Hunting License...Duh!

How Many Deer Do You See?

My FB hunting friend, Dave Quick, who lives in Indiana, posted this trail cam today and said that this is fun to watch.  First you see two meandering in, but if you look at the cluster of trees on the right, and also along the edge created by the bunch of nettles, you will find at least two more!  How many deer do you see?

Deer Ghillie

 

Poor buck - I hope he can get this blinding debris off of his head soon.

Deer In Fog

 

Hunting season is just around the corner and will begin October in Mississippi.  Here is a photo of a deer in the fog to get you motivated and excited.  Click here to see the rules for the upcoming 2013-2014 Hunting Season of White-Tailed Deer from the MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.  

GOODHUNTING!

Bear Food Drive

A six-foot bear wheels away 500-pound restaurant dumpster in Colorado!  You go Bear!

As the story goes a hungry bear helped himself to a takeout dinner at a German restaurant in Colorado Springs.

The manager of Edelweiss said the bear passed by a recycling bin and followed his nose to a dumpster holding leftovers from the previous night.

Surveillance video shows the bear on his hind legs, flipping open dumpsters lid and nimbly rolling it out of a view into the parking lot to enjoy his feast.

The container was later found knocked over.  The bear returned for more early the next morning.

Wildlife officials say if the bear keeps coming back, it will be tagged and relocated to the mountains - - or euthanize if that doesn't work.

It's a Wild Weekend!

2013 Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza Weekend

Should be a lot of fun to attend!  See you there!

Bear Killed by MS Man

Photo By Paul Davidson

There was an article in The Vicksburg Post yesterday of a man being charged for killing a bear in Sharkey County.  He killed a Louisiana black bear and could face up to a year in prison and $50,000 in fines.

A federal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Natchez charges Ryan C. Murphy with killing the federally protected species near Mayersville on November 16.

Louisiana black bears are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.  Brad Young is the executive director of the MS Wildlife Federation and previously led the Black Bear Program with the MS Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

"The ones in Sharkey, Issaquena and Warren counties are protected," he said.

Mayersville is about 10 miles west of Rolling Fork, near the MS River.

Federal authorities are seeking the forfeiture of a bow.

Young said Louisiana black bears are slightly different from the American black bear that inhabits north Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and the Appalachian region.

"It's done by county," he said.

"There's kind of a dividing line at (Mississippi) Highway 82."

In 2002, the MDWFP created the Black Bear Program to boost the species' number in the state.  In 10 years, the number of Louisiana black bears in the state went from fewer than 50 to about 150 today.

The MDWFP website points to an increase in female black bears, which has led to the births of dozens of cubs in the last 10 years.  Before the program began, a black bear birth had not been documented in Mississippi since the early 1960s.

"It's definitely grown," Young said.  "We have certainly seen the bear population, especially in Sharkey and Issaquena county, grown.  We see cubs being born every year and we're seeing reproduction, something we had not seen before."

Young said restoring the black bear population to earlier levels will take decades.

"We still have a long ways to go," he said.  "It's not like deer or wild hogs.  It's very slow increase."

Baby Bou Caribou

A gift of Nature!

Wrong Place @ Wrong Time

This buck was at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Someone commented that Mother Nature must have been a deer hunter!  When it is your time to go...that's it!

Hunting Blind Withdrawals

What Happens In The Woods Stays In The Woods!

What goes on when you are not there...

M/V Linda Taylor Heading South

As I turned into the Lousiana Circle around 7:00 the sun was trying to peek through the clouds after raining all night and during the day.  I also saw a towboat coming around the bend and waited for it's arrival passing by Vicksburg.

M/V Linda Taylor making her way down the Mighty Mississippi.

Up close view of the M/V Linda Tayor.  You can see two men on the deck, one midway standing and another one on the back end spraying a water hose.

Heading south with her tow.  I knew I had remembered this towboat because last April 2012, I took a picture of her and when I looked up her name for a link on Dick's Towboat Gallery it was not listed.  I found out later that there was no pictures of her and sent my pictures in to the gallery and was published this past May.  I was so happy to help Dick out and also excited that he wanted to publish my pictures on his gallery site.  Thank you Dick!

