Well, what are you waiting for? The whitetail rut seems to be building where I have been hunting and if you have waited around to collect your annual venison, you are running short of time. My hunting partners and I have seen more sign of bucks chasing does than at any time this decade, especially today. I am writing this piece on Wednesday, January 20.

If, like me, you tend to get casual about bagging a deer, whether from being choosy or procrasting, your season is now down to mere days. When this goes to print you must hunt with “black powder legal” firearms or archery equipment (crossbow hunters must have a special permit and hunters 15 and under can use any firearm with which they can safely hunt and that complies with other applicable laws, rules and regulations.)

If you need a place to hunt, a wise selection would be Timberview Lodge in Kemper County. They have a huge acreage with lots of deer, food plots, shooting houses; the works. Plus their home style cooking is to die for and their large lodge and stained pine sleeping quarters with private baths are the ultimate in comfort and convenience.

I was privileged to take a deer at Timberview Lodge this week on a reunion hunt with Bill Wille, the Colorado taxidermist I wrote about on this page December 11, and my friends who operate the lodge, Ike and Betty Hopper and Newt Sharp. Even though we were well after dark getting my deer from a distant field, I had the deer skinned, quartered and stored in plenty of time for grilled steaks, shrimp cocktails, stuffed baked potatoes, green salad and a giant strawberry desert that I would not look at to identify because sometimes my doctor reads these lines.

Other hunters enjoying Timberview while I was there were a friend of Bill’s from New York and a man and wife from Vermont, annual guests for many years. Once you experience the friendly folks who operate Timberview, you will want to return again and again.

Ike Hopper tells me he has openings for hunters during the remaining days of Mississippi’s primitive weapon season. Also they are not fully booked for the upcoming spring gobbler season. I watched four fine gobblers parade around my deer stand snipping grass shoots during the one afternoon I hunted.

Take a look at the website timberviewlodge.com for complete information about the lodge, its hunting and game management practices and availability of hunts. The site provides a color map with directions to the lodge.

If you call first to be sure they are not in the woods, these folks would welcome a visit from anyone interested in booking a hunt with them.

You can call Timberview Lodge at 601-743-4204 or write them at Timberview Lodge Inc., 11705 Firetower Road, Porterville, MS 39352.