There’s one name synonymous with the Mississippi Outdoors television show and that name is Melvin Tingle. It’s been said that Tingle is Mississippi Outdoors and there is more than a bit of truth to that statement.

In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who has lived in Mississippi and watched the show over the last 30 years who didn’t know this kind-hearted gentleman who loves the Mississippi outdoors and the people of the Magnolia State.

Tingle’s crowning achievement from over a lifetime spent in the Mississippi outdoors came last Saturday in Leland, when he was formally inducted into the Mississippi Outdoors Hall of Fame.

“This is the greatest day of my life,” said Tingle during his acceptance speech. “There was one driving force in my career – I love to hunt and fish and I love people.”

If you’ve ever been around Tingle or seen him on television, that fact would be readily apparent. In fact, Tingle spread his love of the outdoors in many venues and locations around the state over a lifetime.

“Because of Billy Joe Cross and God’s direction, it was a dream come true,” Tingle said. “Billy Joe hired me and then it got even better. Anytime you get with a group of sportsmen, they’re the elite people in the state and there’s just a joy and you have camaraderie when you’re together. You could have a millionaire and a good ole boy who doesn’t have a lot of money, but they both have a love of the outdoors and there’s a connection.”

Tingle made that connection with young and old, rich and poor and he never changed from the young man who had a love for the outdoors and people too.

“I grew up hunting rabbits and squirrels, in the Hope community in Neshoba County,” Tingle said. “Mississippi is just the greatest place you can live. I never aspired to be rich and you don’t have to be to live a full life here. You can just hit the woods and go do it. That’s my philosophy.”

One only has to listen to Tingle to see that he still has that fire and love for the outdoors and the people.

“I love my state and I love Mississippi people and I’ve always felt we got a bad rap,” Tingle said. “I just don’t see how people can live in New York, or Chicago, or in some of those big cities in California.”

Over his career, it was hard to know if Tingle was working or playing as he spent time in front of the camera in the woods and on the waters of our state while fishing and hunting.

As a young man, Tingle harvested deer with just a stick and string from a homemade climbing stand. He’s chased rabbits in east Mississippi, shot ducks and doves and caught bass in the delta and caught fish all over his beloved state. You name it, and Melvin Tingle has done it in Mississippi. He was an outdoorsman who parlayed his love of the outdoors and people into a lifetime of achievement where every day presented a new challenge and opportunity.

Although Tingle’s days with the television show and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks have been over for a while now, the memories of his adventures remain a cherished part of Mississippi’s outdoor heritage.

Mississippi Outdoors will forever be linked to this special Mississippi outdoors ambassador, Mr. Mississippi Outdoors himself- Melvin Tingle. Congratulations on being selected for the Mississippi Outdoors Hall of Fame.

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comcast.net.