Columns
All flashes are not equal
This past week I ran by the showroom of one of my favorite hunting-products companies that, fortunately for me, happens to be headquartered about a 20-minute drive from my home.[…]
Columns
Columns
Invest in safety this season
Well, October is here at last. It is the month we hunters look forward to like kids waiting for Christmas.[…]
Apex Predator
Close call with deer calls
The weekend started slow for me. Laura had a hog walk behind her within 30 yards on Friday (Oct. 12) morning, but she couldn’t see it in the thick underbrush from her ground blind. She heard it softly grunt several times.
I had no action on either hunt Friday or Saturday morning. Things picked up on my midday stalk when I came across this huge king snake and a large 8-foot gator in a small 6-inch deep hole about 10 yards across. It was by far the longest king snake I ever seen. They are such pretty and friendly snakes, unlike the gator who wasn’t very happy to be stuck in a small place with me nearby.[…]
Bass Fishing
KVD crankbaits are proven winners
During his meteoric rise to the top on the B.A.S.S all-time money list with more than $5.3 million won in tournaments around the United States, Kevin VanDam relied on artificial lures he had utmost confidence in.[…]
Columns
HOW program helps vets
All kayak fishermen know that ’yak fishing is a special sport, and there’s just something soothing from being so close to nature and being in the boat by yourself.[…]
Apex Predator
Hits, misses and predator control
I couldn’t wait to hunt opening day, but as the season approached road blocks were getting in the way of my plans. My water heater had busted and then broke in my camp the previous week, spewing water everywhere.[…]
Columns
Trout without a doubt
The Spottail Elvis is much deserving of his reputation as the premier fly-fishing species in our state.[…]
Columns
Finding out who your friends are
We know that when the storms of life hit Mother Nature can put the outdoors back in order, but we need our friends to help us get going again.[…]
Ask Captain Paul
The Bird Island that once was
Dear Capt. Paul:
Do you have the coordinates for Bird Island in Barataria Bay near Grand Isle?[…]
Columns
Coastal region’s best hope for Isaac recovery: You!
OK, admit it: You didn’t take Tropical Storm Isaac seriously. No, it’s alright. I didn’t either, even when when it finally churned it’s way up to a Category 1 hurricane. Really, what was there to fear? Isaac certainly was no Katrina.[…]
Columns
A mullet by any other name is still a mullet
The striped mullet is a fish of many names. By one count, it carries 21 English names and at least 144 in other languages. It is “jompo” in Malagasy, an appropriate-sounding name for this most airborne of fish. In Dutch it goes by “diklipharder.”[…]
Columns
Hideout guns
A group of firearms instructors for the sheriff’s office was standing around, waiting for a meeting to begin. One of the guys, the best pistol shooter among that relatively talented group, pulled a little North American Arms .22 Magnum revolver out of his pocket, and began showing it around.[…]
Apex Predator
Preseason pumpup: 2012-13 hunting season holds promise
Two years ago, I jumped some deer and a streak of white caught my eye. I thought surely that was brighter than just the white of a tail, but the thick cover of the area left me uncertain.[…]
Columns
Fly-Yaking
Fly-fishing from a kayak is admittedly not for the purist. Most kayak anglers won’t be wearing waders or a tactical fly-fishing vest.[…]
Columns
Stop, look, listen before crossing the street or going in the dove field
Dove season opens Saturday and you just got off the phone with your hunting buddy. He has wrangled an invitation from a farmer friend to a dove field for the two of you, and he says the field is swarming with birds.[…]
Columns
Deer camera techniques
My excitement level is now building to a fever pitch as I plot and plan strategies for the soon-to-begin deer season.[…]