Outdoors

Our state is oiled and primed to launch huntingseasons for this year. Doves become legal in ourpart of the world on Saturday, September 6.The first of the three-way split seasons opens inthe North Zone (see wildlife and fisheries regulationsas to the location of the line separatingNorth from South zones) September6-28 giving hunters the chance to engagein the year’s first hunting …

I am in regular communication with huntersfrom areas other than Louisiana and the South.These folks are constantly talking about finding“morels”, a mushroom that is apparently a delicacy.Reading their posts on hunting forums aboutfinding morels makes me think that locatinga batch of these mushrooms is nearlyas exciting as bagging a big gobbler.From what I can determine, morels arerare in our part …

(Following is the title chapter, “Fathers, Sonsand Old Guns”, of my most recent book. The bookis currently available at Amazon.com)It began for the boy along about the Christmasof his sixth or seventh year. Dawn was still an houror more away when the youngster creptout of bed. Peering sleepily around thecorner through the living room door, hiseyes scanned the brightly-wrapped packagesspangled …

The dream of one man was the trigger point forthe formation of one of the most successful fundraising events this area has ever seen. That man isGlenn Scriber. “I was sitting on my couch one Sunday after-noon checking my computer for anything having to do with whitetail deer and thesite, Whitetails Unlimited popped up,”said Scriber.“There was a name and phone …

Summertime and the living is easy. In our part of the world, most of the “easy living” takes place behind four walls under air conditioning. It’s just too hot and muggy for outdoors activities and we resolve to wait for the first cool days of fall before taking to the woods and waters again.  This can be tough on the …

Folks who live in other parts of the good ole U Sof A don’t know what they’re missing when it comesto sitting down at the table, especially during summertime.This time of year, we have food available to usthat folks up north don’t appreciate andprobably wouldn’t even if they sampled it.Their taste buds are more attuned to stuffthat’s been sauteed or …

Pamplona Spain is best known for a wild andcrazy event that takes place each July in this city of100,000. Men with more sense of adventure thansmarts take to the streets of this European villagefor the “running of the bulls”, a week-longevent that promises to result in scores ofinjuries and almost always a few fatalitiesas bulls are released into the narrowstreets …

(I spotted something sitting on a shelf in myoffice, a Wheaties box honoring Willis Reed that heinscribed for me. Seeing the box rekindled memoriesof an interview I had with him, a local fellowwhose NBA career was spectacular and whopassed away at age 81 in 2023. In memoryof Reed, here’s an article I wrote about myvisit with him in 2009.)Willis Reed …

The mockingbird is Mississippi’s official statebird; I looked it up. After spending several days inour neighboring state a few years ago, I’m of theopinion that whoever chose the mocker picked thewrong bird. The right choice, in my opinion, wasright there all along, soaring, dipping anddiving over the Mississippi terrain, the ictiniamississippiensis.If the Latin name fails to yank yourchain, try Mississippi …

I’ve seen the sign dozens of times traveling east on I-20. The brown Natchez Trace sign just east of Jackson point to where to get on this highway. I’d heard little about driving the Trace to spark my interest, especially the part that mentions the 50 mile per hour speed limit. Compared to the speed we can zip along the …