Small plot produces big buck

Billy Fowler never knew this big buck was on his 40-acre property in Quitman County.

Hunter bags trophy deer on 40 acres in Quitman County

Most trophy deer stories include a history between the buck and the fortunate hunter.

That is not the case with Billy Fowler and the big 11-point he killed Nov. 24 on his own property near Lambert in Quitman County.

What makes that truly surprising is that the property in question is just 40 acres, so small that when he speaks of trail cams he does so in the singular.

“We had no pics of him on our trail camera,” said Fowler. “I put the camera out early in the year, in September, and pulled the camera and never put it back out. That was much to my wife’s displeasure; she loves the trail cam pics.

“Only photos we had were of some small bucks, does and hogs. I had no idea that this deer was around. I am glad he was though.”

The story of the hunt is similarly brief. There is no mention of scrapes, rubs, rattling or grunts.

Fowler’s description is short and sweet: “I was in a food plot on the south end of trees. I started to not go that morning because of the wind, but I am glad I did. A small buck came out of the trees and kept looking behind him. I could see another buck behind him but did not know how big he was because his head was down.

“Then he walked out into the food plot 15 yards directly in front of me. He stopped and started eating, giving me just enough time to get on him. I shot, he ran about 150 yards and he fell. It is the biggest deer I have ever killed.”

Let’s make it a little longer by adding some impressive numbers. Though the deer has not been scored, the taxidermist has estimated it at between 155 and 165 inches. The bases of both main beams are 5¼ inches and the beams were 24 and 24½ inches long. At its widest spot, the inside spread is 21½ inches.

*Don’t forget to enter photos of your bucks in the Big Buck Photo Contest to be eligible for monthly giveaways.

Read other stories about big bucks killed this season by clicking here.

About Bobby Cleveland 1342 Articles
Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam.

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