Page 52 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2020

SPORTS & OUTDOORS SOUND
story and photos by John N. Felsher
Sportsmen Find Abundant Public Hunting Opportunities
When sportsmen think of duck hunting in Mississippi, most envision standing amid flooded timbers in a river backwater, sitting in a rice field pit blind or hiding next to an old catfish pond. Southern Mississippi waterfowlers can
find thousands of acres open for public hunting with little competition.
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Daniel Felsher admires a drake greater scaup.
52 | January 2020 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Mississippi Sound runs the length of the Mississippi coastline and extends across the Louisiana and Alabama borders. Navigable waters such as Mississippi Sound belong
Sound slopes gently so boaters might encounter shallow
water some distance from the mainland. These shallows, sandbars and grassy islands, particularly south of the Pascagoula River delta, make excellent places to hunt ducks. Waterfowlers also hunt marshy shorelines between Waveland and the Louisiana state line.
to the public so sportsmen
can hunt anywhere that safety permits. However, local laws may prohibit hunting too close to populated areas, public beaches or industrial facilities.
“Scouting is important when hunting Mississippi Sound,” confirmed Robert Brodie of Team Brodie Charters who grew up in Biloxi. “We usually hunt about a quarter mile off the east end of Deer Island or south of Cumbest Bayou.”
“Areas where rivers flow into the sound are typically good travel corridors for waterfowl,” explained Houston Havens,
a Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks waterfowl biologist. “Scouting for large numbers of feeding ducks is a good way to find areas where ducks may return regularly.”
Brodie and others who hunt these open waters can’t just hide behind trees. They must bring their cover with them. Many sportsmen hunt from boats equipped with pop-up
The bottom of Mississippi