Missing My Hunting Friend & Mentor

I'm missing my hunting friend, Rex Howell, who passed away on January 31, 2021, from cancer.  

This picture was taken the first day we met at his deer camp at the famous Christmas Place Plantation Hunting Club on Christmas Road near Eden, MS.  The land has 11 Indian mounds on it, and we are standing at one of them.  It was taken on May 5, 2007.  You can see his dog, Camo to the right of the picture.  

Rex came to my website and signed my guestbook and I always thanked everyone who had signed, and that is how it all started.  I asked him one day how did he find me.  He said he had gone to a hunting forum and saw a post that I had answered, and the rest was history.  

Rex has a blog called Deer Camp Blog and I had a blog as well and I had started my blog in 2006 and stopped.  He told me to continue because at that time he said it was not that many lady deer hunters who blogged.

He would have me up every hunting season to deer/hog hunt at the family camp.  I did not get to go in January of this year because he was very sick.  I'm so thankful that he called me and told me about his condition in December but did not realize that it was so bad.  He died on the last day of the hunting season.

Wild Boar Hunt in Mississippi & My Two Hog Kills

Here is the story of my first and second hog kill in the great outdoors of Mississippi on the edge of the MS Delta.  Taken at the famous Christmas Place Plantation Hunting Club near Eden, MS.

January 2015

Mississippi Wild Hog Control Program

The current period for online application opened July 26, 2021, and will close August 9, 2021. Submitted applications will be evaluated based on the number of acres available for trapping, historical agricultural losses caused by wild hogs on the property, and current trapping efforts on the property.

Wild Hog Control Program in Mississippi

Some Things You May NOT Know About Mississippi

Some things you may NOT know about Mississippi:

The Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is the longest man-made beach in the world.

The Ringier-America company in Corinth, MS prints National Geographic.

The world's only cactus plantation is located in Edwards, MS with more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.

Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state.

Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state.

Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood, MS is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation.

H.A. Cole in Jackson, MS, developed the cleaning product Pine-Sol. Pine-Sol is manufactured only in Pearl, MS.

Dr. Tichenor created "Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic" in Liberty, MS. (Not in South Louisiana as commonly believed).

Four cities in the world have been sanctioned by the International Theatre/Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition: Moscow, Russia; Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Jackson, Mississippi.

David Harrison of Columbus, MS owns the patent on the "Soft Toilet Seat." Over one million are sold every year.

The first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia, MS.

The Teddy Bear's name originated after a bear hunt in Mississippi with President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and possibly lame bear. News of this spread across the country, and a New York merchant capitalized on this publicity by creating a stuffed bear called "Teddy's Bear."

H. T. Merrill of Iuka, MS flew the first round-trip transoceanic flight in 1928. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping-pong balls.

The birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo, MS includes a museum, a chapel, and the two-room house in which Elvis was born.

The world's oldest Holiday Inn is in Clarksdale, MS.

Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, MS manufactures the best snow sled in the country, the Flexible Flyer.

Greenwood, MS is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second-largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of Gypsies, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian, MS. Since 1915, people from all over the world have left gifts of fruit and juice at their gravesites.

The 4-H Club began in Holmes County in 1907.

The Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, MS is the largest research, testing, and development facility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus, MS decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Friendship Cemetery. This gesture became known as Decoration Day, the beginning of what we observe as Memorial Day.

Shoes were first sold as pairs in 1884 at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor in Vicksburg, MS.

Inventor James D. Byrd of Clinton, MS holds seven patents and developed the plastic used as a heat shield by NASA.

Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS was the first state college for women in the country, established in 1884.

The McCoy Federal Building in Jackson, MS is the first federal building in the United States named for a Black man. Dr. A. H. McCoy was a dentist and business leader.

Hat Maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced hat making in Dunn's Falls, MS.

The oldest field game in America is Stickball, played by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi. Demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, MS.

Alcorn State University, in Lorman, MS is the oldest black land grant college in the world.

