Still alive, Dillon’s buck was promptly dispatched with a final shot; the other buck was already dead. Evidence in the field suggested that the whitetails hadn’t been locked together very long -- probably only a few hours, as the second buck’s still-limp body indicated that it had just recently died. Interestingly, the main beams on both racks hooked sharply inward, creating a narrow space between the antler tips that probably contributed greatly to the bucks’ antlers having gotten entangled while their owners were battling.

The two deer were quite impressive in size: Dillon’s kill boasted a very symmetrical 10-point rack, the second animal a 9-point set. Further measurements of the antlers worn by Dillon’s buck, which featured 23-inch beams and back G-2 tines measuring nearly 10 inches, yielded a gross score of 136 3/8 B&C. The 9-pointer had 22-inch beams and grossed 125 3/8 B&C.

To say that Dillon was excited would be an understatement. After all, getting two trophy bucks at one time happens about as often as winning the lottery -- not to mention that the young hunter was participating in what was just his second deer hunt.

After loading the bucks on to a trailer, Jim and Dillon took them to Cordele and Shannon Little’s taxidermy shop, where all efforts at separating the two bucks failed. Ultimately, Shannon had to skin both deer and cape out the heads by turning the antlers from one side to the other. Only after removal of the racks from the skulls and trimming the skull plates could the antlers be maneuvered into a position making it possible finally to disentangle them.

While caping out the heads, Shannon made a curious discovery: The throat and nasal passages of the buck that died during the fight were completely blocked with dirt. The initial assumption about the predeceased buck’s cause of death -- that its neck had been broken by Dillon’s animal -- was superseded by the theory that it had in all likelihood suffocated.

The entire affair was a remarkable one for both father and son. However, in Jim’s case, the events triggered a feeling of déjà vu -- because, amazingly, an acquaintance, Kevin Nipper, had also been afield in Crisp County exactly 14 years earlier (in 1991, the same year Dillon was born) when he too happened on two locked-antler bucks.

In that particular situation, Kevin had been hunting a tract of land in which he’d found a considerable amount of big-buck sign. After several fruitless trips, he returned to the property one morning with the intention of relocating a couple of stands. While driving down a woods road that bordered a beaver pond in a thickly wooded bottom, the hunter found his attention drawn to something in the water.