Deer of the Year

Public-land dog-hunt ends with 150-class buck

All Johnnie Dupont could see of the big buck slipping along the ridge was the front shoulders and rear end.

But after seeing a few deer easing through the woods ahead of the hounds released for a Dec. 27 dog drive in the Homochitto National Forest, Dupont kept his eyes on this one that had stopped to look and listen. […]

Deer of the Year

Annual deer hunting trip leads to 170-class trophy buck

Dusty Smith and his father have hunted at Giles Island for the last four years and come to enjoy their annual getaway to the renowned area northwest of Natchez.

Last season Smith killed a fine 8-point that scored about 120. When he and his father returned last autumn for their hunt, he couldn’t believe his good fortune when he knocked down another trophy buck. […]

Deer of the Year

Hunter kills 180-class buck on small tract in middle of Black Prairie WMA

Neil Waggoner and his family live on 40 acres he grew up loving, a familiar tract of gently rolling hills and a 10-acre lake surrounded by the Black Prairie Wildlife Management Area in Lowndes County.

For the last few weeks, Waggoner had been using his three tracking dogs to help other hunters. He also missed an 8-point buck that rattled him.

“Buck fever or I looked up or something, I guess,” Waggoner said.

A few days later on Dec. 18, amid an orange sunset casting enough light to make a set of antlers glow, Waggoner knew the big buck in the edge of the field was a good one. […]