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The Deluge of 2009
October 2009 was one of the wettest months on record for parts of Louisiana. Some areas received more than 20 inches of rain that inundated fields, woods and roads.[…]
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Deer of the Year
Hunters had been waiting for a cool fall and winter for what seemed like forever, and judging from the number of big bucks that had hit the ground as of mid January, it was well worth the wait.[…]
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Shut up to call ducks
Ducks don’t talk to each other nearly as much as hunters think, especially during the late season. Just as a roomful of people will migrate away from a loud, obnoxious guy who tries to dominate the conversation, ducks will exhibit the same behavior.[…]
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Deer Dynamics
When the rut is in full swing, mature bucks are tending and breeding estrous does while young bucks, instinctively desperate to test their testosterone, attempt to spoil the party.[…]
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Bayou Bunny Blast
I could hear the high-pitched yodels of the beagles heading my way along the canal spoil bank. I chose my spot carefully, not just because it would give me a clear shot at a rabbit ahead of the dogs, but it allowed me to also keep an eye on my buddy and my sons back at the boat.[…]
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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.[…]
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Tracking the Rut, Part III: After the Madness
The hunters had put in so much time afield that interest had ebbed, so when the morning broke on Jan. 20, no one showed much desire to leave the camp. They slept late, and then lounged around, enjoying the last of the season’s camaraderie.[…]
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Saltwater Series: Lake Amedee
To say that Capt. Charlie Thomason was fighting back misty memories might be a little too strong, but I swear I saw him wiping a tear as his Catch 5 sailed toward the broken shoreline in Cochon Bay just off Lake Amedee.[…]
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Biloxi Blues
There’s a lot of ways to bring in the New Year. Pop a few fireworks, celebrate with friends, toast 2010 at midnight on New Year’s Eve or you could do what hardy anglers do all over the Southeast Louisiana marsh — go fishing.[…]
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Chandeleurs in January?
Minutes after surveying Breton Island’s surprising paucity of fish and off-colored water, Gibby Andry, Lyle Panepinto and I were passing over the solemn remains of what is left of Grand Gosier Island. A small spit of land and a series of sandbars and shallow flats offer a grim reminder of what once was a land mass significant enough to put on most state maps.[…]
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Waterfowl Really Plentiful
Kaploosh! The big greenhead’s splashdown sounded like a pickle bucket hitting the water. After Pearl, Drew Keeth’s 7½-year-old black lab delivered the handsome bird to hand, Keeth added it to slings already groaning with bluewing teal, greenwing teal, gadwall, pintails, wigeon, another mallard and thrown in for variety, a couple of shovelers.[…]
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Once a Spike, Always a Spike?
I’m not interested in growing giant, trophy bucks because — everybody repeat in unison — you can’t eat horns. However, I am interested in having a healthy population of deer on my meager Washington Parish property.[…]
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Cover: January 2010
Ira Patureau thought outside the box to kill this post-rut buck in Assumption Parish.[…]
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Cock-sure
At the end of day six, when the good Lord passed a final glance over all of his creation, a wink and a smile must have went out to the diminutive woodcock.[…]
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Swamp Monsters
O.K., answer me this: How many of those brochures in hotel lobbies in the French Quarter beckon you to embark on a charming tour of a “5-year-old pure-pine plantation?” Or a picturesque tour of a “10-year clear-cut timber tract?”[…]
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Cover: December 2009
What exactly are those big bucks doing during the rutting phase? Find out in this issue.[…]