More How The Weeks Were Won: Hunt Stories From 2020-21 Truck-Buck Winners

Last month we met the first half of this year’s Shoot-Out field. Now let’s meet the remainder of our weekly and wildcard winners from last deer season.

Seventeen weekly winners and four hunters in our wildcard spots are looking forward to the chance to win a new truck. This year’s Shoot-Out takes place at the Ag-Pro Outdoor Blast on Sunday, Aug. 22 in Emerson, near Cartersville.

One of these hunters will win a new truck from John Megel Chevy. The four weekly winners during bow season have already earned Mathews bows, the Week 5 winner gets a CVA Accura rifle, and the 11 weekly winners during gun season each get a Browning deer rifle. All weekly winners also earned a prize package from Tinks, HSS safety harnesses and shirts from Realtree.

 

Week 10: Jeff Miles
County: Coweta
Date: Nov. 15
Net Score: 151 3/8 typical

With rut action peeking in many of Georgia’s best big-buck counties, Week 10 is traditionally one of the toughest to win. Jeff Miles, of Sharpsburg, got it done with tall-tined 10-point buck from Coweta County.

“I started hunting with my dad Randy Miles, my mother Patricia Amabile and my older brother John Miles when I was 5 or 6 years old,” Jeff said. “We hunted deer, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and we also did a lot of fishing.”

The rut was in full swing on Jeff’s Coweta County hunting property last Nov. 15 for a Sunday evening hunt.

“The deer came into a pasture chasing a doe at 4:30 p.m. at 300 yards. He made it to 200 yards, then I stopped him by bleating with my mouth,” Jeff said. “He was broadside at 200 yards. I shot, but I wasn’t completely sure that I hit him, and he ran about 60 yards farther away and stopped, so I shot again. I chambered another round, he was still standing and I went to shoot for the third time, but he fell over so I didn’t have to shoot again.

“The shot was a perfect heart shot—I hit him when he was at 200 and missed the second shot. Great hunt!

“Our dad passed away 5 1/2 years ago, and I just wish he could have been here to see this awesome buck,” Jeff said.

“In his honor I would like to dedicate this deer to my dad. Thanks for sending that buck my way from heaven dad! I would like to thank GON for this great opportunity, and I can’t wait to see everyone at the Shoot-Out.”

 

Week 11: Bob Coombs
County: Fulton
Date: Nov. 26
Net Score: 167 1/8 typical

The suburbs and urban areas around Atlanta produce some amazing bucks, and yet another one fell to a bowhunter last season. And this was far from the first giant for Bob Coombs, of Roswell, who has taken seven Pope & Young class bucks with his compound bow and also the No. 5 crossbow buck ever killed in Georgia.

“I had an opportunity to pick up a new place to bowhunt this past year. It was 16 acres, and most of it was a creek and a swamp,” said Bob.

“I’m a big believer in woodland food plots—I try not to hunt over bait whenever I can. Last year I shot ‘Elvis,’ the third-largest deer in the state of Georgia for the 2019-20 season. It was the second-largest typical and the largest bow-buck. Elvis was taken without the use of bait over a food plot.

“I hired a friend who plows food plots for hunters as kind of a hobby. He charged me $100 to come and deep-till the soil for the food plot. He was able to make one pass; however, there were so many boulders that it damaged his plow and that was all he could really do until I could remove a lot of the boulders off the surface. I decided I would go ahead and broadcast a seed blend over the tilled area. The weather was wet, so the crop came in nicely. I put a feeder with a timer in the center of the food plot, but I never got one buck over a hundred inches to come to it.

“However being in the tree business, Hurricanes Laura, Sally and Zeta kept me very busy, and I was not able to hunt hardly at all. In fact I hunted only three hunts the entire season. My style of hunting is that I hunt a specific deer, and I did not have a deer to hunt. One afternoon one of my customers during an estimate told me he had just seen a 14-pointer go into the woods not 10 minutes before I had shown up. He showed me a picture of it on the phone and showed me where it went. Turns out I had had permission to hunt that property for over 10 years.

“So I went in that evening, and in less than an hour I had rattled the 14-pointer in on my first hunt of the year! So once again I did not have a deer to hunt.

