Turkey Note

Youth On The Hunt

Vicksburg resident Braxton Hartley, 8, killed this big 8-point buck on November 8 while hunting in northern Warren County.  The deer weighed in a 165 pounds.  Way to go, Braxton!

Kade Lott, 11, is with his 7-year-old sister Kinley Lott after he killed a 150-pound spike deer on November 7.  Kade was using a 7mm-08 rifle and hunting with his father, Brian Lott, in Valley Park.  It looks like Kinley is getting some hunting pointers from her big brother, Kade.  Way to go, Kade!  

My congrats to both hunters in our great wild outdoors!  

Double The Luck!

Caleb

This past weekend was a great one for my cousins that live in Wisconsin.  Both were lucky enough to get a nice deer.  Above is Caleb shown with his very first bow kill of a really nice buck and below his oldest brother David harvesting this nice fat doe. My congrats to David and Caleb and I'm so very proud of both of you in our great wild outdoors!  Way to go!

David (DEK)

My Picture Published Today

LUXE:  Marian Love Phillips shot this photo of the luxurious American Queen backing out of the Yazoo Diversion Canal yesterday evening after bringing passengers to tour our historical civil war town.

Today my picture of the luxurious American Queen was published in our hometown Sunday's paper, The Vicksburg Post.  The American Queen and the American Eagle were docked last Tuesday while the passengers toured our historical town of Vicksburg.  

When I took this picture the American Eagle had already turned around in the middle of the Yazoo Diversion Canal but the American Queen is so large that she had to back out.  This past summer I took pictures of her slowly turning around in the middle of the canal.  Her departure was scheduled for 5:00 but it was close to 5:30 when she left. 

Today the MS River level is 12.70 feet and rose 0.09 foot.  The flood stage is 43 feet.  A few weeks ago the MS River level was less than 7 feet. You can see the grass growing near the water's edge as to how low the water level stands.  

Interruption!

A Smack Down!

Barry Bishop is so proud of his son with his 9-year-old grandson putting the smack down on this deer during Mississippi Youth weekend.  Not his first but the first of the year and proud of both! My congrats to this young boy for getting a really nice doe in our great wild outdoors and to his Dad for taking him hunting. 

A Proud Hunter

Vicksburg resident Jake Brister, 11, killed this deer while hunting with his father at Tallula Hunting Club in Fitler, Mississippi.  Jacob is the son of Jake and Kara Brister.  My congrats to Jake on his doe in our great wild outdoors!

Jake Brister

Happy 52nd Birthday My First-Born!

Theresa Marie (Teri) ~ I love you very much!

Showing Respect

Courtesy of Ohio Division of Wildlife

Alaina's First Buck

Alaina Rosalie Huskey, a 14-year-old Vicksburg resident, killed this 240-pound, 8-point buck while bow hunting with her father, Jesse Huskey on November 1.  It was Alaina's first bow hunt. The buck had an 18-1/2 inch spread. My congrats to Alaina on a very nice buck in our great wild outdoors! Way to go!

A Special Skating Party

My Great Grandson Ian had a skating birthday party at Big Wheelie on a very rainy day.  The GSMMA martial art's instructor, class and friends attended the celebration this past Saturday from 10:00 - 12:00. This was the first time for Ian to learn how to skate with the help of his parents. He finally got the hang of it after falling down and getting back up a few times.  Later, piazza and drinks was served along with cake and ice cream. He was one happy 8-year- old.  Below are a few pictures I took of his very special day!

A neat Birthday cake!

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Ian, The Birthday Boy!

Ian with his friend, Laney.

Dad (Jamie) with Ian and Mom (Victoria) helping him to learn how to skate.

Falling down...but got back up.

Blowing out his Birthday candle.

Kids eating piazza and having a great time.

Ian opening his gifts.

So happy to get his very first pair of skates.

He's finally getting the hang of it.

Stopped to talk to Laney.

A group picture of the GSMMA with instructor, class and friends attending his 8th Birthday Party. 

Belated Happy 9th Blogoversary!

Nine years ago yesterday, I decided to start a blog (Marian's Hunting Stories, Etc., Etc., Etc.) on deer hunting.  My next door neighbor at the time had a blog (Tricia Dishes) and I would go and read about her family, son (Christopher) and daughter (Erica). She also blogged about her friends and what was going on in our neighborhood and with her life. Since hunting was my hobby I thought...why not blog about that!  And that is how it all got started.

