LELAND — The Board of Directors of the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Foundation has announced six individuals as inductees to the 2023 Outdoor Hall of Fame. The honorees will be celebrated at an in-person meet and greet held 3-5 p.m. with an induction ceremony following at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 3, at the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum in downtown Leland. The public is welcome to attend.

This year’s honorees are:

Robert Dean, Greenville

A lifelong hunter and fisherman, Dean was the long-time outdoor editor of the Delta Democrat Times newspaper and wrote for several magazines. He is known as a crappie fishing and bow hunting expert who has taught those skills to many young outdoorsmen. Dean is a gifted outdoorsman who spent his adult life hunting and fishing with his wife, Susan.

Pete Fulton, Grenada

It has been said that 90% of deer hunters don’t practice with their rifles enough. Fulton is definitely not in that category. Shooting has been his lifelong past time. Over the last 50 years, he has passed his shooting skills and knowledge to hundreds of younger hunters.

Fox Haas, West Point

Fox Haas is an outdoors legend. His passion for hunting, land stewardship and conservation is what initiated and established Haas Outdoors and its many enterprises. Haas is the father of Mossy Oak founder Toxey Haas.

It’s no accident that Mossy Oak’s original camouflage pattern, Bottomland, was developed to hide from turkeys. A wild turkey’s vision is quite hard to fool, but were it not for Fox’s efforts to conserve the dwindling, Southern wild turkey populations in the 1970s, turkey hunting traditions in the state would be lost. Mossy Oak GameKeepers was established in 2008 as an aspiration to what Fox lived – conservation, land stewardship, wildlife management for the betterment of the land, and the camaraderie that comes with outdoors pursuits.

Dr. Henry Jones Jr., Kosciusko

Dr. Henry M. Jones Jr. has practiced veterinary medicine in Kosciusko for more than 40 years. He is a well-known breeder of beagles and was instrumental in the formation of the Small Pack Option Beagle Gun Dog Field Trials in Mississippi and the Southeast. He is the producer of nine rabbit hunting (Fair Chase) videos that have been seen throughout the United States, Australia, Canada and Europe. Jones is an avid rabbit hunter who has been “busting” briars behind an outstanding pack of beagles for more than 65 years.

Mike Morgan, Florence

Mike Morgan, an accomplished outdoorsman and key member of the Mojo Outdoors team, was the director of media for Mojo Outdoors and co-host of Mojo’s popular television show.

Morgan was an expert archer and diehard waterfowler. He took up archery at age 7, beginning a lifetime passion that led to him becoming an archery pro shop owner and traveling to the far reaches of North America with stick and string. His passions led him to pioneer hunting videos in the 1980s under the title Indian Archery Outfitters and set the stage for many to follow. His later video production work “Hunting Across America” led to award-winning television that is still imitated.

Otho “Bubba” Petitt Jr., Kosciusko

Bubba Petitt was given his first beagle at age 6 and began rabbit hunting with his father at age 8. When he returned home after law school, he began raising and training beagles. His passion for dogs and rabbit hunting led him to a lifelong study of swamp rabbit habitat, and eventually becoming a self-taught forester and tree farmer. Also with his college roommate, Larry Hancock, he pioneered the concept and perfected the art of “Rabbit Camp.” He participated in the production of all the rabbit hunting videos produced by his partner, Dr. Henry Jones, and he has appeared in several televised rabbit hunting shows.

According to Billy Johnson, executive director of the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Foundation, this class of inductees contributed much to the heritage of our state’s outdoor legacy.

“This is our seventh class to induct and each one of these men deserve all our accolades and more,” he said. “I hope everyone will make plans to attend the induction ceremony and enjoy celebrating the accomplishments of each of these great outdoorsmen.”