of Industrial Labor Relations in Vicksburg, MS. He is an avid deer hunter and enjoys being in the great outdoors. Happy Birthday Bob!

Cumberland To The Mississippi

The Vicksburg Post, had a writeup about The General Jackson that I had taken a picture of on our Sunday drive. It said that the General Jackson, a riverboat based in Nashville and used for dinner cruises, was moored at the City Front after experiencing mechanical trouble on its way home from New Orleans for a regular five-year inspection trip. The captain, Paul Stinson, said he expected the 300-foot-long vessel to leave Vicksburg in a day or so on a trip that should take about a week. In Nashville, the boat is used for 16-mile excursions on the Cumberland River. The boat has been in service since 1985 and is owned by Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment, which operates the Grand Ole Opry in Music City. Charming, Just Charming!

Baler's 40 pt. Buck!

Camo Girl's Blog posted on Friday, January 25, 2008, a picture of Baler with his 40 pt. buck. She said a friend had email her about this and was trying to track down and verify the story and find out all the details. She also stated that the rumor is that Cabela’s offered him $150,000 for this buck.

After doing some research on this I found out that BrownBear416 from Slave Lake, AB, posted this picture on Nov. 4, 2007 on Alberta Outdoorsman forum of a 9 year old harvesting a 40 pt. buck from Oklahoma. This is the same boy. He said that his buddy's son took this buck this past Saturday morning with a muzzleloader. It has 40 points and scores around 220 B&C (unofficially). The wire around it's horns is from a hot wire to keep it out of the garden, which didn't work. He was told that Bass Pro and Cabela's are already trying to bid for it. This is only the second buck that Baler has ever taken. His other buck was a 12' eight point. The only problem that Baler has now is there is no where to go but down. What a monster in our great outdoors! Congratulations Baler! This is a sweetthing!

A Sunday Drive

Monument near the entrance of the North and South Loops of the Vicksburg National Miltary Park.

I took a picture of two of the 1,330 monuments and markers that are in the park. This one is located in the South Loop.

A beautiful day for a walk in the park on the South Loop.

The Vicksburg National Military Park has been renovating the south loop back to where it was during the Civil War. A lot of trees and brush had to be cut down to open it up to show the way it was during the Battle of Vicksburg.

This picture was taken near the site of the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 on the North Loop.

This retired government boat was moved on land this past year as part of the renovations of downtown Vicksburg. When completed it will house the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Museum. It will mainly depict the Great Flood of 1927.

Widening the Yazoo Diverson Canal so barges, etc., can get to the Port of Vicksburg. (Facing Louisiana)

General Jackson Paddlewheel Showboat

We drove down by the Vicksburg waterfront and saw docked there the General Jackson Paddlwheel boat. I have never seen this boat at the watefront before. Usually it is the Delta Queen, American Queen or the Mississippi Queen that docks here to tour our city. Actually, this showboat cruises the Cumberland River in Nashville, TN and offers dinning and entertainment. Why it was in Vicksburg, I do not know. Most likely there will be a write-up on it in today's paper.

A Sunday Message

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian
youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest,
blindfolds him and leaves him alone.
He is required to sit on a stump the whole
night and not remove the blindfold until the
rays of the morning sun shine through it.
He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.
He cannot tell the other boys of this
experience because each lad must come
into manhood on his own.
The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear
all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely
be all around him. Maybe even some human
might do him harm. The wind blew the grass
and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat
stoically, never removing the blindfold.
It would be the only way he
could become a man!
Finally, after a horrific night, the sun
appeared and he removed his blindfold.
It was then that he discovered his
father sitting on the stump next to him.
He had been at watch the entire night,
protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone.
Even when we don't know it,
our Heavenly Father is watching over us,
sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have
to do is reach out to Him.
If you liked this story, pass it on.
If not, perhaps you took off your
blindfold before dawn.

Moral of the Story:
Just because you can't see God,
doesn't mean He is not there.

