DC is right on the money--at least from what I know(and he's in a different part of MS). I used to work in a local archery shop, now I own/operate the only local archery shop. We used to have gobs of local tournaments, now there's onlyone within 90 mins of me, and it only has4-6 shoots a summer.Most shut down due to lack of participation;in one case the land sold to a timber company.

I know we have gobs of bowhunters in the area--but turnout at shoots is very low, and sales for archery equipment is next to nothing until September (season opens in Oct.). Look at Wal-Mart--they are in it for the money, period--if archery equipment made money year-round, the equipment would be out year round. Good luck trying to findanything archery at your local Wal-Martright now. No doubt whatsoever the vast majority are just looking to extend the season, and most would happily gun hunt.

MS has an exceptional deer population--the problem, like most anywhere else I've heard of, is finding a place to hunt. Not everyone can afford to buy up 50-100+ acres (if you can even find land for sale), not everyone can afford to pay for a lease, and you have to wait for years and/or know the right people to get into a lot of clubs. Pulblic land can be a nightmare, but I've found out about a few spots that, if you don't mind a lot of travelling and a lot of walking, maybe you won't be set up within 50 yds of someone else.

Just like the drive behind the technology, bigmoney controls other aspects of hunting--and hurts it for most of us.

Chad