Hunter: Jamie Stewart
Points: 9 (4L, 5R)
County: Talbot
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Spent most of my life hunting the swamps of southeast Georgia. As any reader of GON can read from recent issues, though possible, the likelihood of a hunter getting a trophy buck decreases the further south and east one hunts. So, in recent years I've found myself heading to trophy counties on WMA quota hunts when and where possible. While I haven't killed monsters, I've enjoyed killing beautiful bucks with a lot less effort than I would have in southeast GA. This was my second and consecutive year at Chattahoochee Fall Line Almo. Last year I tagged out on the first day with the largest doe and a nice 9-point following her within minutes of each other. This year I decided to hunt in the same spot as I did last year. I climbed about 50 yards on the other side of a ridge from last year overlooking fresh scrapes and rubs. The ridge was covered with planted pines and hardwood mix overlooking a hardwood creek bottom. The day before when I put up my climber, I set out several Buck Bombs and refreshed several scrapes. The next morning I went in about an hour before shooting light and spooked several deer. It was relatively quiet until about 7:20 a.m. when I heard foot steps in the bottom. What ever it was was moving at a slow pace, but I was sure it was a deer. I had to pee like you would not believe, so I took a risk and stood up to pee. As soon as I sat back down, a large buck walked up to my Buck Bomb. Then he walked out further giving me a nice 75-yard broadside shot. I took some time to evaluate his antlers and decided he was a shooter. I placed the crosshairs on his shoulder and waited for him to move past a few limbs he had walked under. I fired and he donkey kicked well. I waited about and hour and half because my cousin was hunting near me and I didn't want to disturb him. I quickly found drops of blood that increased as I went through the creek bottom out the other side and up the ridge lay my buck. I hunted the same spot that evening and killed a doe. The next evening I put my cousin in the same stand and he killed a doe. I am a big fan of quota hunts, especially if you don't have access to quality deer.