Year 2015 and I have more blogs than I can keep up with and have met a lot of great friends along the way. One friend/mentor I have to mentioned is, Rex Howell, of Deer Camp Blog who encouraged me to continue blogging about hunting since it was not that many women hunters out there talking about their experiences.  I started my blog on November 7, 2006 and stopped after 4 posts and got disinterested but when he wrote and told me to keep on blogging, I'm glad I did.  

At one time I had a website with my own domain that a friend of mine, who maintained Mississippi State University's website, built my site back in the late '90's.  I have since taken that site (A Dixie Lady Deer Hunter) and made it into a blog as well. So, I actually have two hunting blogs but mainly post to this one every day.

I also have a (Class of 1959) blog, sorority blog (PAK Omega Chapter Snapshots), family blog (Missy's Snapshots) and made my husband a blog (Two Dogs Tall).  Also, made a blog for our dog (Dog Tails Of Millie Jane) and blog for a friend (Art-C-Lady).  I post on another blog called, (Max Mississippi), about what is going on in my hometown of Vicksburg, MS.  

Blogging has been my therapy through the years and have enjoyed creating stories and taking pictures to go along with my stories. I hope y'all have enjoyed reading my blogs and will continue to blog as long as I can. Can't believe how 9 years have gone by so fast. A very Happy Blogoversary to me!

Butter's First Bow Kill

This is Butter's very first bow kill and he made his goal of doing so while he was still ten according to his mother, Jodi Waymoth, cutting it close with 36 hours to go until his eleventh birthday. She posted his picture on Facebook's Parenting Done Right Outdoors. He will choose a bow, a fishing pole or a baseball hat over video games or a TV any day of the week, she said.  She could not be more proud of him for that!  Good work, Butter she commented! This apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  

My congrats to Butter and to his Mom for doing it right in our great wild outdoors!  Awesomeness!

Deer Swimming The MS River

The local news paper Southeast Missourian took her videos and put them together and made this great video of the event and added it to their front page! 

I know she must be very proud as she should be.  A great capture of deer crossing the railroad tracks and headed for the Mighty Mississippi River.

Jennifer posted the pictures below on Facebook's Mississippi River Photos Group page recently. 

Someone asked her if they made it across alright and this was her answer - They most definitely made it across and they landed over in Illinois just around the same area where they took off in Missouri.  

It was really neat watching them actually swim upstream and then just drift across.  They have definitely done it before.  It was a very wonderful experience and I cannot put it into words.  I literally sobbed when I turn the video off and watch them swim the rest of the way across.

 

It's almost hunting season too! They know that, she said.

Deer Photography

Swimming The Mississippi

My Facebook friend Layne Logue has been involved in Legacies Alive and remembering the Fallen Soldiers. Chris Ring is swimming the Mississippi River for their sacrifice and remembering that loved ones will not be forgotten.  Below are pictures that were taken on Monday in support of Chris Ring's cause and today while passing through Vicksburg on his way to the last 437 miles.
  

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Chris Ring

Monday, November 2, 2015

 

(Today) Thursday, November 5, 2015

Team - white kayak (Seth), Chris behind him, motorboat (Tim) and motorboat (Rob) last.

Layne Logue ~ 

Vicksburg, Mississippi, Nov 2015 ~ As the team moves through Vicksburg today and gets closer to the end… I am truly touched by the Team Swim for Their Sacrifice, Legacies Alive (legaciesalive.com) and the way Vicksburg came to support such a great cause.

I am not a Gold Star Family… but, my 24 year old wife, Paige Douglas Logue was killed in a car wreck on 5-15-95 in which I was driving (and 8 month old son in the back car seat) when a log truck ran a stop sign and t-boned us. Wife instantly killed and I got 3 broke ribs from the seat belt. My son, Forrest only had minor cuts in his forehead from flying glass.

I understand about tragic loss and the pain that stings from it. Which is why as soon as I heard about it... I was 100% behind Swim for Their Sacrifice and anything I could do to help.