The International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal, (Hattiesburg) MS.

Natchez, MS was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River.

Natchez, MS once had 500 millionaires. More than any other city except New York City.

Natchez, MS now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Captain Issac Ross of Lorman, MS freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for their passage to the west coast of Africa. They founded the country of Liberia.

Oliver Pollock was the largest individual financial contributor to the American Revolution. He invented the dollar sign ($). He is buried near Pinckneyville, MS.

Resin Bowie, the inventor of the Bowie Knife, is buried in Port Gibson, MS.

Liberty, MS was the first town in the country to erect a Confederate monument in 1871.

The Pass Christian Yacht Club is the second oldest yacht club in North America, founded in 1849.

The Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws in 1839 to protect the property rights of married women.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an " All American Road " by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago.

The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the Blues, which preceded the birth of Jazz, the only other original American art form.

The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the country. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest.

D'Lo, MS was featured in Life Magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size; 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.

In 1894, Coca-Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn in Vicksburg, MS.

Mississippi was the first state to outlaw the imprisonment of debtors.

Belzoni, MS is the Catfish Capital of the World. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's farm-raised catfish comes from Mississippi.

Fred Montalvo owns the company that makes "Icee" drinks is from Edwards, MS.

Peavey Electronics, in Meridian, MS, is the world's largest manufacturer of musical amplification equipment.

Proportionally more Mississippians were killed during the Civil War than from any other Confederate state.

Serving during Reconstruction, Hiram Revels was the first Black U.S. Senator.

The first Parents-Teachers Association was founded in Crystal Springs, MS.

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Babe Ruth's last home run was hit off a Mississippian, Guy Bush of Tupelo.

Barq's Root Beer, Edward Barq moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1897 with his new wife.

The following year he opened the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works. 1898 is often given as the debut year for what was later to be known as "Barq's root beer," but some sources say this particular product was not produced until some two years later.

This is the Baby Dollhouse located near Benoit, MS.

http://thebabydollhouse.com/history/

A Mississippi Rattlesnake

MISSISSIPPI RATTLESNAKE This is from Simpson County Mississippi... Killed today. NOTE: The snake looks much bigger in the picture due to the camera angle.

Misty Shack Munn, Tommy Shack

Find more info on snakes and what to do after you find them by going to this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2137476603150311/?ref=share

Bear Hit In Warren County Tuesday

A woman reported to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday night that she was driving on Hankinson Road near the Wright Road intersection and struck what she believed to be a black bear.

“Deputies responded and did see minor damage to the front of the vehicle, but never found a bear,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. “The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ officers responded and did not find a bear either.”

In the case that a bear was hit, Black Bear Program Biologist, Jamie Holt, at MDWFP said there is not much they can do to help an injured bear.  

“On an occasion where one gets hit and injured, we usually give it a good effort to try and find it,” Holt said. “There’s not a whole lot we can do, but bears are pretty hardy animals,” Holt said he has actually seen bears lose a limb in an accident and then continue on with their lives. One in particular he saw was a video of a bear swimming across the Mississippi River and then climbing up the ledge on the other side without a front leg.

They’re pretty tough animals, but on a rare occasion some will get hit and go off in the woods and die somewhere, but we never find it,” Holt said. If a bear is found dead, the MDWFP will go pick up the remains. If the remains are in good condition, they will use it for educational purposes in their museum.

“With black bears being a protected species in Mississippi, we do try and collect any and all parts from a vehicle mortality,” Holt said.

If the MDWFP is able to locate an injured bear, they will assess the injuries to decide if the bear isn’t going to make it and suffering or if its injuries could cause the bear to be a threat. If either of these are found to be true, they have to make a decision regarding if the bear should be euthanized or not.

“A black bear’s first instinct is always going to be to flee if there is any type of confrontation with a human,” Holt said. “If an injured bear wasn’t able to get away, that’s where the ‘stand and fight’ may come into play, but it would be a very, very case-by-case incident.

