Hello again Miss-Lou! The 2004 &045; 2005 deer season in Mississippi went out with whimper last Monday. Rain for most of the day was a fitting end to a less than stellar deer season. Regardless of how the season went, the end always brings on the dreaded &8220;Post Hunting Season Blues Syndrome.&8221;

The &8220;PHSBS&8221; is that feeling of malaise that settles in over hunters that don’t quite know what to do with themselves when the season ends.

The length and severity of the &8220;PHSBS&8221; is directly related to the weather. The quicker the weather cooperates and lets me to get on the golf course, the shorter the case of &8220;PHSBS&8221; will be. In that regard, as I sat down to write this week’s article, I had just seen the sunshine for the first time in more than a week, so I am hopeful of golfing soon.

As has become my custom, my final article of the season is a re-cap of the season’s highlights. I would like to begin with a tip of the old camouflage cap to all of you out there, who made it through the entire season without me hearing of a tragic accident involving one hunter mistakenly shooting another.

While there were accidents involving falls from stands, which always happens, I didn’t hear of a single shooting-related accident. Next, I would like to congratulate all the hunters who made it into my article for their first deer or first buck. They are too numerous to mention, and if I tried to do so, I’m sure I would leave someone out, so congratulations to all.

The first actual highlight of the year, though it almost went un-noticed in this area, was the new State Record Archery Typical buck taken on Oct. 1. Carl Taylor of Greenville arrowed the big buck on opening day, while hunting in Issaquena County. The big buck was still in velvet, but after the mandatory drying period, scored 165 & 5/8 inches on the Pope & Young scoring system.

The next highlight was probably the big buck taken by Tom Middleton at Cedar Grove on a Thanksgiving morning hunt. Tom’s big buck was an 11 point, with an 18 1/2-inch inside spread, with real good mass.

My old buddy Al Guido makes the highlight list, with his big buck taken in mid December, on a Davis Island archery hunt. If memory serves me correctly, Al’s big buck was a big wide 13 point.

Next was Peter Trosclair’s big eight-point buck, that was also the subject of a Shirt-Tail Club story for Seth Eidt. I had never had a buck make the same article twice, but Seth and Peter found a way to pull it off.

Finally, the last highlight buck that I heard about was Michael Burkley’s 150 class, 300 pound, eight-point, taken in the final muzzle-loader segment of the season. For an eight-point to approach 150, it has to be tremendous. Congratulations to all of these hunters.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we had some of the best Shirt-Tail Club stories I have ever heard. The aforementioned Seth Eidt, Will Devening, Dr. Tommy O’Brien, and Bryan Adams come to mind quickly. Thanks to you guys for being good sports, and taking a little good-natured ribbing.

It’s time to sign off for another season. If anyone gets a good turkey-hunting story, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll call that a wrap for this season. Be careful.

Chuck Fields writes a weekly hunting column for The Democrat. He can be reached via

christian.schmidt-@natchezdemocrat.com

.