This record of first American to swim it…is just text on the internet or some book… the Greatness of this cause is remembering the Fallen Soldiers and letting the Gold Star Families know their loved ones will not be forgotten. No one ever dies if we keep remembering them.

I contacted Legacies Alive back in June and also helped Cindy Ring (Chris’s Mother) with locating Mississippi River maps… And I am so proud of Vicksburg… and hoped it would turn out just as it did.

Thank you to all that made this possible! I love Vicksburg.
Thank you to Warrior Bonfire Project (warriorbonfireprogram.org)
Thank you Petals for Patriots for driving the rose petals here from Tupelo.
Too many names to list a thank you... but, you know... and we know too.

Here's a video I took as the Team goes under the two Vicksburg Mississippi River bridges (Hwy 80 & I-20).


Legaciesalive.com / Swim for Their Sacrifice. Chris Ring is swimming the entire Mississippi River (2,340 miles) for Gold Star Families and Fallen Soldiers. His River Team: Seth Mortenson (kayaker), Tim Ring (father, motorboat) and Rob Brigance (motorboat).. plus many other in the background. Please go to their website and support with a donation or purchase apparel.

God speed & safe travels to the Swim for Their Sacrifice Team and the last 437 miles,
Layne Logue
Mississippi River Guide
Quapaw Canoe Company – Vicksburg Outpost
Island63.com
(601) 529-7354 mobile

Great Grandson's 8th Birthday

Today my Great Grandson, Ian, turns 8 years old!  This picture of Ian was taken back in March with his dog Turbo!  I will be attending his birthday party this Saturday at Big Wheelie Skating Rink and I'm looking forward to seeing him again.  Wishing him a very Happy Birthday today and I love you so much!  Great Gran Gran  xxoo

Shaking It

A Deer Story

Forester Jason Good was surveying timber in Meigs County, Ohio, on November 12 when he stumbled upon a bizarre sight that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up: In a waist-deep pool of Leading Creek, nose-to-nose like fish on a stringer floated three whitetail deer.

Good spotted the deer from a distance and, at first, thought it was a single carcass. “It was close to the road, and I figured somebody had poached a deer,” he recalls. Even after a second look revealed two deer, he was about to walk away. “I see dead deer in the woods all the time,” explains Good, who measures timber for a lumber company. “I almost ignored it until I looked again and saw it was three deer.”

From the creek bank he realized he’d found “something special” — not just three deer, but three bucks that appeared to have locked antlers. “I sat there 20 minutes just looking at them, totally amazed, and it took that long to sink in what I was looking at,” Good says. “I thought, ‘If this is really what I think this is then I cannot screw this up.’ I wanted to make sure everything was done by the book so the landowner got to keep these horns.”

Good called the landowner, Brien Burke.

“He said, ‘Brien, I’ve found something on your property I’ve never seen before, and you’ve got to see it,’” Burke recalls. “I’m thinking a murder, a meth lab, who knows? I said, ‘Jason, just tell me what it is.’ He says, “It’s three bucks locked up and they’re floating dead in your creek.”

Burke couldn’t believe it. “I could see two, but three? I asked if he was sure and he said, 'Yes.' I drove down and met him. They were floating in the creek almost like three petals of a flower or something.

He reached out to an old college buddy who worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He advised Burke not to touch the deer and put him in contact with Joshua Shields, the ODNR conservation officer for Meigs County. Shields was too busy to examine the scene until the following Monday. “It was the peak of the rut, and I knew there’d be a lot of hunters in the field,” Burke says. He kept the find quiet and maintained a close eye on his property until Monday rolled around. On Monday, Burke assembled his salvage team at the site, a farm where he and his father built a hunting lodge in 1974 and where they’ve hunted ever since.

After examining the scene, which included extensive evidence of the bucks’ battle royal, Officer Shields determined the find was legit, and the salvage operation began.

The best way to untangle the pileup, Burke and Shields decided, was to sever the heads of two of the deer and remove their bodies; then the third deer would be removed intact, with the racks of the first two bucks still locked in its antlers. “All three of the bodies were 200 pounds plus,” Burke says. “No way were we going to move them all together, and my top priority was to preserve the integrity of the lock.”

Burke’s friend Chris Davis waded into the water and zip-tied the antlers together as a precaution.

Davis prepared to begin sawing as Burke and Shields watched.

