Yazoo and Mississippi rivers. Famed for
its rich, black earth and abundant agriculture, the Delta is the scene of a major hog
population boom, too.
OWU members want to hunt turkeys and
deer in their home areas, while others
dream of hunting the continents of the
world. We provide encouragement and
share a connection that will help each to
Hunting’s a big deal in the South, and achieve their personal goals in their outit means a great deal to people in the door adventures.”
Mississippi Delta. Hunting’s what you do
and what your family did, a living con- Jen rodman wholeheartedly agrees.
nection to the past. Ken Smith is the sixth an OWU member from California who
generation of Smiths to live and hunt in attended this hog hunt, rodman took
Yazoo County, and a local history buff. a 150-pound Delta boar. She’s also the
at lunch on Day two of the OWU hog marketing coordinator for the gun maker
hunt, Smith stopped by the Saxton hunting Weatherby, inc, a sponsor of the hunt.
lodge to share some local history with the
OWU hunters.
“the overall support from the weekend
hunt boosted my confidence and my hunta hundred years ago and more, Smith told ing experience,” says rodman. “i was so
the OWU members, the Mississippi Delta excited to meet, share stories and hunt
fall hunting camp was the social event of with the wonderful women of OWU. i left
the year.
the hunt feeling so much more confident
about being a hunter.”
“You’d have generations of people hunting together, people not necessarily relat- Hog hunting has become one of those
ed to each other but who were connected sought after adventures, in no small part
by the hunting,” Smith says. “they’d load because hog populations are booming
up their [horse-drawn] wagons with tents across the nation. Some estimates put
and blankets and basic supplies like cof- the total number of wild, feral hogs at 6
fee and lard and corn meal—but no meat! million, more than double what it was just
You were going to have to get that on your ten years ago. the Mississippi Delta, and
own.”
the area around Yazoo City has seen hog
Well, to be exact, it was the male social
event of the year. Men and boys stayed out
for weeks at a time, hunting, fishing, telling
stories around the camp fire