There has been a lot of hype about the different styles and techniques of hunting in the local area lately. Many hunters like to run dogs in order to flush deer out of the woods. But there also many hunters out there who don’t like to hunt with dogs. Some people like the peace and quiet that the woods offer.

Dog hunters are rugged fast paced hunters. You have to be fast or you will never kill anything. It takes skill to know when the dogs are running away from you and when they are running toward you. You have to guess how far the deer is in front of the dogs. Being ready early is the key to success in dog hunting. You need to have your gun ready before the deer even crosses so that you can hurry to get the shot off if it stops. If it doesn’t stop, it takes a very skilled marksman to shoot an animal that is running through the woods. This hunting is fast paced and some hunters don’t enjoy it.

Still hunting is another style of hunting. Still hunting is when you sit on a stand and wait for the deer to show up. Some people like this style of hunting because they like the peace and quiet of the woods. It takes skill and a little bit of luck to know where the deer are going on any particular day. Still hunting is slow and it can be very relaxing. It is also nice to watch a deer for a long time, instead of just watching it run by as fast as it can because it is scared to death. No matter your preference in hunting, there are places to hunt out there for all types of people. It doesn’t matter what kind of hunting you are doing, as long as you are enjoying it with a close friend or family member. So get out there and go hunting.

By Garrett LeBlanc

Fishing is a great American pastime. It is a sport that can be done by all people. Most people think that fishing is just a male sport, but the truth is that it is not. Men and women of all ages go fishing all year round. Father and son fishing has been done for years and years. On that note, mother and daughter fishing has also been done for years and years. It is also quite common for a whole entire family to go fishing. In some types of fishing it doesn’t even take a lot of skill. Different types of fishing take different skill levels. It doesn’t take a lot of money to get into the sport either. But there are also types of fishing that take great amounts of money and much skill. If you are new to fishing it is best to start small and work your way up. You should go with someone who knows what they are doing before you just start buying things that you might not necessarily need.

If you have gone fishing before then you know what kind of excitement fishing can bring into your life. There is nothing like hooking a big bass deep into a slough in the middle of the spillway, or a huge redfish in the southern marshes of Louisiana. As soon as you hook one of those big fish your heart goes crazy and you know that it is a good one. It is awesome to wake up hours before daylight to hook up the boat to the truck, pack all of the gear, load the ice chest, poles and trolling motor, fill up with gasoline, grab a few snacks, and take off toward the landing with one of your best buddies. When you get there, the light has just begun to shine in the east. As it gets a little brighter, you and your best friend or family member enjoy the crisp air and that warm cup of coffee. Then you decide together, “Lets Go!”. You back the boat into the water, pull the truck up, and take off toward that special hole deep in the bayous. The water is as smooth as glass, the ducks are flying overhead, and egrets and cranes are craw fishing along the banks. As you pull up to the fishing spot you idle in and kill the motor. After taking off your life jackets, you reach for your rod and reel, drop the trolling motor in the water and start to troll forward. Before you cast, a huge bass jumps and you and your friend both see it. You say to each other, “Gonna’ be a good day today buddy”. You both laugh and start fishing. As you make the first cast the splash of your bait breaks the calmness of the water. The ripples continue outward in every direction. As you’re reeling in, you feel a tug back. You know it’s a bass. As you set the hook, your line takes off. You keep on reeling and pulling with your pole. It begins to bend. You know that it is going to be one of the biggest fish of your life. As you’re fighting it, the anticipation of seeing it is really getting to you. You are so excited and all you want to do is get it to the boat. At that exact moment it happens, that giant fish jumps up out of the water. Now you know that it is the biggest fish that you have ever caught. You keep fighting and finally get it close enough to the boat. As you go to reach for the net, here comes your best buddy with a smooth scoop of the net to bring in the fish. You are so happy that he was there to share that moment with you. The two of you give high fives, hugs and talk about how awesome that experience just was. As you troll off casting and reeling on either side of the boat you exchange, “Do you remember when we” and, “Yea I remember, and do you remember when we went.” You continue to fish and exchange stories.

The most important part of fishing is bonding time. There will be plenty of days when you don’t even get a single bite or nibble. It is important to enjoy the time that you have with your loved ones. Sometimes the best things in life become expected instead of cherished. We should cherish every moment that we have and never take a persons presence for granted because you never know what day may be their last. Anything is possible so keep your loved ones closest to your heart.

By Kyle Albarado and Garrett LeBlanc

This past weekend the Louisiana High School Athletic Association held the Football State Championship games for all classes in the Louisiana Superdome. Class 2A and 3A championship games were held on Friday, while the Class 1A, 4A, and 5A games were played on Saturday.

Playing for the State Championship game in the Louisiana Superdome is possibly one of the best things you can experience as a high school student athlete. Every high school football player’s dream is to play in the Dome. I was part of the 2006 St. John High School state runner-up football team. All year long, our goal was to make it to the State Championship game in the Dome. When we won our semi-final game against Southern Lab High School, we couldn’t believe that we were actually going to achieve our goal, and play for the class 1A State Championship game in the Louisiana Superdome.

