Gwinnett County Record-Class Buck Opening Weekend

Landon Parks is fairly new to deer hunting, but he got off to an excellent start when he dropped a record-book caliber bow-buck in Gwinnett County on a tract of private land.

Landon’s dad, Michael, helped him get fired up by giving him a new Bowtech bow for his 21st birthday, and his uncle, Jason Parks, gave him lots of helpful deer hunting tips and information.

Landon is a student at the University of Georgia, studying business, and his hunting time is very limited. However, the new bow sparked a renewed interest in getting in the woods, and the primitive skill of hunting with a stick and string, even if a more modern version, appealed to him. Building up to bow season, Landon practiced with the bow many times and felt confident that he could put an arrow within the kill ring.

On opening day, Sept. 11, Landon was in his tree stand early and saw several bucks and does, including a really nice buck that never offered a shot and was never in range. Having seen the big buck, he decided not to shoot another deer that day. He left the woods a little disappointed but felt inspired by the sighting of the big buck.

That afternoon he was in the stands at Sanford Stadium watching the Bulldogs chew on UAB to the tune of 56-7 and wondered, “Could this be the year?” Time will tell, but GO DAWGS!

The next morning, Sept. 12, he was back in his tree stand hoping that the buck would make a repeat appearance. Sure enough, the buck walked out about 300 yards away and slowly worked its way over to his location. When the buck was about 30 yards away, Landon drew back his bow, steadied his aim and let the arrow fly. It found its mark on the buck’s chest and seemed like a lethal hit.

Landon was so excited and shaking so badly that it took a few minutes for him to calm down. He didn’t want to track the buck too quickly and went to retrieve his dad to assist. They both soon returned to the woods and found a good blood trail to follow. Methodically following the drops of blood for about 150 yards, they soon came upon the trophy deer, and they were both overjoyed at Landon’s tremendous buck.

Landon Parks with a Pope & Young caliber buck out of Gwinnett County.

Landon took the buck to a local taxidermist to have it mounted, and they guessed the gross score on the 11-pointer around 150 inches. The buck is a main-frame 10-pointer with just one sticker on the right beam.

Landon said taking the buck was a cool experience, and he can’t wait to get back in the woods again.

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