Not to be dramatic but last week was the best one this year. I didn’t think anything could the prior week’s deer harvest. 

Snowfall and an extension to deer season proved otherwise. 

Ever since I started hunting I’ve wanted to sit in the deer woods while snow fluttered down. It finally happened and it sure was magical. 

I’ve come to appreciate the occasional snowfall we get, no matter how little it is. Snow in southwest Mississippi is a bit unusual. Usually, the area gets ice if there is any winter precipitation. 

So when snow flakes started to fall Tuesday morning, I thanked God profusely. It’s the little things about snow that I appreciate. How it stuck together to form a layer on my orange hunting vest, or how it blanketed the food plot and creek bottom I’ve seen hundreds of times and transformed it into a scene from a painting. 

Most of the time I look up to the towering loblolly pines with disdain. In the snowfall, they looked just as pretty as my beloved oak and hickory trees. Snowfall adds just a little bit of newness to landscapes we see everyday and our perspective changes. 

Our readers shared dozens of photographs of children across the county enjoying the snow day. It was heartwarming to see all of the smiles and to think about all the fun they were having. Most of my fondest memories of winter came on snow days, back when the cold didn’t bother me as much. 

Of course it is always entertaining to see the reaction of pets experiencing snow for the first time. My wife enjoyed seeing horses with their blankets and coats on. 

Thursday morning, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks commission voted to extend this year’s deer season by two days. Two days may not seem like a lot of time but it is plenty of time for me. 

I would have been in the woods anyway. I have ambitious goals of improving turkey habitat before turkey season. Maybe taking one more deer this season will help with the pressure on native plants and thus help turkeys. 

 

Hunter Cloud can be reached at hunter.cloud@dailyleader.com