Our game was to be played on Saturday. We arrived at the Dome on Friday to watch the 2A and 3A games, while waiting for our turn to step on the Dome turf. On Saturday morning we arrived at the Dome and were walking around in amazement. We took our pictures and started doing pre-game warm-ups. After pre-game warm-ups, it was time to suit up and get ready to play for a state title. Running out onto the turf, with thousands of screaming fans under the Dome lights, was possibly the best experience I have ever had in my life. Nothing was like playing in the Louisiana Superdome for the class 1A State Championship game.
I was able to attend the Friday night games this past weekend, in the Dome. While watching the games all I could think about were our experiences playing in the Dome. Though we lost, there was not a feeling like it in the world.

By Clint Ourso

LSU’s next stop will be in the New Orleans Superdome to play in the BCS National Championship. The LSU Fighting Tigers will face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Monday, January 7, 2008, LSU ranked number two, and Ohio Stated ranked number one. After a very unpredictable season for both LSU and Ohio State, LSU will play in the National Championship game for the second time in the last four years. This is Ohio’s State’s second consecutive year to play in the BCS National Championship. The strength of both teams would be their defense, LSU ranking third nationally in total defense, Ohio State ranking first.

A few weeks ago, it was as if both Ohio State and LSU had ruined their shot at playing in the BCS Championship due to losses of unranked opponents. However, both teams played their way back into the championship game after a very strange college football season. Many teams who were unable to take advantages of opportunities to get into the BCS Bowl were of great assistance to Ohio State and LSU.

It was the first time in the history of the BCS that both the Number 1 and 2 teams in the standings lost on the same day, Missouri and West Virginia. This opened the door for Ohio State to climb to the top spot. Meanwhile, LSU had rose from number seven to number two in the standings after their 21-14 victory over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Also, LSU had defeated ACC champion Virginia Tech and two idle teams in Georgia and Kansas.

By Corrine Reeves

It is now official: the LSU Fighting Tigers will play the Ohio State Buckeyes for the Bowl Championship Series National Title in New Orleans on January 7th. The announcement caps a whirlwind of events for LSU this weekend. The Tigers won the SEC title Saturday night by defeating Tennessee. This comes as a big surprise to all the tiger fans because they all thought that it was off to the regular sugar bowl for LSU but with the dramatic win over Tennessee LSU came out in second place.

LSU’s coach Les Miles was thinking about leaving LSU to go to Michigan on Saturday but after they got into the national championship he decided to stay. He signed his contract Thursday night proclaiming that he is going to stay a couple more years.

This will mark the second time LSU plays in the National Championship game in the last four years. Last time in 2003 in a game against Oklahoma we were victorious hopefully this year, 2007 football season, we will be again.

LSU is the first team ever with two losses to play for the national title. Meanwhile, their opponent has only one loss. Although this is a disadvantage to LSU, LSU has home field advantage while playing in the super dome in New Orleans.

Senior Meagan Himel said “I am so enthralled that LSU will be competing for the national championship against Ohio State. If we do not win I will be extremely disappointed. I am also glad that head coach Les Miles has decided to sign a new contract and stay at LSU. He is a great coach and just what we need for success.”

By Jessica Harrell

Starting on Saturday, December 8, dog season will open up. The purpose of dog season is for the hunter to run their dogs into the woods so the deer will run out of the woods so the other hunters can shoot the deer as they come out. This style of hunting is fast pace; where as, still hunting is a very slow and relaxed style of deer hunting. Still hunting is when the hunter sits in a stand in the woods and waits for a deer to pass.

When I am still hunting, I use a substance called scent blocker. Scent blocker is a spray on liquid that makes you smell like nature. I use this because if the deer smells you it will run away. I use another substance called natural earth. It smells like dirt, and hides your smell from the deer. However, when I am running dogs, I do not use these substances. Normally when we’re running dogs, the deer do not stop because they are either running or trying to get away from the dogs. The deer are distracted by the dogs so they are not worried about human scent.

When hunting, you should always used safety precautions and be very careful in the woods. A hunter should always wear some type of clothing with hunter’s orange. This is because there might be other people hunting in the same area and the orange will make the hunter stand out so the people already hunting will see him and not mistake him for an animal and shoot. A hunter should also never go hunting by himself because if something bad should happen, the hunter would have someone there to help him. There are many other safety guidelines that a hunter should follow and this is why anyone who hunts is required to have a Hunter’s Safety Card. This card is received by the hunter after the completion of the Hunter’s Safety Course.

By Kyle Albarado

       Last Friday night, the St. John Eagles  was handed their season ending loss by the John Curtis Patriots.  The Patriots proved to be the toughest opponents the Eagles faced all season. The Eagles knew they had to play an almost pefect game to beat the defending 2A State Champions. The Eagles remained confident about the game, believing they could pull off the upset but it was not to be. The eagles were pumped about the game and was ready to face the Powerhouse of 2A Football.

