Page 78 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS family outing
DEER
HUNTING
for father and daughter
story and photos by Frank Wilem
Mississippi, with thousands of acres perfect for deer, is where many hunters love to stalk their prey. My good friend, Clay Blalack, owns or leases thousands of acres in north Mississippi. He invests a great deal of time and effort managing the land to provide bountiful food sources for waterfowl as
well as deer, and unfortunately hogs, the bane of many landowners.
It was on Clay’s land that my daughter, Brittany, bagged her first doe — and her first buck
— sort of. Though she dropped
it with one shot, the celebration ended quickly when the deer did a Lazarus, got up, and slipped back into the woods. Though a few weeks later, they found what they were certain was her buck
a short distance from where she had shot it, she didn’t feel like she could claim it.
So, when another family friend, John Husbands, invited us out to hunt Sam Hill Ranch near Waco, Texas, we jumped at the chance. My son, Chris, took his first buck there at the age of 15 and we were familiar with how good hunting is
Brittany Wilem gets a trophy on Texas deer hunt.
cattle land loaded with wildlife. Deer, turkey, rabbits, and the ubiquitous hogs are all there in abundance. Each year, they have state experts perform an analysis of their land. This year’s recommendation was to take 25 bucks and 100 does to maintain a healthy population of the species. We were happy to do our part.
Opening day found us hunkered down in a deer
stand as dawn broke. The warm weather brought heavy fog making deer spotting a challenge. It was eerily quiet as
there.
John’s 80-acre ranch abuts the
deer lease in which he is a partner providing 2,600 acres of farm and
we sat in the dark awaiting dawn. We had been there 20 minutes or so
when I glanced out the rear of the
78 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • January 2018
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