Hello again Miss-Lou. What turned out to be an extended golf season for me finally came to a close last weekend, so that I can now turn my attention to hunting. The extent of my preparations for hunting season so far this year, has been one trip into the field to hang a new stand, and one brief practice session with my bow and arrows.

I guess it’s just as well, since the weather so far this season has been much more golf like than hunting like. Other than the one brief cool spell we had two or three weeks back, we have been suffering through temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Miserable weather for trying to sit still on a stand with a bow.

No matter what the weather has in store, the season begins in earnest for me this weekend. That will include a combination of bow hunting and preparations for the upcoming gun season. Though I am getting a late start this year, like every other area hunter, I always have high hopes for the new season.

It’s pretty easy to tell we are getting close to the opening of the gun season too. All you have to do is just drive up and down the highway for a few minutes. It seems as though every other vehicle is you see is pulling a trailer either loaded with 4-wheelers, or loaded with a tractor and bush hog, with a seed spreader near by.

I ran into famous duck hunter/champion bill fisherman Jerry Pyron last week, and inquired as to the outlook for the upcoming duck season. Jerry lamented the lack of rain in the area for the past couple of months as not boding well for duck season. But, much as area deer hunters are always optimistic before the season, I got the impression from Jerry that duck hunters possess the same pre-season optimism.

Duck hunters have suffered through back-to-back slow years. In fact I have heard the term &uot;dismal&uot; bandied about by several duck hunting buddies, when describing the last two years. I would like to remind a few people, and you know who you are, that I still have the two boxes of shells that I purchased to go duck hunting last year that I did not use. So, I will be hoping to hear from you for that duck hunting invite when the time comes.

I’m going to step away from the hunting scene as I close this week, to congratulate the members of team St. Andrews, for their one-point victory over team Carnoustie, in last weekend’s Beau Pr Cup. Yours truly was a member of team Carnoustie, so I am, needless to say, setting my sights on payback next year.

A tip of the old golf cap goes to captains Rob Smith of St. Andrews and Bill Lambert of Carnoustie, for the closest matches in the history of the Cup. Also, thanks to pro Tom Bryant, and the entire Beau Pre staff, for putting on what has become the premier event of the year, at Beau Pre. Well done, folks.

Don’t forget, if you’re heading into the woods today, we went off of daylight savings time last night, so it will be getting dark substantially earlier starting today.

I’ll call that a wrap for this time. Until next time, happy hunting, and as always, think safety first.

To submit items of interest, call (601) 446-7859. Or e-mail me at

FIELDS999@aol.com

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