Hello again Miss-Lou!

We finally got a much-needed dose of winter like weather last week, which hopefully has kicked the bucks into the rutting mode.

The change in the woods, so far as leaves falling and such, should be noticeable immediately. Though we had had a few dustings of frost prior to last week, this was finally what we call the &8220;killing frost&8221; that really damages seasonal vegetation.

I am happy to report that I retired my muzzle-loader to the gun cabinet last Sunday evening, without further incident, good or bad. There it will remain until the final segment of the deer season, in late January. I will try to put it out of my mind, although I still have a knuckle abrasion that when bumped, is a painful reminder of how much I dislike muzzle-loaders.

I had been wondering all season long, why I had not heard a peep out of the gang down at Buck Island Hunting Club. Well, I finally got an update from several of the gang, who were all in town last Saturday night, because unfortunately, Buck Island is now under water. The report was that season had been pretty slow, and then the river flooded them out.

You are probably aware the Internet is a wonderful means of keeping in touch with friends and family. It has certainly made my life as a writer easier in getting information from sources and sending articles and pictures on to The Natchez Democrat for publication. Something I mentioned last week happened again, and this time from multiple sources.

I received pictures from two different people of the same huge deer, supposedly killed in November in Illinois.

This huge buck, purported to weigh 340 pounds, is hanging in a barn next to a smiling but unnamed hunter. I’m sure many of you out there have seen the same photo.

While I do enjoy looking at pictures of big bucks, a picture with no details about the buck or the hunter is just a picture, not a story. If you have a picture of a buck to send me, please include as much detail about the buck and hunter as you can.

Not much in the way of kill reports this week as is usually the case during the muzzle-loader season. I did get a report of a first deer for a lady, though it may have been a belated report from the gun season. I heard Shannon Parker bagged her first ever deer, a doe, while hunting at The Pines in Jefferson County. Congrats to Shannon on what I’m sure will be the first of many.

I had a few Shirt Tail Club reports this week, and I am happiest to report none of them involved me in any way.

No details on the first two, but Shirt Tail nods nonetheless to Bruce Laird and Andy Burns.

The big Shirt Tail Club story of the week features Will Devening. The report says Will missed a 13-point buck last week while hunting in Wilkinson County. They know for sure it was a 13 point, because another hunter downed the buck off of the same stand a day or two later.

Tough break Will, but hang in there buddy.

Beg though I have the last couple of weeks, I can’t seem to get anyone who has been duck hunting this year to give me a call.

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

To submit items of interest, call (601) 446-7859.

Chuck Fields writes a weekly hunting column for The Natchez Democrat. Reach him via christian.schmidt@

natchezdemocrat.com.