Tennessee’s gun season for deer opens Saturday NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s first of two segments of gun season for deer hunters opens Saturday in all three of the state’s deer hunting units, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. This year, the season dates for all three units (A, B and L) are Saturday through Dec. 6 with the second segment Dec. 19-Jan. 10, 2010. Published in The Messenger 11.20.09 Read More ... NASHVILLE

Crappie fishing on Reelfoot Lake improving; waterfowl seasons fast approaching The recent warm and dry spell really helped the crappie bite on Reelfoot Lake.  Over the last several days, many crappie reports have been floating around with most everyone I have talked with having good luck on Reelfoot Lake. Published in The Messenger 11.20.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott

Weather perfect for fishing, but I’ve got better reason to celebrate today I will start out this week’s report by saying the dry spell was a welcome one. The area lakes and rivers have had enough water to last for several days and weeks to come. The recent dry spell was what Mother Nature needed to do for the farmers to be able to harvest their crops as well. Published in The Messenger 11.13.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott

Smokies tops in visitor spending GATLINBURG (AP) — A National Park Service study ranks the Great Smoky Mountains as tops in visitor spending. The study estimates the Smo-kies’ 9 million visitors in 2008 spent more than $800 million in the gateway communities around the park, notably Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Cherokee, N.C. That’s nearly twice as much as the $423 million spent by visitors to Arizona’s Grand Canyon, which finished second behind the Smokies in a ranking of visitor spending among the park service’s 391 units. Published in The Messenger 11.11.09 Read More ... AP

Muzzleloader/archery season opens Saturday Tennessee’s Muzzleloader/Archery Deer Season opens on Saturday and goes through Nov. 20 in all three of Tennessee’s deer hunting units, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Published in The Messenger 11.6.09 Read More ...

Hunters, fishermen benefit from heavy rains; farmers need dry days for harvest Reelfoot Lake hunters and fishermen should be in good shape now all the way through the winter months with the recent heavy rains that fell last week and now the long-range forecast is a possible repeat early to mid-week of this upcoming week of possibly more heavy rain. Published in The Messenger 11.6.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott

Fall weather arrival a busy time for area’s fishermen and hunters As most of you outdoors people know, this is a very busy time of year. Many hunting seasons are either open or will open soon, fall fishing is in full swing and there are still several bass tournaments going on through at least November. Our area has already seen its first frost on two different mornings this past week and the trees are starting to turn to their year-end pretty colors. Published in The Messenger 10.23.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott

Fishing opportunities abound whether it’s in a tournament or just for fun This week’s report is filled with lots of fall hunting and fishing activities along with improved water/fishing conditions on Reelfoot Lake. Published in The Messenger 10.02.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott

Recent rains a welcome sight as fresh water improves conditions This week’s report, again, has a variety of information to pass along. This past week’s rains didn’t hurt as far as the water conditions on area lakes, rivers and ponds. We have been fairly dry over the past few weeks and Reelfoot is one lake that could have used some fresh water.  Published in The Messenger 9.18.09 Read More ... Brent Callicott