The first quarter ended tied 0-0.  Meanwhile the Patriots of John Curtis started to pull away from the  last year’s State Runner Up Eagles.  By half time the score was 27-0, and the Eagles were trailing. The Eagles made some key mistakes that led to the Patriots pulling away from them.  The Eagles knews they needed to play a perfect game to beat John Curtis and fell short of their goal.  John Curtis would later make the Eagles pay for their mistakes.

The Eagles should hold their heads high because they gave it a good run. They had a nice year and  they surprised a lot of people by going as far in the Playoffs as they did.  The Community of Plaquemine got a lot more than they expected from the Eagles.  The Eagles fought hard week after week on the Gridiron. You have to give it to the Coaching Staff for getting them ready week after week.

The Eagles are losing a lot of Seniors this year, so that mean the Underclassmen have to step it up. They are forced to keep St. John Football legacy alive and well. This mean they have to continue to work hard in the off season to prepare for next year. They will have some big shoes to fill, but I believe they can get it done. So Eagle Fans you will have to wait until next year to see how far St. John will go in the Playoffs. Go Eagles!!!!!!!!

            The St. John Eagle football team ended their season last Friday night in Kenner, Louisiana against the traditional powerhouse John Curtis Patriots. The Eagles played a good game during the first half of play until the final four minutes of the second quarter. The score was 0-0 with four minutes left in the second quarter. John Curtis got the ball and it was all down hill from there. The Patriots scored four touchdowns in the final minutes of the second quarter. The final score was 41-0.
            This was the third consecutive year that the Eagles made it to the quarterfinals in the playoffs. Going into this year the Eagles were not expected to be too good. They completely turned the heads of many fans when the finished the regular season with an 8-2 record. Their only two losses came from class 5-A H.L. Bourgeois and district rival Donaldsonville High School. In the playoffs the Eagles won the first two rounds by a total of four points. They were very well played football games.

            It was to hard to see all of my senior friends walk off the field after their final game last Friday night. They held their heads high and took the loss better than any other senior group that I have ever seen. Normally, after a season ending loss, the seniors are crying, which is not a bad thing, because their football careers are done. But, this senior class walked off the field with smiles on their faces knowing that they had nothing to be ashamed of. They gave it their all and exceeded expectations.  The senior class of 2008 is the winningest class ever to come through St. John High School and that is a career you can hang your hat on.

On Saturday November 10, 2007 black powder opens up for deer season. This is only open for a week before rifle season and a week after rifle season. Most hunters have a black powder gun, but others don’t own one. People think it is too much work to keep up. After you shoot it you should clean it because you don’t want the barrel to rust.

When cleaning your black powder gun you must be very careful not to lose any off the parts. If you have a scope on your gun be careful not to bump it or hit it in any way, because it throw the sighting off. A black powder gun is a lot of maintenance, but I like cleaning my gun. If you want to buy one you better be ready to take care of it, because it is a lot of money to just treat it like nothing.

When hunting with a black powder you be ready to hold it firmly, because if you don’t hold it tightly it will kick back and hit you in the eye. A black powder gun one of the loudest guns, and it kicks pretty hard so be ready to hold it. After you shoot at the deer a big cloud of smoke will come from the barrel so you should watch to see if the deer runs, and where it runs if it runs.

A black powder is gun that you load yourself. There is two pellets of powder, a bullet and a precussion cap. Before you load your gun make sure it is on safety and you don’t have a precussion cap in it. Once you learn what to do it is a very simple process, and you won’t mind doing it.

By Kyle Albarado

Last Friday night the St. John Eagles traveled to the small town of Jeanerette, Louisiana to play the Jeanerette Tigers in a district football game. This week eight district football game would be the Eagles seventh straight victory since their week one loss to class 5-A H.L. Bourgeois in Houma, Louisiana. The Eagles have had a great season and continued that great season with a win over the Tigers.

Going into the game the Tigers haven’t been doing so great. They had yet to win a game, but it didn’t seem like it to Eagle fans in the first half of play. Ending the first quarter of play, the game was tied. The Eagles were not playing their best football game. They looked sluggish and as if they were too laid back against the Tigers. The Eagles went up 14-7 over the Tigers during the first quarter, but were surprised with a fake punt, touchdown pass that tied the game at 14 apiece.

In the second quarter, the Eagles began to play better football and scored two more times against the Tiger defense. The Tigers did give it a good effort to tie the game up again, but only came up with one more score against the Eagle defense in the second quarter. Going into half time the score was 28-14 with the Eagles, though not playing up to their potential, on top of the Jeanerette Tigers.

After the half it seemed as though the Eagles had waken up and started playing how they are capable of. The defense did a great job with key plays from Rodarrick Jones, Guy Morgan, Spenser Williams, and Eric Rome. The defense held their own in the last two quarters of the game, allowing the Tigers to only score once more. While the defense did their job, so did the offense as they put up two more scores before the end of the game as they won 42-20.

By Clint Ourso