Winning whitetail 'freaking monster!'

Jacob Ayecock, of Tillar, took home top honors at the 26th annual Arkansas Big Buck Classic after he killed the largest typical whitetail ever in the state.
Jacob Ayecock, of Tillar, took home top honors at the 26th annual Arkansas Big Buck Classic after he killed the largest typical whitetail ever in the state.

Every Boone and Crockett buck is the buck of a lifetime for the hunter that killed it, but the buck that Jacob Ayecock bagged last year is one of the greatest of all time.

Ayecock, 33, of Tillar, killed a buck in Drew County, near McGehee, with a typical rack that won the 26th annual Arkansas Big Buck Classic Sunday at Barton Coliseum. It also set a number of deer-hunting milestones, including breaking the 40-year old state record for typical whitetail racks.

A panel of Boone & Crockett judges awarded the unique rack a net score of 195 2/8 typical points, beating the previous record of 189, set by Thomas Sparks with a Crawford County buck in 1975.

Ayecock's buck is also the largest typical whitetail ever killed in the South, excluding Texas, which produced two larger bucks, but the last one was killed in 1963. According to the Boone & Crockett Club, the Montana-based authority on North American trophy animals, Ayecock's buck is the 57th largest typical whitetail rack ever killed.

Billy Dooley set the state record for non-typical racks in 1999 with a Prairie County buck that scored 238 3/8. It was also scored officially at the Big Buck Classic.

Tommy Murchison, co-promoter for the Big Buck Classic, said he is ecstatic that the buck was officially scored at the show.

"It's exciting," Murchison said. "We always want to see them bigger and better, but the typicals are always harder to exceed records because they have to be so symmetrical. We're tickled to death to be able to showcase this deer, and we're tickled that it was grown right here in Arkansas."

Ayecock's buck sported a 13-point rack with an inside spread of 21 4/8 inches and a main beam that measured 29 3/8 inches long. Its gross score before deductions was 212 7/8. Its defining characteristics appear to be drop tines, but they are actually downward curving ends of the main beams.

"A panel scored it and sent pictures to Boone and Crockett," said Catherine Murchison, the show's co-promoter. "The panel determined that they {the down tines} were part of the main beams."

Boone and Crockett officials concurred.

"Once they actually saw the deer, it was cut and dried," Catherine Murchison said.

Ayecock killed the buck on Nov. 20 at sunset on a farm in Drew County with his friends Adam Frazer and Rusty Hunnicutt. There are no specific deer management practices on the farm. Its only asset, Ayecock said, is that it is not heavily hunted.

Ayecock described his hunting spot as a "pinch point" where Bayou Bartholomew makes a hard turn. It funnels deer through an area that's heavily forested with 10-year old oaks planted under the Conservation Reserve Program, as well as big trees along the bayou.

One particular tree caught Ayecock's attention while scouting the area before the season. It's a large cedar that bucks have rubbed their antlers against since it was a sapling. They have rubbed it for so long that they've worn off all the bark and bent it into an S shape. Only big deer can do that.

"I told my buddy we needed to set up a stand right there," Ayecock said. "There were scrapes all under it. He was cruising the bank of that bayou, and I knew he was coming through there."

The trio set up game cameras throughout the area, but the big buck wasn't photographed until a week before the start of modern gun season in early November. They hunted the buck for seven straight days, morning and night, before it finally appeared in front of Ayecock on Nov. 20.

Ayecock said he heard the buck coming. He knew it was a big buck by the sound its antlers made as it crashed through the trees. Ayecock couldn't see the buck, so he made a grunt call.

"A few seconds went by, and then there he was, 'bird dogging' me," Ayecock said. "I saw his rack and I said, 'That's him! That's him!' "

Unfortunately, the buck was downwind, and it stared in Ayecock's direction for a long time.

"I thought he was going to catch me before I could shoot," Ayecock said.

Knowing the wind was problematic, Ayecock said he had an electronic scent neutralizer in his stand, but that's scant insurance against a whitetail's acute sense of smell.

"A big deer like that, if you scare him one time, he's liable to never come out again," Ayecock said.

Ayecock said he believed the deer would stay in cover, but said he didn't consider taking a risky shot.

"I've never shot a deer in the neck, and I wasn't going to start with this one," Ayecock said. "I wanted a meat shot, and he finally gave me a good broadside look."

When Ayecock fired his rifle, the concussion and recoil made the window in his stand crash down onto his gun barrel. Ayecock said he feared that affected his shot.

"I didn't know if I hit him," Ayecock said. "I waited an hour before I went looking for it. There's water there, and I didn't want to push him at all. I waited plenty of time for him to die."

The search began when Ayecock's friends arrived. They found signs of a sure-killing shot, but the buck still ran about 100 yards before falling. When they saw it, they were stunned.

"We knew he was a big deer," Ayecock said, "but oh my gosh, this is a freaking monster!"

It is highly unlikely that Ayecock will ever have a chance to kill a bigger buck, but he said he will still enjoy hunting.

"I love it," Ayecock said. "My favorite part is running cameras. If a 150- or 160-inch 8-point comes out, that's a trophy for me."

He stopped himself and seemed to reconsider.

"I've got a 6-year old daughter and a young son," Ayecock said. "It's time to start to start getting them on deer."

Sports on 01/25/2016

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