Sports - Outdoors

Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Plenty of ammunition available for the hunting season

GULFPORT — One of the most anticipated portion of the year is approaching as deer hunters prepare for the opening of gun season in South Mississippi.

With archery season wrapping up, hunters anxiously await Nov. 21 when gun season with dogs opens in Deer Management Zone 2, which includes the immediate Coast.

The first season will close on Dec. 1 before the primitive weapon season set for Dec. 2-15.

That’s followed by gun season without dogs on Dec. 16-18, Dec. 19-20 and Dec. 21-22 before the final gun season on Dec. 20 through Jan. 20.

It all ends in South Mississippi with primitive weapon season from Jan. 21 to Feb. 15 in the extended season.

Granted, the 2009-2010 season is expected to be a solid one considering the amount of rain, a good acorn drop, and forage.

The Mississippi deer population, one that’s estimated between 1.5 and 1.8 million, isn’t a concern for hunters.

It’s the ammunition needed to make sure the hunt is successful that was a major concern last year and parts of this year.

That fear, according to Kevin Riley, owner of Dad’s Super Pawn in Gulfport, no longer exists.

“People were worried congress was going to do away with (guns) with the product or tax it so high that you could not afford it,’’ Riley said. “Right now, it is not a problem.’’

Hunters searching for hunting shells like 30/06, 25/06, 300 mag, 7 mm and the 4570 for primitive weapon seasons will not have a problem.

The main problem has been with shells for 9 mm and 45 handguns.

That translates into good news for hunters.

“It is not a problem right now,’’ Riley said. “With hunting ammo, we are getting it again. Our shelves are stocked and I don’t see a problem.

“We were having problems with 9 mm and 45 and we still have some issues. The problem was everybody started buying ammo. The normal guy who bought two boxes was buying two cases. We just ran out.

“At one point, we were totally out of 9mm and 45, but we had hunting ammo the whole time. But (manufacturers) have caught up and we have everything in stock.’’

At Academy Sports in Gulfport, manager Matt Smith said overall sales heading into hunting season are lagging behind last year when people became nervous that congress could legislate firearms.

The good thing, Smith said, is that the troubled waters are beginning to calm down,

“Our sales have tapered off big time from last year,’’ Smith said, “Because it is not an issue this year like it was last year. Everybody bought their guns last year. Where we normally have 300 or 400 guns on hand, we have 600 now.

“We had a phenomenal year last year. It’s been slow this year and that’s why we are waiting on Black Friday (Nov. 27). It’s the best time to get your bang for the buck. We will have firearms on sale. We sold a couple of hundred last year and we will have very aggressive pricing on Black Friday this year.’’