Philip Adkison’s 154 7/8 B&C buck was the largest typical taken in Florida last season -- and No. 3 among all bucks taken in the state this century. Photo by Silas Crowley.

If the truth be known, most of us deer hunters dream of taking one extraordinary trophy buck in our lifetime. For a fortunate few, it does happen. For the rest of us, that hope keeps us looking forward to next season.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Philip Adkison -- a 38-year-old farmer who lives near Chipley -- joined the ranks of the fortunate few. On that date, he killed the largest typical-scoring buck taken in Florida during the 2006-07 hunting season. He downed an 11-pointer in Washington County that gross-scored 161 Boone and Crockett Club points and netted a total of 154 7/8 B&C.

His deer became a new No. 10 all-time largest buck killed in Florida, according the Florida Buck Registry. His whitetail bumped Cody Thomas’ 13-point Jefferson County trophy that scored 154 6/8, killed during the 2005-06 season.

Adkison’s deer is impressive. There’s just no other way to say it. The rack is tall and wide, measuring 17 inches inside the beams. The beam lengths and circumference measurements are what boost the score to its trophy level. The right beam measures 25 3/8 inches, the left 25 inches.

It’s common to see mature trophy whitetails from North Florida with 22- to 23-inch main beams. But 25-inch beams are few and far between in the Sunshine State.

The right and left circumference measurements closest to the burr are 5 and 5 1/8 inches, respectively. The other circumference measurements are almost as large.

When Adkison killed the enormous 11-point, little did he know what an extraordinary deer he had taken. When you consider there are nearly 100,000 deer hunters in Florida, you can see what a lofty position Adkison now finds himself in.

Like nearly every one of us who hunts, Adkison developed his love of the sport by following in the footsteps of his father -- “Pops,” as he knew him. During his formative years, and even as late as nine or 10 years ago, Adkison, his father and a group of hunters who called themselves the Gator Creek Hunting Club, lived for the opportunity to run their deer dogs on and around the family farm northeast of Chipley. They also ran their dogs south of Chipley in an area known as the Sand Hills.

For their party, deer-dog hunting was a way of life. But land-use patterns changed, and tougher laws were passed, designed to keep hunters off public roads and their dogs from trespassing where they were not wanted. That spelled the end of the Gator Creek Hunting Club.

In the late 1990s, Adkison and his father began still-hunting around the 1,200-acre family farm.

“Pops would take a folding chair and go sit at the edge of a field,” Adkison recalled. “It’s amazing how many deer he killed like that. He’d wait till they came out to feed, and Bam!, he’d kill another buck.”

For Philip Adkison, it was the way it was supposed to be. His father had worked the farm all his adult life and deserved to have good fortune pass his way. Father and son were actually the second and third generations of Adkisons to live and work the farm.

Much of the land and open fields were cleared and first worked by Philip Adkison’s grandfather, back in the 1940s. At that time, there were no deer to speak of anywhere in the area.

Adkison explained rather matter-of-factly that still-hunting has never had the same allure as dog hunting. But he long ago accepted the change, which he felt was inevitable.

During the 2004-05 hunting season, Adkison first became aware of a special deer on the farm.

“The first time I saw him, he was crossing an open field, probably 400 to 500 yards. When you can tell that it’s a buck at that distance, you know he’s a good one,” the hunter pointed out.

Despite hours of Phillip sitting in tree stands and his father hunting the edge of their fields, they didn’t see the buck again that season.