Dana Sanders believes a higher power was looking on and rewarding his wife — a former Miss Vicksburg — when she bagged a trophy buck in Claiborne County just hours into their hunt on the Oct. 1 season opener.

Married for 17 years and with three children, including a 3-year-old with cerebral palsy, Sanders said he and his wife rarely get a chance to spend time alone due to the dedication his wife has for their children.

So when the couple got the opportunity to take a hunting trip together to their 300-acre farm near Rocky Springs and his wife brought down a 9-point buck during her first ever bow hunt, Sanders felt it was a true blessing.

“She’s an awesome mom, and she has always sacrificed her time and energy to put our boys first,” he said. “She killed this deer with a borrowed bow in the first 90 minutes of her first bow hunt, and for us to be able to get away and share that together — that’s a blessing. That’s God at work.” 

Adrian Atwater Sanders was Miss Vicksburg in 1990, and she and Dana have three boys — Nathan, 14; David, 10; and Jason, 3. Natives of Vicksburg, the Sanderses have lived in the Moss Point area for 10 years.

It’s not the first trophy buck Adrian has brought down.

“She’s also got the biggest white tail deer on our wall, an 11-point buck she got with a rifle on our farm,” he said.

Sanders said his wife had remarked more than once how she would like to take a buck in velvet — a rare treat for any hunter — and was simply astonished when her hopes came to fruition.

“All the way up to the farm she was saying how neat it would be to kill a buck in velvet, and I just kind of thought, ‘yeah, right,’” he said. “I’ve been hunting since I was 18 and I’ve only taken two or three in velvet. It was unbelievable that she got one — and one so big — and she couldn’t have gotten a better shot on him.”

Sanders said he has returned the bow he borrowed for his wife to use, and will be looking to purchase her one soon so she can follow up on her luck next year.

Meanwhile, they’re planning a full shoulder mount for the one from their farm.

Tensas taking applications for wheelchair hunter lottery

The Tensas River Refuge Association and the National Wild Turkey Federation will host a special wheelchair-bound lottery hunt Jan. 10 in the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge.

The special hunt is open to all wheelchair-bound individuals, but only 20 hunters will be chosen.

Applicants will be required to provide their own care attendant.

All state hunting regulations will apply as well as all TRNWR regulations. Applications must be received by the close of business hours Nov. 1 and are available at the TRNWR Visitor Center or online at http://www.fws.gov/tensasriver/. More information about the hunt may be obtained by calling Amanda Wilkinson, park ranger, at 318-574-2664.

Howard Miller Area wins wetlands grant

The Howard Miller Wildlife Management Area in Issaquena County will be one of a three WMAs in the Mississippi Delta to benefit from a nearly $1 million grant from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act recently awarded to The Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

The grant, entitled, “Mississippi Delta WMA Wetland Habitat Enhancements,” is the first NAWCA grant awarded to the foundation.

The grant will help protect, restore and enhance 3,270 acres of waterfowl habitat on three Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ WMAs in the Mississippi Delta.

Habitat restoration and enhancement efforts will begin in summer 2009 on the 2,430 acres encompassing Howard Miller WMA — which was acquired by the MDWFP in two parts in January 2006 and July 2007.

Work done will include renovating ditches, replacing water control structures and replacing damaged pump motors so valuable habitat can be maintained for both waterfowl and waterfowl hunters.

Work will also begin next summer at O’Keefe WMA in Quitman County and Charlie Capps WMA in Bolivar County. Work activities on O’Keefe WMA will improve water management on a 20-acre agricultural field.