“Then I got a photograph of a giant 10-pointer and strangely enough it was an HD photograph of the deer. I am not computer savvy, and I would not know even how to order an HD photograph. Yet, there it was bigger than life.

“On Nov. 26, I got in the stand at 6:50 a.m. I rattled, grunted and bleated. He came in, and I bleated to change his direction. I stopped him with a vocal bleat, shot him with my bow, and he went 70 yards.”

 

Week 12: Buck Burriss
County: Worth
Date: Nov. 28
Net Score: 186 3/8 non-typical

Some bucks grow racks so large, so jaw-dropping, that they don’t even look real. Our cover buck this month is one of those, an amazing 15-point non-typical that netted 186 3/8.

Albany’s Buck Burris said, “When I was young, I started hunting with my dad, picking up birds on dove shoots, and then moving up into ladder stands when I was 7 or 8. He has always been an avid deer hunter, and I have followed those steps. Growing up in Georgia has provided tremendous opportunities for enjoying the outdoors, and I’m thrilled to start sharing these same experiences with my boys.

“Abraham is a deer that we first identified in 2016 due to the unique direction of his G2s. Thinking he was not mature during the 2016 season, I began hunting him in 2017 after he made a nice jump in size. Although pictures were captured, I did not see him on the hoof until the 2019 season. During 2020 he became more visible with a few sightings during November, including my dad passing him. After trying to finish the story with a bow, I brought my dad’s rifle along with my bow on Saturday, Nov. 28. Around 7:45 a.m. with a light mist coming down, Abraham stepped out on the edge of a field following a lone doe. They set off in a direction that would not present a shot with either bow or rifle, so I climbed down the stand with the rifle, sprinted about 100 yards to the edge of the field, and set up in the direction I thought they would cross.

“After several minutes the doe appeared, and then the tops of his antlers were visible about 15 or 20 yards following behind her. About 10 yards from the edge, Abraham stopped, the crosshairs settled behind his shoulder, and dad’s reloaded bullet found the mark. He ran 15 yards and fell right where the pictures were taken. Two hundred plus sits—it was worth it. An incredible animal!”

 

Week 13: Bryan Wiggins
County: Webster
Date: Dec. 5
Net Score: 150 0/8 typical

Hunting and enjoying the outdoors has always been second nature to Bryan Wiggins, of Fortson.

“Growing up in rural south Georgia, it was very natural to hunt and fish as a way of life. I have always been drawn to the outdoor setting, and I truly would rather be outside than inside,” Bryan said. “I have always enjoyed the wonders of creation and nature. Sitting out in a blind or a stand allows me to feel a closeness to the good Lord. Some of my best memories as a young boy involves hunting and fishing trips.

“My cousin Jason and I grew up with all female siblings. So, as we grew up, we formed a bond and a true excitement to hunt and fish together. Over the last few years, we started hunting hogs at night with thermal imaging to reduce crop damage on his property. We set up cameras to try and pattern the hogs.

“Unexpectedly in 2018, as we were clearing the images from one of the cameras cards, we realized we had captured an image of my buck. Our focus suddenly shifted, and we started moving cameras and stands to harvest this deer.

“In 2019, on some of the trail-camera pictures we saw the buck had broken off some of his tines and we really did not pursue him during the hunting season. In 2020, the buck was back and seemed more active and bigger. The buck’s core area was planted in peanuts, and we were able to see from our images that the deer was staying in close range.

“Of course, we both began to be excited by the new activity. However, as the season progressed, we had no opportunities to see the deer in person during the times we would hunt. Then the magical afternoon came as the sun set. The field began to fill up with 20 to 30 does. As I waited for a text from my dad on whether he wanted some meat for the freezer, out of nowhere the buck appeared. One look and I knew it was the buck me and my cousin Jason had been chasing since 2018. I repositioned my shooting sticks and pulled the trigger. The buck spun around and bolted down in the swamp. After a 100- to 125-yard track, we recovered the buck and the celebrating began,” Bryan said.

