Colquitt County’s 1999 “Truck Buck”

Though the odds are extremely low, most deer hunters entertain the dream of some day encountering a record-class whitetail. For Lavon Cannon, of Meigs, that one-in-a-million chance came at daybreak on the morning of Nov. 4, 1999. Unfortunately, the dream resembled more of a nightmare, because instead of sitting comfortably in his deer stand, Lavon was traveling down the highway behind the wheel of his Dodge truck.

“The deer jumped off a slight embankment along the road,” Lavon said. “It was so close that I didn’t have time to hit the brakes until after the impact.”

Luckily, Lavon was not injured, however both the deer and truck were totalled.

“Everything happened so fast, I had no idea if the deer was a buck or a doe,” Lavon explained. “I just knew it was an awfully big animal.”

Although the huge whitetail was never weighed, most authorities on the scene agreed that the buck’s live weight would have easily exceeded 250 pounds. Amazingly, considering that the force of the collision knocked the deer several yards down the highway and into a ditch, the massive antlers remained intact and undamaged. Only the skull plate holding the antlers was broken.

Lavon Cannon, of Meigs, said the Nov. 4 collision happened so suddenly, he didn’t know if he’d hit a doe or a buck. He only knew it was a big deer. The 10-pointer’s right antler totals a whopping 88 inches by itself. Had the left antler been a more symmetrical match, the buck could easily have topped the typical state record, the Buck Ashe deer, which scored 191 4/8.

“I hate to see anything wasted and, fortunately, I was able to salvage about 75 percent of the meat,” Lavon said. “Initially, I didn’t plan to mount the buck, but the more I looked at the antlers the bigger they seemed. Finally, I decided that in spite of how the deer was killed, the buck was much too impressive not to be mounted. Now that it’s hanging on my wall, I know it was the right decision.”

Impressive may not be a completely adequate term for the huge rack. The massive 10-point typical frame has an exceptional combination of beam and tine length. Measurement statistics include main beams of 29 1/8 and 28 3/8 inches, with three tines exceeding a foot in length. The eight circumference measurements average over 4 inches.

In regard to scoring, the rack grosses 184 7/8 and nets 171 4/8, surpassing the minimum entry level for Boone & Crockett’s (B&C) All-Time record book. Unfortunately, since the buck’s skull plate was broken, separating the right and left antlers, the deer is not eligible for entry. The score, however, puts the buck in fifth place in Colquitt County according to GON’s County-by-County listing.

One additional note worth contemplating is that the buck’s right antler measurements total a whopping 88 inches. Had the left antler been a more even match in terms of size and symmetry, the Colquitt County whitetail could easily have scored higher than the current state record typical buck, which stands at 191 4/8 B&C. 

Editor’s Note: Bill Cooper is a senior wildlife biologist with DNR Game Management and an official Boone & Crockett scorer.