After removing the bodies of the first two deer, Burke and Shields (joined by logger Bobby Thompson, left, and forester Jason Good, right) waited for Davis to pull the last buck—with the heads of its rivals still attached—from the creek.

As Davis lifted the mass of horns above the water, the crew got their first inkling of just how remarkable a find this was.

“I knew it was something special, but I don’t think any of us knew how special until we lifted them out of the water,” Good says. “It was hard to judge the racks all tangled up under water; I thought they were three scrawny deer locked together. When they came up out of the water it made the hair on back of my neck stand up again. Holy cow!”

The combatants turned out to be an 11-pointer, a 10-pointer and a 7-pointer with an eighth broken tine.

Official Boone & Crockett scorer Jack Satterfield took on the daunting task of putting together a green score for the three intertwined racks. All together they tallied more than 400 inches of bone.

The 11-pointer (whose main beam is in the foreground here) green scored 168 4/8 gross, 156 0/8 net.

The 10-pointer grossed 138 4/8, and netted 136 2/8 green, while the 7-pointer grossed 119 0/8 and netted 108 1/8.

So what happened? Burke, who has probably spent more time than anyone poring over the puzzle of intertwined beams and tines, has a theory.

“Looking at the horns, it looks like the 7- and the 11-pointer were battling and only one side of their horns were locked,” he says. “Then the 10-pointer came in on the opposite side, and his main beam went around the base of each one of the other two deer’s antlers and his tines went up on the inside of their beams and locked them all three together.”

Damage to the creek bank and gouge marks on trees suggest the bucks locked up 50 yards downstream, then struggled together along the bank—half in and half out of the shallow water—until one of the bucks toppled into the deep hole where the deer were found.

“I think one deer hit that hole and pulled the other deer into the water and they all drowned together,” Burke says. “Drowning was probably a good thing. The coyotes would have been on them in no time. I imagine they died full force, adrenaline flowing, battling it out.”

“But there’s also a certain sadness that the lives of three nice bucks just ended like that. Three deer that any hunter would have put on the wall and told stories about.”

A find at once so gruesome and awe-inspiring provokes the imagination of even the most objective wildlife observers. It vividly illustrates the intensity of the drive behind the whitetail rut, and reminds us just how high are the stakes, how intense the drive to breed for mature bucks.

Wildlife biologists are taught that anthropomorphism—endowing the animals they study with human qualities—is not good science. Yet, says Mike Tonkovich, deer project leader for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, “I can’t help wondering what was that third buck thinking? Whatever possessed him to get engaged when the two were already entangled?”

It’s a thought that Burke echoes. “Three alpha bucks coming together at once, I just can’t imagine how brutal that must have been,” he says.

“It’s kind of neat to see evolution right there in front of you,” says Tonkovich. “This is Darwin stuff, what we learned in biology 101—those that are strongest and smartest will do the breeding. In today’s deer management world, our interest is in population dynamics or growing big bucks and age structures and so forth, but this takes you back to the basics of deer behavior and, even more simply, evolution and Darwin’s theory of natural selection. "What you’re seeing here is one buck trying to convince another that I need to pass my genes on and I’m gonna do what it takes to make sure it happens. This is a manifestation of that drive.”

It’s also a reminder that sometimes the strongest don’t survive. “They didn’t plan this very well, that’s for sure,” the biologist notes. “But that also adds some realism to the whole thing—that in spite of the sophistication of evolution there are hiccups that cause the system to fall apart.”

“I guess it shows us how brutal Mother Nature can be," says Burke. "It’s no Bambi story.”

World Class Whitetail Harvested

My congrats to Ohio hunter Dan Coffman on successfully harvesting this world class whitetail in our great wild outdoors!

Wildlife Officer Tony Zerkle was impressed with Coffman’s preparation even before season. When Coffman realized he may have an opportunity to harvest the deer, he contacted Zerkle in the months leading up to the season. He advised him of the potential harvest and most importantly he contacted the neighboring landowners and built trust so he may be able to retrieve the deer if needed. That preparation paid off when he got permission to retrieve the deer from a neighboring property. Congrats again, Dan!

Dan Coffman ~ The Break Team Hunter

 With his son and Wildlife Officer Zerkle!