“Hunting for me is more than just a sport or an outing. It has allowed me the opportunity to spend some wonderful time with Jason. The events on the afternoon I shot my deer created some of my best hunting memories, and I was able to share in this time with my dad, my Uncle Paul, and my cousin Jason whom I have always considered like a brother,” Bryan said.

“Winning a week in the GON Truck Buck has been a fun and memorable experience, and I am thankful.”

 

Week 14: Buck Clements
County: Sumter
Date: Dec. 16
Net Score: 143 6/8 typical

Buck Clements, of Americus, has a knack for getting on a mature buck and getting it done with a bow, especially late in gun season. It’s no surprise that last season Buck was hunting with his compound bow on Dec. 16.

“I’ve had pictures of this deer for three years but never laid eyes on him till this year. I believe he’s seven years old,” Buck said. “He’s been a ghost, but that evening I went and sat in a stand I had just thrown up a couple days before. I was hoping to get a glimpse at him with the rainy weather. At 5:35 p.m. I caught movement through the woods. Once I identified him, I started praying he’d come my way. Once he committed in my direction, I got in position, knowing I only had one shot. He got close enough and I drew back, and when he cleared the brush, I fired my shot. I waited an hour before looking, even though I thought I heard him crash. He only went about 70 yards.

“My late-season success is mainly due to having a few years of knowledge on a certain deer,” Buck said. “I try to remember what a buck did in the previous years after the rut is over, where he spent his time recouping after the rut. In my experience, they usually do the same thing every year if they haven’t been pressured too much, so I use cameras and try to get a game plan on how to approach him. It seems, a mature buck will have a safe haven he goes to late in the year, and I try to find that haven and carefully make my game plan. With that and also food, and if there are a few young does hanging around that I feel will be coming into heat later than the mature does…”

It’s a plan that has paid off with four record-class bow-bucks from Sumter County for Buck Clements.

 

Week 15: Beau Collins
County: Wilcox
Date: Dec. 23
Net Score: 139 7/8 typical

By the end of December, the desire to stay after it in the deer woods begins to wane for many hunters. Beau Collins, of Kathleen, had some extra incentive.

“My passion for hunting started when I was just a kid when my dad found us a small tract for just our family to hunt,” Beau said. “Over the years he taught me all he knew about hunting and being safe while in the woods. He along with my grandfather and I had many great hunts together that I still remember to this day. This was all before texting, so it was always enjoyable to meet back at the truck and tell each other about what we saw that morning or afternoon.

“We started hunting some Pulaski County property where I was able to harvest an old huge-bodied buck that really got me hooked on whitetail hunting. I remember I was in an old ladder stand, and I am sure the buck came up behind me and bedded down about an hour or so before dark. Right as the sun started to go down, that buck got up and started walking right up the old logging road, presenting me with a great broadside shot at about 25 yards. It didn’t have the best rack, but it was my first buck and an awesome experience I’ve never forgotten.

“Over the next several years I hunted with some good friends on a spot I leased for about three years. I was able to take several great bucks but all had been in weeks 8 or 9 of the hunting season, and I never got the bucks officially scored for the contest. Around 2009, another landowner decision made it impossible to hunt that property anymore, and I was not able to find anything until after rifle season began in 2020.”

This new property was in Wilcox County, and Beau said he was more than excited to start back hunting after not being able to for so many years.

“I now had the opportunity to pass on what was taught to me by my father to my son. I got some of my stands set up around the property. I also got some cameras up and running to really see what was out there, since no one had really hunted this property in years. My son, being only 8, seemed to really enjoy going and watching all the different things that happen out in the woods and on a big field. One evening we even had a helicopter spraying a neighbor’s property that he thought was awesome. Our best experience was one of the first times we hunted the afternoon, and he still talks about it today. A half piebald doe came out and walked right in front of our stand. He now thinks he is the luckiest hunter ever because I told him that I have hunted for many years and never seen one until that day.

