The eighth annual spring Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Expo, which will be held on February 23 - 25 at the Canton/Madison County Multipurpose Complex in Canton, Mississippi, will feature several top attractions and seminar speakers. According to Billy Van Devender, President of Wildlife Mississippi, "Everyone will enjoy the many seminars. We have scheduled some top seminar speakers and are very fortunate to be attracting such talent."
Paul Meek, a veteran turkey call, fishing lure, deer lure and scents manufacturer, will be presenting a unique seminar for kids and beginners on turkey calling titled "Hands-On Turkey Calling For Kids And Beginners." He will have a short discussion on how to make turkey call sounds then each participant in the seminar will have the opportunity to put different calls in their hands and work with them making turkey call sounds. This is a seminar every parent with a beginning turkey hunter will want to bring their son or daughter to. Seminar times are: Friday, 6:00 pm; Saturday, 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm; and Sunday, 1:00 pm. You also need to stop by Paul's booth to see a world record 11 beard turkey.
Terry Vandeventer, a professional herpetologist, will be at the Expo with his live snakes. Vandeventer has hunted and studied reptiles throughout the world. His snake demonstrations are seen by over 70,000 people annually. He will discuss their life histories, habits and their effects on people, good and bad. Seminar times are: Saturday, 2:00 pm; and Sunday, 3:00 pm.
David Hall with the Central Mississippi Hawking Club will be at the Expo discussing falconry and showing his hunting partners. As David will explain in his seminars, these birds are not "pets," they are hunting partners. Even though there is a strong devotion to the birds, they are free to go anytime they enter the field to hunt. If you have any questions about falconry, ask David at his seminars or stop by his booth at the Expo. Seminar times are: Friday, 7:00 pm; Saturday, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm; and Sunday, 2:00 pm.
One of the seminars that you will definitely not want to miss is Kids Critter Identification with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Children will have the opportunity to get an up close look at some critters that they normally would not be able to see. This is a seminar that parents will enjoy as much as the children. Seminars times are: Friday, 5:00 pm, Saturday, 11:00 am and 3:00 pm.
Thanks to the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Levee Board, the Expo will again be offering free trees. This partnership has resulted in approximately 15,000 trees being provided free of charge to attendees of this year's Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Expo. There will be an assortment of seedlings per bag with some of the species being: Nuttall oak, shumard oak, water oak, sawtooth, persimmon and cypress. Any individual, community, town or city that attends the Expo is eligible for the free seedlings. Patrons are encouraged to limit what they take so everyone can have the opportunity to obtain seedlings. Seedlings will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.
Show Hours are: February 23, Friday, 3 pm - 9 pm; February 24, Saturday, 10 am - 8 pm; February 25, Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm. Admission is: Under Six - Free; Six to Twelve - $4.00; Adults - $7.00. Anyone bringing a can good to the Expo for Wildlife Mississippi's "Hunt Against Hunger" program can receive $1.00 off of the admission price (limit one per attendee). All can goods will be donated to a local food pantry.