Wildlife Tasting Supper Brings Hundreds to Crossroads Arena

By Josh Mitchell

Corinth Today News Editor

Rattlesnake dressing, wild hog sausage rolls and duck with cheesy grits were just some of the delicacies at the 38^th Annual Wildlife Tasting Supper at the Crossroads Arena in Corinth Tuesday night.

“It’s just a really big community event,” said Sandy Coleman Mitchell, secretary of the Alcorn County Wildlife Committee. “It just grows every year.”

(Please See Photo Gallery Below)

Mitchell estimated that about 600 people attended the event, which featured a wildlife supper, contest for best dishes and many door prizes.

The contest included categories such as antlered, feathered, land critter, water critter and desserts.

Winners got a monetary award, and others enjoyed the fun and fellowship of the wildlife tasting supper, Coleman said.

Rattlesnake dressing made a return to the event Tuesday after being absent for years, Coleman said.

Duck and noodles, pheasant dressing and bacon wrapped elk were also on the table.

“Pretty much anything that you can make with chicken or pork or beef, you can substitute with a wild meat and flavor it,” Coleman said. “We have got some really good cooks in this area who do a tremendous job, and they love to come and compete every year.”

Mainly people from the local area compete, but people from Tippah, Tishomingo and Prentiss counties also attend, she said. In fact, some from McNairy and Hardeman counties in Tennessee also come out.

“So we’re kind of branching out in the northeast area here, and we like that because we want to reach a lot of people,” Coleman said.

It also allows youth in 4-H and the FFA to get involved, and people love to sit around the tables eating the wild game while they tell hunting stories.

“You can walk by the tables, and they’ll be talking about some kind of fish that they caught or deer that got away or the one that they actually killed . . . ,” Coleman said.

Local businesses and elected officials provide “tremendous” support, Coleman said.

“We have lots of community support with our door prizes, but I think everybody enjoys seeing everybody,” she said.

Bobby Garrett has been around since the event started 38 years ago and said the supper is a way to educate people about the “goodness of nature and wildlife and guns and hunting.”

And, Garrett said, “The food is great, a lot of variety.”