By By Mike Giles/The Meridian Star
Dec. 1, 2000
After one week of deer season the results so far are very good. Many nice bucks have been taken and many area hunters are reporting seeing large numbers of deer in the woods.
With an absence of hardwood timber in many areas and a lack of natural browse, the deer are already moving well. Many hunters are also reporting a lack of acorns on the trees in their woods.
In the woods I normally hunt in Lauderdale County, the browse line is very high. In effect the woods now look much like they normally do in late January. This all translates into good news for area sportsmen.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, my brother Joe and I took a hunting trip together to an area in north Mississippi where we had hunted many years before. With a large amount of hardwood timber, the woods normally have a lot of acorns.
After a couple of hours of scouting we located a large hardwood bottom. One small area of chestnut oaks was literally teaming with large acorns. After a couple of hours without seeing any buck sign or acorns, I knew that this should be a hot spot. A dry creek bed ran right through the area and provided a nice view. If deer crossed within 200 yards I would have a good look at them.
After an hour of watching the oak bottom, I was getting antsy. I decided to ease up the dry creek bed and scout for deer sign and more places to place a climbing stand later on. After about 20 minutes of stalking 4 or 5 feet and stopping, watching, and moving again, I detected movement up ahead.
At a distance of 200 yards all I could see was a deer. At about 125 yards out I detected a rack. A few more yards and he disappeared behind a large cypress tree. At that point I sat down on a log that had fallen across the dry creek bed. I didn't want to have to quick draw against the deer as he approached me head on.
A few more yards and he started to leave the creek bottom and possibly disappear out of sight. At this point I couldn't see any more deer behind him, so I decided to take him. I had already decided that I would harvest the first legal buck that I saw. As the buck went behind another cypress tree, I raised my rifle and got ready.
As he appeared on the other side, the .270 roared and I had my first buck of the year. Although he wasn't a monster, he was a nice 8 pointer that would provide some mighty fine venison for the supper table. The day also had provided me with some good memories of another successful hunt with my brother.
What more could a person ask for?
Mike Giles is an Outdoors writer for The Meridian Star.