For the past 5 years, Safari Club International (Magnolia and Georgia chapters), Bill Whitmire VFW Post 3936, Cooper Yerger American Legion Post 28 and Mississippi Order of the Purple Heart have teamed with a dozen of the finest hunting clubs in Bolivar and Coahoma counties to host approximately 20 Mississippi Purple Heart veterans to a weekend of fun, fellowship and hunting.
Most of these hunting clubs are located between the levee and the Mississippi River. However, the 6th Annual SCI Wounded Veteran Deer Hunt is being postponed due to the historic flooding which was experienced in the spring of 2019.
During this annual event, our veterans are treated to some of the finest hunting in the Mississippi Delta and have an exceptional chance to harvest a nice deer and/or a hog. Hunting clubs host the veterans in their camps, guide them during the hunt, ensure the veterans have a great time, and demonstrate true southern hospitality.
We constantly hear that the participating hunting clubs are vested in hosting the annual event honoring our Mississippi veterans – and the Veterans express how much they appreciate and cherish the relationships that have developed with individual club members. However, during the spring and summer of 2019, the Mississippi Delta Area experienced the worst flooding since the Great Flood of 1927. While this area is prone to minor flooding a few weeks each year, many areas were submerged for months. The flooding had a significant impact on farmers, residents and wildlife.
Some of the hunting clubs were completely under water for months and the members could not get back into their property until late June / early July. Roads, equipment and habitat have been destroyed, hunting camps have been flooded and food plots were not able to be planted.
The hunting clubs are not sure of the short-term or long-term impact from a wildlife or habitat perspective. Most of the wildlife were forced to flee to the east side of the levee in order to survive – and they have been displaced for months. Many, unfortunately, were trapped inside the levee on higher ground for months and an untold number succumbed to the lack of food, stress, and rising waters. Note that all of this occurred during the time that the wildlife would have been delivering their offspring.
Hunters are truly the greatest conservationists of habitat and wildlife. Hunting clubs are currently assessing the impact on their wildlife and the habitat. Many clubs are promoting supplemental feeding to help rebuild and strengthen the herds. Nearly all of the camps are modifying their traditional hunting season rules for this year to provide the best opportunity for the wildlife to recover.
This will be a year of rebuilding for the hunting clubs, the Mississippi Delta area hunting habitat, and the wildlife. Therefore, our Executive Committee has made the decision to postpone the 6th Annual Mississippi Wounded Veteran Deer Hunt for 2019 and reassess the event in 2020.
We appreciate the partnership that has developed with the hunting clubs, the surrounding communities, and businesses that volunteer their time and talent in honor of our Mississippi Purple Heart veteran hunters. We appreciate your support in the past and look forward to hosting our veterans next year. May God bless our veterans, the wildlife and the entire Mississippi Delta that has been impacted by the historic flooding of 2019.
Raymond E. Cole
Executive Director – MS SCI Wounded Veteran Deer Hunt
Clarksdale, Miss.