"Holt said drivers should look out for bears on the road just as they do for deer. The bear population is growing in counties along the Mississippi River and sightings are happening more frequently.

“If you are coming through an area that has a higher population of bears or deer, be aware of the road and keep distractions to a minimum, which is always a good idea whenever you’re behind the wheel,” Holt said. “A deer is a much smaller animal than a bear and everybody has seen what a deer is capable of doing to a vehicle at high speed. The same goes for a bear, and even worse as far as the damage to a car.”

Holt said if anyone spots a bear, it can be reported here on their website. However, if the bear is injured or it is something urgent, one should call 601-433-2199 during regular office hours and 1-800-BE-SMART outside of office hours to have the MDWFP and local law enforcement come to access the situation.

Vicksburg Post - Olivia Mars

Six Basic Things To Get Going In Fly Fishing | Getting Started In Fly Fi...

Riverboats, Queen of the Mississippi & American Duchess

Today riverboats, the Queen of the Mississippi, and the American Duchess passengers toured our civil war town of Vicksburg, MS. On my way to town, it started to rain. The Queen of the Mississippi was docked at the waterfront, but the American Duchess was docked north of the waterfront. At one time all the riverboats docked at the waterfront, but the Viking Cruise Line had leased waterfront property from the city, and then the American Queen Steamboat Company followed suit.

 

The Mighty Mississippi River & Bridges @ Vicksburg, MS

Took pictures at the Louisiana Circle yesterday afternoon of the Mississippi River bridges at Vicksburg, MS, people having fun on the sandbars, and the sharp turn in the MS River called Delta Point.

 

Latest Stage - 27.60 ft., 24-hour change +0.31 ft, Today's Forecast 28.40 ft. Flood Stage: 43 ft.

Alligator Charging Kayak 7 12 20

This guy was very lucky to have survived this ordeal. WOW!!!

Big Carp In Crystal Clear Water! (Best video)

Perfect conditions that we have not seen before. Crystal clear water and big carp feeding in front of the underwater camera. Enormous grass carp, big common carp, and mirror carp going crazy on the bait.

New Vicksburg Welcome Signs (East & West)

The lights have been installed at the welcome to Vicksburg signs. Shout out to the City of Vicksburg traffic department. Job well done. Sedrick Hall Sr., with Sanders Forest James.  On I-20 east and west. 

Leaving North Dakota Coming Back Home

A North Dakota sunrinse.

 

Sun behind a house in North Dakota!

A train passing by in North Dakota!

Rest area in South Dakota!

On our way home again after spending the night again in Overland Park, KS, Holiday Inn.

Pulled into rest area because of construction work ahead and to use the bathroom.

Belle Vista, Arkansas

Construction work in Arkansas. 

In Louisiana looking at the bridges to home (Vicksburg, MS)!

A rainbow welcomed us home!

Crossing the Mississippi River with the U.S. Flag flying over the old Hwy 80 bridge.

New "Welcome to Vicksburg" sign!  

It was a wonderful but long road trip that took two days (12-hours a day) to get there but was worth it.  Seeing, holding and feeding my 5th great-gradnson and spending quality time with my daughters was awesome.  

Happy 25th Birthday Caitlynn!

I'm wishing my grandson's wife, Caitlynn, a very Happy 25th Birthday today. On May 8, 2021, they gave me my 5th great-grandson, Asher, born in North Dakota. May you have many, many, more birthdays to come. We all love you, Gran Gran

More Pictures Before Heading Back Home

I love this picture that my daughter, Debra Ann took of Asher holding my finger. 

 

Little Asher, after his bath!  How precious!

A sleeping angel in his Aunt's lap.

In his playpen taking another nap.

My last bottle to feed my 5th great-grandson, Asher.

Peek-a-poo!  The little dog next door wanting someone to play with him.  His other dog friend did not want to play.

He wants to be petted.  Good boy!

He almost came through the wooden slats.

Two more pictures before heading home.  

I love you so much, Asher!  It was a complete joy to see, hold, and feed you! Great Gran Gran