An ERGON boat returning after delivering supplies to the M/V Linda Taylor.

Tripple T and Split T

My hunting friend, Dave, a.k.a. (Ironknees's), uploaded this video of Tripple T and Split T about three days ago on YouTube.  Dave lives in Indiana and has seen some very nice bucks and also has named them.  Above are two that really has him going nuts!  Hunting season will be here before you know it and Dave is chomping at the bits. Thanks Dave for letting me share your cam video and I'm sure the hunters will enjoy viewing it. 

Wild Hog Problems In Mississippi

Wild hogs are in half of our state's counties: 

Mississippi wildlife officials say wild hogs are now in more than half the counties of the state, including Warren, tearing up crops and destroying other kinds of vegetation

Four or five years ago, they were causing problems in only about five or six counties.

Wildlife officials say they are trying to make it easier for people to kill them.

"Basically liberalizing it, making it where a landowner, lease-holder, can kill hogs or other nuisance animals any day of the year, day or night, without any type of caliber or weapon restrictions," said Chad Dacus with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

MDWFP officials said wild hog populations are growing because they reproduce often and can survive in virtually any habitat.  The animals also lack any natural predators.

Wild hogs are crafty, too, making them difficult to corner and kill.  Their razor-like tusks and aggression when cornered can make them dangerous to pursue.

State officials said there have been so many complaints that virtually all of the rules against shooting them have been removed.

Dacus said Warren County's hog problems is as serious as other areas of the state.  One of the reasons for the county's hog problem, he said, is the Mississippi River.

"They like to be near water, and the Mississippi gives them a good place to gather," he said.  "They'll follow the river."

One of the local areas that has suffered from hogs is the Vicksburg National Military Park which had to set out traps in an effort to either control or eliminate the hog population in the park.

Park Superintendent Michael Madell said the problem last year was centered in an area north of Graveyard Road, adding the park's hog problem has since slacked off.

MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

"We haven't seen any hogs since April or May," he said, adding traps are set up in different areas of the park to catch any hogs that might come in the area.

Hogs were reported often in Vicksburg and Warren County during the Mississippi River flood of 2011.  They were seen swimming across the swollen river and coming onto the bank at Riverfront Park.

A new state law took effect July 1 that added wild hogs to the state beaver-control program.

The law created the Beaver and Wild Hog Control Advisory Board to come up with a program to control or eradicate beavers and wild hogs.  The program is administered by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture.

Tony Hammons, who lives in Copiah County,  likes to hunt the hogs, take pictures of them and eat them.  He has respect for how dangerous they can be, too.  He said the tusks are very sharp.   
~The Vicksburg Post

Pictured above is a friend of mine, Mark Stewart, who kill this monster hog at the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club on the edge of the MS Delta back on January 17, 2009.  A hog is on my bucket list and hope to get one in the near future to help eradicate these nasty critters in our great wild outdoors!

Close up view!

In A Bear Minute

Presenting ~ Mr. & Mrs. William Horner

Mr. & Mrs. William Horner

Wedding Announcement

Carlton, Candace and Victoria, my grandchildren of my daughter, Kathleen Love Day.

In Middle Of Town

Check out this awesome buck in the middle of town!  He knows where it's safe!  

Granddaughter's Marriage This Evening

My Granddaughter, Candace Barnhart's, pretty striking eyes on her Facebook Timeline! 

Candace will marry William Horner this evening at 7:00 in Springfield, Louisiana. Unfortunately, my husband and I will not be able to attend.  I wish Will and Candace a very Happy Wedding Day and a wonderful married life together!

Candace and Will's Wedding Cake made of vanilla with strawberry filling and butter cream created by Chef Cliff.   She had this posted on her Facebook page.  My daughter, Kathy and grandson, Carl, will be attending the ceremony and will bring me back some of this delicious looking cake.  It's almost to pretty to eat!

Practicing For Golf Championship

My step granddaughter, Laura Phillips, watches a short putt head toward the hole.  The Warren County Championship is scheduled for July 26-28 at Clear Creek here in Vicksburg.  Laura will participating in it and wish her the very best.  The family is so very proud of her and her accomplishments.