By Billy Davis

When deer hunter Joel Williams dropped the tailgate of his truck at Batesville Gun and Pawn Shop, he did more than jump into first place in the Big Buck Contest.

He nearly caused a riot.

“It was crazy.  I don’t know where they all came from,” Williams said of the crowd that gathered to look at his massive 12-point buck.

Williams bagged the big buck December 3 in Quitman County during a morning hunt. The deer was chasing a doe when he dropped it at 60 yards with his muzzleloader, an H&R .45-70.

At Batesville Gun and Pawn, the buck scored 66.75 points, more than enough to push him past Lee Robison’s score of 62.

Williams’ buck sported an inside spread of 23.50 inches and a main beam length of 25.25 inches. The base circumference measured six inches.

But Williams barely beat out hunter Allen Wiggs, whose 13-point earned him 66.50 points and a slot in second place.

Wiggs’ buck sported an inside spread of 23.5 inches and a main beam length of 25.50 inches. The base circumference measured 4.5 inches.

Deer hunters may remember Williams from last year, when he finished third in the Big Buck Contest.

His Quitman County 14-point added up to a score of 63.50 points, and he led the contest through mid-December before falling behind to hunters Bobby Roebuck and Brad Alexander.

William’s point score brings him close, but not close enough, to the Big Buck man-to-beat, Kenny Crockett. Crockett’s 18-point earned him 68.75 inches in the 2006-2007 contest.

The Big Buck Contest is open to hunters in Panola County and counties that join Panola: Tunica, Tate, Lafayette, Yalobusha, Tallahatchie and Quitman.

A legal entry must be a fresh kill that was bagged in Mississippi.

The Big Buck Contest ends January 31.