With Halloween done and the prospect of parades and visits with Santa still over the horizon, society tells the child in all of us the best of the year still lies somewhat ahead, but I’ve always thought the best things happen in November.
Besides Thanksgiving, which is the best day of the year for those of us who love food, in November deer season is open and the abundant small game that flourishes is nearly all available to hunt. Squirrels and rabbits can be chased anywhere a .22 or a shotgun may be fired and, while there are lots more houses around the countryside now to be aware of than there were when I was a boy, there’s still nearly no end to the opportunity.
Duck, goose and dove seasons are still coming and going, and quail season will open Nov. 27.
The South’s signature game bird is the quail, and rightfully so. It is making a quiet comeback here and there.
People like Mr. Jimmy Bryan, of West Point, are doing things for the birds that had, for a very long time, seemed impossible, or at least terminally unlikely. Intentionally improving quail habitat is not the only beneficial measure, but it’s perhaps the one most necessary. It’s certainly an indispensable part of any program that hopes to actually work. Bryan and the team at Prairie Wildlife northeast of West Point are working wonders.
Far fewer people keep bird dogs anymore but you can still find legitimate experts who know how it was and can guide us back to how it again may one day be. It would be a shame for a boy to grow to adulthood in the outdoors without, from time to time, experiencing the lightning bolt of adrenaline that comes from surprising a wild covey underfoot.
Even in Mississippi, the summer’s heat has abated for good and the fishing has greatly improved. Crappie and bass are feeding up for their long winter’s sojourn and cool days afloat lie at hand for any outdoorsman not already somewhere deep in the woods.
It’s too early to decorate for Christmas but it’s a fine time for a youngster to begin seriously contemplating it. You can see Christmas from here, after all.
The lawnmowers are mostly put away and folks working in their yards now are disconnecting water hoses and putting frost-proof covers on the spigots.
Halloween’s last pumpkins are mostly gone. Outside, on a clear night, you can hear the wind blowing down from Canada and feel the gravity of the faraway stars above. Away from city lights the band of the Milky Way paints a picture in the sky deep enough to spark any imagination.
Migrating geese cross the night sky in kites without string. Before they were on every golf course and pond in our region, just a glimpse of one was magic, and the sight of a winged V high above and headed South can still stir dreams of unseen places far away. Christmas, no doubt, has lots of spiritual treasures and happy times in store, but November alone is enough to remind me of our blessings.
Kevin Tate is a freelance writer. Email [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