“A few weeks after all the cameras, a feeder was set up, and we started getting a few pictures of a big 8-point. He was much bigger than the ones I was seeing while in the stand, so I knew he was a good deer and appeared to be at least 4.5 years old from his body size. There were a few mornings or evenings that I came close to seeing him, but it wasn’t until Dec. 23 our paths just happened to cross. It was a very cold morning, and I was hunting the big field where I could see several hundred yards in all directions. I liked this stand because I could see the entire property without spooking anything off while walking in. I only saw a doe for a few minutes that morning, and around 8 a.m. I got down to go change some batteries in one of the cameras. Before I did, I wanted to go walk through a spot that the landowner had started clearing a year or two prior to make his field bigger. Until then I had stayed out of this area because it was pretty thick, but since the season was coming to an end, I wanted to scout it out for next year since I had seen so many deer coming and going from this area.

“Well, as soon as I popped into the clearcut, I was able to pick up some movement and could tell it was a buck. I couldn’t tell exactly what buck it was, but it was only about 50 to 75 yards away and it didn’t know I was in there yet. I lost it for about five minutes, but I never moved because I knew it was still in there. I finally moved up just a few yards, and it was then I saw him again and I could tell it was a good buck. I was in a position to shoot if it went left or if it went to the right, I was guessing right because that was back toward the thick woods. The buck finally realized I was there, and I was able to get a much better look at him while he was looking dead at me but because of the brush I could only see his head. I had some binoculars and could see through the brush pretty good, so I just continued to watch him until he started moving slowly back toward the woods. It was then I knew there was more than one because both starting moving back to the right. I was never able to tell exactly how big the first buck was, but it was a good one. I knew the second one was a good one, so I waited for him to enter that window and made the shot. He immediately took off as if I missed. I saw him and the other buck running, so I stepped a few yards over just to see and listen for him to crash. I went to where I thought he was when I shot, but I found no trace of a hit. After a few minutes of searching that area, I focused on the trail I saw them run down, and I followed it hoping for some sign. I didn’t have to go but about 30 yards before a good sign was on the ground. I tracked it for only about 30 more yards, and he had piled up under a huge tree that had fallen down and wedged himself under the branches and almost under the trunk. I was so relieved I had made a good shot on this deer. He weighed 232 pounds, not field dressed, on a certified cattle scale. This buck is currently ranked 47th in Wilcox County per current GON records.”

 

Week 16: Leland Overholt
County: Macon
Date: Dec. 26
Net Score: 144 2/8 typical

The day after Christmas, Leland Overholt, then 26 years old, got a pretty special gift in the form of a big 9-point buck. Leland, of Marshallville, was hunting in Macon County that evening.

“I got in the stand about 4:30 and was there for about hour an hour when I saw a small 8-point coming,” Leland said. “Soon I had 12 does around me. I little later this buck comes in, and soon as I saw him I picked my gun up let him have it. He went about 15 yards and piled up.”

Leland’s 9-point buck netted 144 2/8.  The previous season, Leland killed a Week 17 buck with his compound bow that netted 127 7/8 and placed fifth in the week.

 

Week 17: Kevin Duggar
County: Sumter
Date: Jan. 6
Net Score: 130 5/8 typical

With suburban archery-only counties that allow bowhunting until Jan. 31 and the old Northern Zone open until the second weekend of January, the 17th and final “week” of the Truck-Buck is anything but a slam dunk to win.

Last season the Week 17 spot in the went to Kevin Duggar, of Americus with a long-beamed 8-pointer.

“The afternoon of Jan. 6 is one my wife and I won’t soon forget,” Kevin said. “We decided to hunt one more time before the season ran out, in hopes to get one for the freezer. We hunt on a large piece of land on the Flint River in Sumter County that is known for some really big bucks. Our stand overlooks a food plot that borders a river swamp.

“After just a few minutes in our stand, we saw three large does come out in the food plot. They fed a little and then moved on out of sight. About five minutes later we were surprised to see this big 8-point step out looking for the does. I knew he was a shooter as soon as I saw him. A broadside shot dropped the deer in his tracks. After much discussion, my wife urged me to enter the buck in the Truck-Buck contest-and it won Week 17! ”

 

 

Youth Wildcard: Riles Riner
County: Worth
Date: Nov. 26, Week 11
Net Score: 140 5/8

The highest-scoring buck of the season entered by a youth 15 or younger that doesn’t win a week outright earns a spot in the Shoot-Out in the Youth Wildcard. Last season, that honor went to a young man who was only 8 when he went hunting on Nov. 26 in Worth County.

