By Billy Davis

A Quitman County buck nicknamed “Cactus Jack” pushed deer hunter Kellen Corbin into first place in The Big Buck Contest, giving the hunter a hard-to-beat 67 points.

The buck sported main beams that totaled 28 ½ inches and an inside spread of 21 inches. Coupled with a 12-point rack and a 5.5-inch base circumference, it allowed Corbin to easily jump ahead of Ben Hubbard.
Hubbard was sitting in first place with a score of 64 points after bagging a 11-point.  

Corbin, 29, bagged his monster buck December 30 on family land in Quitman County, where he was hunting over a food plot of winter wheat.

He made the shot with a Browning .270 rifle from a tripod stand. A rangefinder clocked the distance at 130 yards.

The big buck didn’t completely surprise Corbin. Game cameras had spotted the deer in late summer, in August and again in September. Corbin said he spotted the buck again in October during a bow hunt, when the buck was too far away for a shot.

“He was in almost the same spot that I saw him in October,” Corbin recalled.

“He came out of flooded timber and came cruising into the field,” the deer hunter said. “I didn’t wait long to make the shot, maybe a minute.”  

Once the buck was down, Corbin said he immediately texted his two brothers and his dad. The message was, “I got Cactus Jack.”  

The Corbin family had nicknamed the buck after noticing matching sticker points off the buck’s G2 antlers.

The Panolian’s Big Buck Contest runs through January 31. The co-sponsor is Batesville Gun and Pawn, where the entries are measured and scored.