'For we walk by faith, not by sight.'
~ 2 Corinthians 5:7 ~

Vicksburg On The Hunt

Noah Nielsen, 9, bagged his first doe on November 10 while hunting in Warren County. He dropped the 175-pound deer with a .243 caliber rifle. He is the son of Misty and Elmer Nielsen.

Michael Pedron, 13, of Collierville, TN, harvested his first deer, a nice young 8-point buck while hunting with his brother, Daniel, on family farm land in Panola County on the opening morning of the 2007 Youth Hunt weekend. Michael and Daniel are the grandsons of Lester and Patricia Pedron and Charlie and Linda Calwell all of Vicksburg, and the sons of Jeff and Vicki Caldwell Pedron, formerly of Vicksburg. Congratulations to our two young hunters!

Family Watch Dog!

I wanted to share an important web site with you that's a good idea for everyone to visit. It is http://www.familywatchdog.us/. When you visit this site you can enter your address and a map will pop up with a small icon of a house where you live. Surrounding your house you will see red, blue, and green, dots covering your entire neighborhood. When you click on one of these dots, a picture of a person will appear with an address and the description of the crime he or she has committed. This site was developed by John Walsh from America's Most Wanted. Consider this just another tool to help us keep ourselves and our families safe. Please pass this on to everyone you know and care about.

Vicksburg On The Hunt

Payton Edwards, 9, bagged this buck on Saturday at the Magnolia Hunting Club. He shot the 8-pointer, which had a rack 19 inches wide and 21 inches long, from 60 yards away.

Sara Ann Montgomery, right, was hunting on Desoto Island with her father, Jerry Montgomery, her stepbrother, Gage Laird, and his father, Chris Laird, when she killed her first deer on October 27, during the Louisiana youth weekend. Sara killed a 90-pound doe. Gage also killed a 90-pound doe that afternoon. Sara shot her deer with a 30-30 Winchester from 50 yards. Gage shot his deer with a .260 Remington from 50 yards away.

Jessica Lynch, 15, killed her first deer while hunting in South Warren County with her step-father Doyle Lee. She bagged the 115-pound doe with a 30.06 from about 70 yards.

All our hunters here harvested their deer back in the early part of the season. After the first weekend of deer season I decided to start posting pictures of our young hunters here in Vicksburg and named it, Vicksburg On The Hunt. With deer season closed now we may or may not have anymore to post. Turkey season is right around the corner and will start posting pictures of hunters young and old in our great outdoors here in the Red Carpet City of the South, Vicksburg. Congratulations to all our deer hunters! What a great deer season. Charming, Just Charming!

Senior Moment

For those of us who took typing in High School.......

Sports Arena

My step-granddaughter (Laura) was recently in The Vicksburg Post for her swimming achievements in the GymSouth Level 4 and 5 All-Around winners at the Newton, MS meet. Front row from left, Laura Phillips (first), Megan Rigby (first), Monica Hughey (second). Middle row, Olivia Jennings (third), Mary Kalusche (fourth). Back row, Tana Starnes (second), Chandler Jennings (first), Maggie Waites (third). Level 5s also brought home a frist place All-Around Trophy for GymSouth. In last month's post Laura competed in Gynanistic on Level 5 in Flowood, MS. She is very athletic and we are so proud of her accomplishments. This is a sweetthing!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sending you my love!

The Love Puppy!

A puppy born in Japan with heart shaped pattern on his coat.

A PUPPY has been born in Japan with a large, clear, love-heart-shaped pattern in his coat. The Chihuahua was born on May 18, 2007 at Pucchin Dog's shop in Odate, northern Japan. Owner Emiko Sakurada has been quoted as saying that out of 1,000 puppies she has bred, "Heart-kun" is the only one with such a mark. Locals believe that playing with the puppy brings good luck. She has no plans to sell the puppy. This is a sweetthing!

Rock Climbing?

This picture was taken from Western Australia. Take a careful look....see the size of the snake and the kangaroo it's pulling out of the water...Incredible!