By Ben Smith: As the sun set on my final hunt of the trip, frustration began to kick in. As I climbed down from the stand I muttered a few choice words under my breath and threw myself a little pity party. Looking back on it, I feel more like a spoiled brat than ever... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: It’s come to my attention that I have entirely too many people running my life these days. And forget work, I’m not even counting that. I’ve always took pride in doing things my way…for the most part, anyway. Lately, I find myself taking orders at every turn. It all started several months... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: A brisk breeze blows in from the Northwest ripping the already dead leaves from the drought ridden trees in my yard. Acorns drop and pelt my driveway like ice from a hailstorm. There’s still no rain in the forecast, but the first good frost of the season is well on its way.... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Hot. This simple word describes my first hunt of the season. Sure, I could have chosen some different words to sum it up. Successful, peaceful, unlikely, and bountiful all would have sufficed. Yet, hot is the one word that sticks out the most when looking back on my hunting opener. A little... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Aside from the occasional political jab here and there, I’m not much into politics. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just not something that I want to spend much of my life worrying about. See, elected officials are put in place to serve the people, not rule them. Somewhere along the... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Over the last several years, William Carey and winning have become synonymous. The athletic program has established itself as one of the premiere NAIA programs in the country. And not just in a couple of sports, in almost every single one. Obviously, I’m partial to baseball given my role, but it brings... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: If you haven’t noticed, the price of pretty much everything has shot through the roof over the last few years. The cost of groceries, clothing, and medicine have all increased dramatically. And gas prices? Gas is so high that Louisiana Senator John Kennedy even joked that, “it would be cheaper to buy... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: If you hunt north of Highway 84, the day you’ve been waiting for is almost here. With the way the calendar falls this year, archery hunters in Mississippi get the opportunity to begin the season in September. Even though it feels nothing like deer season, I doubt many hunters will pass up... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Fall is officially here. Well, at least according to the calendar it’s here. I know the velvet season just passed, and a great deal of you braved the elements from a high perch in a tree last weekend, but it’s hard to get excited about deer hunting when the temperatures are still... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: For the second year in a row, Mississippi is allowing deer hunters the opportunity to get an early start to the season. The Mississippi Velvet season begins this Friday and runs through Sunday, offering hunters the somewhat rare opportunity to bag a buck before it sheds its velvet. I say “somewhat rare”... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish, sang “Time, why you punish me.” Last week, I wrote that I’d hunt until I killed a big gator, or until time ran out on me. After coming up emptyhanded in my final hunt, I cranked my truck up at 4:00 in the morning... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Last week I said records are meant to be broken. My feelings haven’t changed, I’m just disappointed that it wasn’t me. By now, most of you know that the Mississippi state alligator record was broken this past weekend. If you didn’t know, let me enlighten you. Four guys fought the 14’3” monster... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Growing up most of my life in South Mississippi, I spent plenty of hours on the river. We fished on pretty much every river around the Pine Belt area and sometimes we’d make our way over to the Alabama River, or the Tombigbee River. I always liked fishing the bigger rivers because... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Over the last couple of years, I’ve written on just about everything associated with my life. I’ve written about hunting, fishing, and baseball. I’ve written about my family, politics, and my childhood. I’ve shared about debilitating stomach issues and old friends that have passed on. As time passes, it gets harder and... Continue Reading →

As I rolled up to the polling station for Tuesday’s primary elections, a wave of madness came over me. It began with just a simple view of the lake where my polling station is located. Looking out over that water while melting from the parking lot was just too much to take. It took everything... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: As I turned down the dirt road, the most uneasy feeling came over me. This is a sketchy place. With one hand on the wheel, another on my pistol, and my head on a swivel, I made my way toward the river leaving a dust cloud thick enough to choke a camel... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Ball outside. Ball inside. Hit batter. Ball in the dirt, runner advances to second, catcher launches ball to centerfield, runner advances to third. Wild pitch, runner scores. Repeat process over again. That was my weekend. Nothing like a travel ball tournament to put an exclamation point on baseball season. You guys all... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Duuuun dun, duuuuun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun…you know the song. We are nearing the end of July and approaching one of my favorite weeks of the year, shark week! I can sit in front of my television for hours watching show after show about sharks. The scarier the... Continue Reading →

