It has been a great start to hopefully a good season. Many of you have sent stories and a few have sent some photos from up north. This is the last week for to sign up for the Southern Sportsman Big Buck Contest since season in zone 2 opens this weekend.

The deer season for 06’07’ opens this Saturday morning October 14th and runs through November 17th. The big buck sign up forms will be collected Friday evening and this will conclude the sign up period for this year. Even if you don’t plan to do much hunting in zone 2 it will be worth your while to sign up, and you might win just for signing up.

This year, every person that fills out a valid entry form for the contest will have a chance to win a 2-man bass buddy boat. This prize is being sponsored by J-Kaulk Firestopping Company located next to the Deer Stand at 21-a Alex place.

Lynda and Jeff Kauzlarich are the owners of J-Kaulk and also avid deer hunters. The husband and wife business owners love hunting for whitetail and wanted to be part of the contest again this year. The winner of the boat will be drawn at the annual wildlife dinner in Poplarville, where the winners of the big buck contest will also be presented with their winning prize. Everyone that signs up, except those who win a spot in the contest, will have their name put into a bucket and one name will be drawn out as winner of the boat.

This adds another level to the contest and for this I am thankful. I do have plans to offer an open division for next year. The open division will cost $5 to enter and bucks can be entered that have been harvested anywhere in Mississippi. This will give hunters that hunt in Zone 1 a chance to get in on the action.

I am still getting calls from folks that want to sponsor the contest for this year, and we are working out some of the prizes with them. I am hopeful to have all the sponsors and prizes finished in a couple of weeks and as soon as I do, I will have it right here.

It is great to see several hunters taking deer early and I have been told that it is hot and hard to keep scent down right now. When it is hot as it has been, it doesn’t take much walking and climbing with a stand on your back to break into a sweat, therefore opening your pores and discarding human scent. This is tough when the deer are really not in a patterning mode and the mosquitoes are out.

With bucks and does moving around to available food source and water, they can come from anywhere and sitting up-wind of a deer is not the place to be. Any deer hunter worth his salt will tell you that the most important variable to take into account is the wind when looking for the place to set a stand, the other is to have a Thermacell. Lynda Kauzalrich must have done her homework on the wind and surely had a Thermacell to take her first archery buck this year.

Linda was hunting on their lease in Monticello when she had a nice 5-point buck come in on her along with several does. The buck finally gave her and shot at 17 yards and she finished the deal with a clean shot.

Maybe women don’t stink as bad as men, or maybe she worked the wind to her advantage. It really doesn’t matter because she got one and the boy’s didn’t, maybe they should try scent free soap, could do well if they just used soap.

Well I hope that you have got all your ducks in a row for deer season and plan to get out and do some hunting, scouting or fishing. With all the talk about the number of deer being seen in this area we should have plenty of bucks to enter the contest. Don’t forget to drop by the Deer Stand, Wal-Mart, Pure Country Western Outfitters, Stewarts Farm and Garden or Beebe’s Taxidermy and get your name inked on the line, it is free and you might win a boat.

Send me photos of your harvested game whether it will fly, run or swim, I would like to have it, and as always, get outdoors and enjoy what God has given us.