Witness confirms that 39-point buck was killed in Wilcox County in 1972

Gene Tuney Mixon with 39-point buck in 1972,

The last living witness to the killing of a deer in 1972 with an “unbelievable 39-point rack” confirmed this week that the buck was killed in Wilcox County, and others said that this deer could be one of the largest ever killed in Alabama.

Last week in this space, I wrote about how 44-year-old Gene Tuney Mixon of Old Texas killed a monster 39-point buck on Jan. 11, 1972. This unusually large buck weighed 247 pounds and was described as a “hunter’s dream come true.”

Published reports at the time differed as to where the deer was killed. Some said it was killed in northern Monroe County while others said it was killed in Wilcox County. Unfortunately, Tuney Mixon passed away at the age of 77 in 2005 and was no longer around to settle the debate.

However, last Thursday I had the pleasure of speaking with Old Texas farmer Joel Mixon, who is the sole survivor of the hunting party that was with Tuney Mixon the day he killed the 39-point buck. Joel, who is known to many by his nickname “Preacher Man,” confirmed that the 39-point deer was killed in Wilcox County, just west of the Wilcox-Butler County line.

“I can take and put my hand on the spot where that deer was killed,” Joel said. “It was most definitely killed in Wilcox County.”

Joel, who was 19 years old at the time, said that he vividly recalls the hunt and noted that the late Leonard Reid of Pine Apple and the late Peter Snow of Old Texas were also there that day. Joel and Tuney were cousins and lived just a few miles apart at the time. Joel described the older Tuney as his “second daddy,” saying they both shared a deep love for hunting and the outdoors.

Jan. 11, 1972 fell on a Tuesday, and the four men decided to spend that morning dog hunting near the vast soybean fields planted near the Wilcox-Butler County line. Joel said it was on up in the morning when their dogs flushed the 39-point buck out in front of Tuney, who brought the deer down with a single blast from his Fox double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun. Joel said the deer was killed within shouting distance of the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, which sits astride the Wilcox-Butler County line, west of the Monterey community. Joel said the deer was killed west of the church, placing it firmly within the confines of Wilcox County.

Tuney did have the trophy buck mounted and gave the mount to Reid, who kept it in his house for many years. Some time later, the house burned, but Joel said he’d heard talk that the mount had been moved to another residence before the fire. Joel said last Thursday that he was to trying to track down the whereabouts of the mount, but said it’s possible that it may have been destroyed in the house fire.

Hale Smith with Alabama Whitetail Records is one of many who would like to see the 39-point rack.

“We have over 2,000 deer in our records dating back to the 1950s but don't have this deer recorded,” Smith, an outdoors enthusiast in Marengo County, said. “I believe it could be one of the top scoring non-typical deer in Alabama potentially. We would love to have any information available to potentially score this deer and give it the recognition it deserves in the state records.”

In the end, I appreciate Joel Mixon taking the time to provide more details about Tuney Mixon’s monster buck and for his ongoing efforts to track down the deer mount. If he can find the mount and have it scored by the good folks at Alabama Whitetail Records, Wilcox County might just be able to lay claim to the title of largest buck ever killed in Alabama.