Features
Stick it to a tom
Harmon Carson will tell you that turkeys are smarter than you think. He should know — he’s been chasing them from Louisiana to Texas since he was in high school. […]
Hunting
Features
Tuning up for turkeys
We have a love/hate relationship with our turkey shotguns — if they knock over a big gobbler on an improbable shot, we love them and take the credit. But if the gobbler runs off after what should have been an easy kill, it’s always the gun’s fault.[…]
Columns
Louisiana Operation Game Thief
In the late 70s, some of the western states began establishing reward programs for information leading to the arrest of fish and wildlife violators. One of the original names for the programs was Operation Game Thief (OGT).[…]
News Breaker
Huge bobcat goes down Feb. 5
Troy Borill has been a man on a mission for about the last five years or so, actively hunting predators in Acadia Parish that impact deer and their habitat like wild hogs, coyotes and bobcats. […]
Columns
Food for thought:
By the time you are reading this, unless you live in the extreme southern part of Mississippi, the 2017-2018 deer season will already be “in the books,” as they say.[…]
Hunting
Public meetings on proposed hunting season changes start Feb. 20
If you’ve got any issues with the proposed hunting seasons for the next couple of years, as well as WMA hunting regs, turkey season rules and migratory board season dates and rules, now’s the time to speak up.[…]
Sidebars
Pick out the right dog
There are no officially recognized breeds of squirrel dogs. It seems that members of every breed, from pit bull terriers to Chihuahuas, can be trained to tree squirrels.[…]
Sidebars
Good training makes for a good squirrel dog
According to Joe Shumaker and Terry Fletcher, squirrel dogs need to be worked three or four times a week from October through February.[…]
Sidebars
A perfect start for young hunters
Boredom, a common affliction of young deer and duck hunters, is never a problem when hunting squirrels with dogs.[…]
Sidebars
Damp, cloudy and gray — perfect day
While any day spent squirrel hunting in January and February is better than one spent at work or at home, some are definitely better than others according to veteran hunters Joe Shumaker and Terry Fletcher.[…]
Columns
The season may be over — but memories remain
For the most part, the 2017 deer season is over, although some DMAP cooperators in the Tier 1 classification can still hunt a couple of weeks in February. For Area 1 and 6 hunters, this could still give you time to connect with a deer, and perhaps even that elusive trophy.[…]
Deer Hunting
Bethany man busted for alleged deer violations in Caddo Parish
Enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries arrested a Bethany man for numerous alleged criminal and hunting violations on Feb. 3 in Caddo Parish.[…]
Apex Predator
Apex Predator downs 16-pointer with custom micro rifle
Last hunting season, my primitive weapon unbelievably misfired on the biggest buck I had ever seen. And it wasn’t the first time that Marlin .444 had messed up, and another hunter eventually took that 140-class, 235-pound deer. […]
Deer of the Year
Avoyelles hunter knocks down giant 240-inch ‘Rougarou’ buck
When Amanda Smith departed for her deer stand on Jan. 13 in Avoyelles Parish, her husband Scotty jokingly told her not to come home unless she was bringing back some fresh venison.[…]
Columns
Learn to manage hunting pressure
This month, I’m going to touch on a subject that applies to deer hunting with any weapon: managing hunting pressure on your herd. In my opinion, no single factor is more important to your success in terms of seeing and harvesting deer — especially mature bucks. […]
Features
Dog day afternoon (or morning)
Everything was gray.
The woods were drab, leafless and gray. The bare tree trunks and limbs were gray. The dead leaves underfoot were gray. And the sky was heavily overcast with uniformly gray clouds.[…]