Hunting
Squirrel Talk
Listen, you can hear two gray squirrels and one fox squirrel barking,” I said, whispering to my son after making a young-squirrel-in-distress call.[…]
Year: 2012
Fishing
Lowrance introduces new touchscreen unit, custom contour mapping service
Do you have a favorite fishing area that isn’t mapped as accurately as you’d like? Now you can do it yourself with any Lowrance HDS multifunction unit, including new models with touchscreen control.[…]
Promote
Hot Redheads and Delta Cakes
Over the years, with each generation, there always seems to be a good-looking redheaded actress that captivates audiences everywhere.[…]
Columns
The short, fat paradox
At the turn of the millennium, 13 years ago, the biggest news in the rifle world was the proliferation of new cartridges based on the old African hunting round named the .404 Jeffrey.[…]
Deer Hunting
The pressure’s on: Public deer hunting tactics from Louisiana Sportsman
Russell Scarbrough got off work at 6 p.m., too late to actually do any hunting. But he went ahead and drove to the public tract of land he planned to hunt the next few days and slept in the truck.
The next morning, Scarbrough was up early and heading into the woods.
“I really had no clue where I was going to hunt,” he said.[…]
Inshore Fishing
Construction of Breton Sound reef begun
Work began earlier this month on an artificial reef project in Breton Sound to increase fisheries habitat.[…]
Fishing
The Causeway Approach
Tedious. Boring. Congested. Long. Time-consuming.
Commuters use all these words and more to describe their daily 24-mile trek across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway into the Big Easy.[…]
Deer of the Year
Long shot puts 165-class Lincoln Parish deer on the ground
As a pastor, 37-year-old Rev. Gevan Spinney has often had to counsel people with problems. The probability of having success with some difficult situations, no doubt, could be considered long shots at best.
On the morning of Nov. 16, Spinney took another long shot, one he later verified by his range finder at 347 yards —a shot that brought down a trophy 12-point buck that scored 165 7/8 inches Boone & Crockett.[…]
Columns
Thoughts on the science of trail cameras
Things have really changed over the past 40-odd years when it comes to deer hunting. There would certainly be some debate regarding certain aspects of the sport, but for the most part — in my humble opinion — we as deer hunters have never had it better than we do right now, especially here in the Deep South.[…]
Columns
Pay it forward
I consider myself blessed in many ways. Among those blessings are the many great memories of childhood hunting adventures. Dad, my grandfathers and uncles made sure I got to tag along on lots of great hunts as a kid.[…]
Fishing
Don’t forget winter preparations
As we move into the colder months of the year, you may be questioning whether or not you should winterize your boat. In Louisiana, our winters tend to be mild compared to our neighbors in the northern half of the country.[…]
Inshore Fishing
The Fourchon Freeze — Kayaks are perfect for catching redfish in Port Fourchon’s fish-filled waters
The Port of Fourchon is not the frozen tundra that Green Bay Packer fans so fondly depict their hometown as being. Nor do the surrounding waters of the port freeze, as some of those seen on the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.”[…]
Breaking News
246-inch buck shot on Giles Island
Jimmy Riley knows bucks. It’s his job, since he’s the head guide at Giles Island Hunting Club, one of the South’s premier outfitters, and a star on Mossy Oak’s “Deer Thugs” on the Pursuit Channel.[…]
Deer of the Year
Persistence pays off with 150-class Bienville Parish buck
For the better part of a year, Judd Chapman’s trail cameras showed the image of a buck he wanted. After reading everything he could get his hands on, studying topographic maps and relying on photos from strategically placed trail cameras to determine the location of the buck’s sanctuary, Chapman hit the jackpot on Dec. 14 when the 150-class 13-point buck made a fatal mistake.[…]
Deer Hunting
Above It All
The 7-point buck presented a perfect 40-yard broadside shot. Ben Fontenot had been waiting for this moment for a long time. A whitetail deer, his whitetail deer, the first he would shoot, was within his sights.
Fontenot expertly lined up his scope, and he held the crosshairs right behind the buck’s shoulder. All he had to do now was send a round from his .270 downrange and then go collect his deer, but something went wrong.
“My battery started going dead,” he said. “We had to get out of the blind and go back to get another one. I was nervous as all get out by the time we got back to my blind — didn’t know if I was going to get to kill that deer.”
But the buck did come back out. Only this time, it wasn’t in a good position. Try as he might, Fontenot couldn’t get his rifle lined up with the deer. It was too far to the side. In the commotion of repositioning his blind and his rifle, the deer left again.[…]
Bass Fishing
Giant salvinia forcing Caddo Lake anglers to change their game plan
Old dogs don’t learn new tricks.
This cliché reminds me of a bassin’ buddy with whom I fished Toledo Bend several years ago.
“If they don’t bite this jig, I ain’t gonna catch them,” he grumbled.
Unfortunately, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Anybody predicting they aren’t going to catch bass at Caddo Lake right now because of all the giant salvinia will be just as accurate in his or her assessment.[…]