MDWFP waterfowl biologists Houston Havens and Darren Hardesty joined the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast during the final weeks of the 2025-26 season to explain what was driving conditions across the Delta. It was a dry year, and these two break down exactly what that meant for bird movement, habitat availability, and hunting pressure on public lands.

The conversation covers aerial waterfowl surveys, the freeze-thaw cycle, GPS research on mallards, the 50th anniversary of Mississippi's state duck stamp, and how the flyway connects Mississippi hunters to breeding habitat in Canada. If you hunted this season and wondered why things played out the way they did, this episode has your answers.

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Henry and Lakisha Woodard of Halo Hunting join the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast to share their family’s journey into the woods. From Lakisha’s first spring turkey hunt to creating traditions like the Mississippi Shuffle and the Family Slam, they talk about how hunting became a shared way of life for their entire household.

They also discuss filming hunts together, building Halo Hunting as a brand, and launching the Halo Bridge Outreach Foundation to introduce inner-city youth to the outdoors, firearm safety, and hunting education.

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Ryan Jones, Assistant Chief of Fisheries at MDWFP, joins the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast to explain what makes Ross Barnett Reservoir such a strong bass and crappie fishery. He breaks down how water levels, native vegetation, and long-term management all work together to support consistent fishing year after year.

The conversation covers frog fishing in the pads, invasive plant threats like giant salvinia, how anglers can help protect the resource, and the behind-the-scenes work it takes to manage one of Mississippi’s most heavily used reservoirs.

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