A wildlife festival is set for Oct. 17 at the Coastal Plains Experiment Station in Newton.  The festivities will educate visitors about Mississippi wildlife and provide activities for all ages.

Events will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and include everything from bird dog and falconry demonstrations to wildlife tours. Experts will provide advise on managing deer, turkey and other wildlife populations, and will explain how to preserve hunting trophies and historical weapons.

Award-winning photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick will provide a wildlife photography show, while Joe McGee of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science will give a lecture.

Mississippi State University’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is organizing the event. Admission is $5 for adults, and $2 for children under 12. Local food and craft vendors will have items for sale.  For more information, visit www.naturalresource.msstate.edu or call 601-683-2084.

Bowhunting underway across Mississippi

Bowhunting season is underway, and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is putting up prizes for hunters who help keep tabs on the deer herd and fawn populations.

MDWFP is distributing Bowhunter Observation Books for the fifth year, in which hunters are asked to record observed buck to doe ratios, as well as fawn crop estimates.

Anyone who returns an observation book to the MDWFP by Dec. 1 is eligible to win one of four prizes in a random drawing.

Bowhunter Observation Books are available by download at www.mdwfp.com/deer, or can also be received by e-mailing a request to williamm@mdwfp.state.ms.us or calling 601-432-2199.

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Contact Everett Bexley at ebexley@vicksburgpost.com