Field and Stream was always a magazine that I enjoyed as a kid. With the way the world is now, who even still gets magazines? The internet edition of this magazine is updated daily with new interesting facts and features. Most of their daily articles get posted on social media, as well. My favorite ones... Continue Reading →

A while back (September 2021) I wrote an article regarding what type of equipment that I used for deer season. It wasn’t anything special, just what works for me and my situation. Some of the items were necessary tools to do the job, while others were merely creature comforts. That said, I thought I’d put... Continue Reading →

Sometimes I get lucky, and this column practically writes itself. With baseball season in the books, I decided that I needed a little time on the water to recuperate. I always say that with hunting and fishing that it takes a little bit of suffering before you get the joy of killing a big buck... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Before the season, and during the early season, different people would often ask, “How do you think you guys are this year?” Usually, I gave the same answer as most years, “Ask me again in May.” May arrived and we were playing pretty well, but in all honesty I still didn’t know.... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: I love fishing, boating, or swimming in the Pearl River as much as anyone. Ever since I was a young kid, I can remember going there with my uncle to run trot lines and camp out. Some of my favorite memories of camping out on sandbars are from the Pearl. Some of... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: At the beginning of March, I boldly proclaimed that this would be the year. The running joke of having an outdoor columnist that can’t kill a turkey would be over. I even went as far as saying that I’d think seriously about quitting my job if that meant I’d kill a bird.... Continue Reading →

The other day a friend of mine sent me a video of a guy that had a large snapping turtle attached to his face. Apparently, the nitwit had been noodling for catfish, came across this turtle, and tried to grab it by the tail. Needless to say, it didn’t end up well for him. However,... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Sometimes this column is an outdoor piece and other times it’s about baseball, but it’s always about something that folks in Mississippi and the Southeast can most likely relate to. Mississippians love the outdoors, we love baseball, and we’re really good at both so why wouldn’t we? It’s just a way of... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Rolling into the end of March, I’d really hoped to have an article written about killing a turkey by now. I’ve played the scenario over in my head multiple times. I get to the woods early, get set up, and just as the sun begins to break a gobbler hammers down from... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: In baseball, we have statistics for everything. The most talked about of these is probably batting average and ERA (earned run average). But it’s much more in depth than that. We have stats for what batters are hitting in every count, what pitchers are doing ahead in the count versus behind, and... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: On a recent podcast, our guest, Carl Ray Holifield, brought up a few things that stirred my soul. Before I get to that, you might recognize that name. Carl Ray is a notorious figure in the outdoor world, especially in the turkey hunting community. A native of Jones County, he’s a turkey... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Spring, or first summer, has officially arrived in Mississippi. Everything that I own is yellow and my eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out of my head. Turkey season is upon us…not that I have much to offer in that department (this is going to be my year, though). Largemouth... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: The best thing about coaching baseball and hosting an outdoor podcast is, by far, the people that I get to be around. Over the course of 15 years in the dugout, I’ve been blessed to be around some fantastic young men that have gone on to do great things in the world.... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Most of the time these articles have at least a little bit of substance. Whether informative, entertaining, or something that is weighing on my heart, I try to come up with something decent for all three of my readers. However, sometimes it’s difficult to keep churning out Pulitzer quality material each week... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it at least a hundred times: I love Opening Day. The sights, the smells, the anticipation, all get my adrenaline flowing. I love to watch the guys hit the field after months of practicing and playing each other. There’s no doubt that by the time... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: It wouldn’t be far-fetched, I don’t think, to say that most whitetail deer hunters in Mississippi look forward to the rut more than any other time of the year. Obviously, the rut is when the majority of bucks mess up and let their guard down. You might go the entire month of... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: If you’d have asked me a week ago if I were through hunting for the season, the answer would have been yes. I’d already dropped 260” worth of bone on the ground and added a couple of does to go with them. For the most part, I was content to let the... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: It never fails. Around this time every year I become an emotionally unstable individual. It’s not for no good reason, but nevertheless, I’m somewhat of a train wreck. Most could agree that coming off of the holiday season can make one crazy, but the holidays ending is only the tip of the... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: The sound of the alarm clock startles me. My heart is racing from being abruptly awakened by the annoying ringing as I fumble around to turn it off. It’s still dark outside and will be for another hour and a half. The smell of fresh brewed coffee makes its way down the... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Addiction. Merriam-Webster describes addiction as the following: a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms upon withdrawal or abstinence. Self-admittedly, I am an addict. Fortunately, I realized my addictive personality at a young enough... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: Each passing year brings new excitement, as well as new challenges. 2022 was certainly no different. Keeping with the theme of the last couple of years, I thought I’d do a year in review for my final article of the year. Here’s to hoping 2023 brings more opportunities to keep churning out... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: The Christmas season is full of traditions, old and new. Most of us will spend the holidays in the company of family and friends, often sharing old stories and laughs over a meal. There will be gift exchanges, Christmas light shows, church programs, and many other traditions that we hold sacred for... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: For what seems like the first time in a long time, I’m in the Christmas spirit early this year. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have to suffer from getting all of the decorations down from the attic. The girls had everything put up and decorated during my Covid quarantine in the woods,... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith I’ve been so excited to see all of the pictures of young people with their first deer lately, and there have been more than a handful. It gives me great joy to see parents introducing their children to the outdoors. I’ve always been a believer that the best way to teach kids... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: I don’t miss many opening days. I’ve yet to miss an opening day of baseball season. I rarely ever miss the opening day of archery season. And you can bet on opening day of rifle season I’m usually in the woods. However, sometimes things are beyond our control. For far too long... Continue Reading →