“When I went deer hunting on Thanksgiving, I killed a big buck,” said Riles Riner, of Statesboro. “We got in the deer stand around 4 p.m. We didn’t see any activity until around 5:15 when I noticed a 10-point making a scrape. The deer was about 125 yards away. The buck buck disappeared but came back out after about 5 minutes. My daddy told me to get my gun ready to shoot.

“I shot the buck and asked my daddy if I hit him. He said yes, but the buck ran. My daddy and I got down from the deer stand to go look for the buck. We found good blood, but we did not see him. I wanted to keep looking for him, but my daddy said we would push him if we continued to look, so we went to the cabin.

“The next morning my grandma, Pa, my daddy and I went to look for it. We found blood and tracked the deer through the hardwoods. All of this took about 1.5 hours. We found the buck, and I was so excited. Whenever we found the buck, my daddy put blood on my face. We had to drag the buck to the road and put it in the truck. We went back to the cabin and made pictures by the Flint River. This was the best deer hunt I have ever had with my daddy.”

 

Ladies Wildcard: Erinn Lowe
County: Early
Date: Sept. 30, Week 3
Net Score: 140 1/8

The Ladies Wildcard goes to the female hunter with the highest-scoring buck entered all season that doesn’t win a week outright. For the first time in Truck-Buck history, that wildcard spot was won with a bow-killed buck. Erinn Lowe, of Smyrna, arrowed a big 10-point buck the third week of bow season that netted 140 1/8.

“We had four years of history with this deer,” Erinn said.

“With the cooperation of our neighbors, we had agreed to pass him for the past three years in an effort to let the buck reach his max potential—2020 was the year we decided he had reached his potential.

“I was on a mission to harvest the buck. After several missed opportunities two nights in a row, we moved my climber to another tree in an effort to improve my chances if he returned, and it paid off.”

Erinn’s deer is the No. 4 bow-buck ever recorded from Early County, according to GON’s Georgia Deer Records.

 

 

Runner-Up Wildcard: John Donalson
County: Mitchell
Date: Dec. 1, Week 12
Net Score: 155 5/8

There’s a lot of luck involved in winning a week of Truck-Buck, including bad luck. Some weeks are just plain tough, like when this month’s cover buck gets entered. That was John Donalson’s Week 12 competition, but John still earned a spot the Shoot-Out with the Runner-Up Wildcard that goes to the best-scoring second-place buck from the season.

“The hunt for the buck that I call ’Jason’ started in 2018 when I got pictures of a really nice young buck that showed good potential,” John said. “In 2019, he grew a nice set of antlers and I only saw him once but had tons of pictures of him. In the summer of 2020, I got pictures of him in velvet. He had grown into the biggest buck I have ever seen on our farm. I started running three cell cameras trying to track him and narrowed his bedding area down to some planted pines that surrounded a button-bush pond.

“I didn’t pressure him much by hunting a lot and knew that with the cold weather coming, my best chance was to catch him on feed. I had a corn field that the deer were hitting hard in November, and he was on camera there every night and early each morning. I set up a ground blind on the edge of the field and planned to hunt it on the first cold morning we had.”

“On the morning of Dec. 1, it was around 30 degrees.  I went hunting before work. As I approached my blind, I could see a big-bodied deer standing on the edge of the field about 150 yards away. As I got in the blind and got set up, he was walking toward me and stopped at about 80 yards, and I could tell it was Jason.

“I reckon fate was on my side because my first shot missed. He froze as I chambered another round. The second shot hit him and he ran into the pines on the edge of the field. I was a nervous wreck as the buck of a lifetime ran out of the field.

“I went on to work and came back about an hour and a half later to look for him. After about 20 minutes of tracking blood, we found him 75 yards into the pines. I was in tears of joy when I was finally able to put my hands on him. He is my best buck to date, and I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to hunt such an incredible animal.”

See these hunters and cheer for your favorite during the Truck-Buck Shoot-Out on Sunday, Aug. 22 during the Ag-Pro Outdoor Blast.