A couple of weeks ago, I joined fellow podcast host, Matt Langford, on a deer hunting trip to his camp in the Mississippi Delta. The weather wasn’t great, but the opportunity to go to the delta wasn’t something I was going to pass up just because it was a little warm. The Mississippi Delta, for... Continue Reading →

Last year, I admitted to being a little bit of a gear snob. What can I say? I like cool toys just as much as the next person. I still haven’t quite come around to cell cameras and a few other fancy gadgets, but maybe this time next year I’ll be singing a different tune.... Continue Reading →

By Ben Smith: You ever get yourself involved in something and before too long you think, “I have no idea what the heck I’m doing?” Not sure about you, but this tends to happen to me pretty frequently. Chalk it up to trying new things. If there’s something, especially in the outdoors, that I haven’t... Continue Reading →

By: Ben Smith Last week, I talked about some things you can do to improve your chances of harvesting a trophy buck this year. I mentioned scent control, noise reduction, management, and patience. This week I really want to dive into the patience and management aspects, mainly because these might be the biggest obstacles to... Continue Reading →

By: Brandon Parker There is an old saying when it comes to outdoor pursuits. Depending on the target, the exact phrase can vary a little bit. But when it comes to deer hunting, we have all heard someone say, “you can’t kill him from the couch.” I’m here to dispute that phrase as being absolute... Continue Reading →

Killing trophy sized bucks year in and year out is a fantasy to most hunters. I know more people that have never killed a “trophy class” whitetail buck than hunters that have. This can be due to a multitude of reasons. Sometimes it’s just beyond the control of the hunter. Many folks don’t have access... Continue Reading →

By: Hunter McCool The air is getting crisp and the days are getting shorter, this makes the wait for bow season for the unfortunate souls south of Highway 84 that much harder. Our season starts October the 15th, so we have to watch our friends in the North begin their crusade from the sidelines for... Continue Reading →