Dougherty County’s First Pope & Young

The number of Pope & Young qualified bucks taken in Georgia this year continues to climb! The buck pictured below, killed on the Marine Corps Logistics Base near Albany by 28-year-old Michael Layfield, is the eighth buck we’ve seen that should easily qualify. In addition, there are at least four more bucks on the bubble—an inch or so above the 125-incn P&Y minimum. If those bucks measure up after the required 60-day drying period, the 1990-91 total of 12 P&Y’s (and counting) would top last season’s record total of 11 archery-record-book bucks.

Michael Layfield, of Albany, tells the story of his record-class bow-kill:

“I killed this 10-point buck in Albany. It was killed on the Marine Corps Base where I work (which is archery only). I killed it on Nov. 7 at 6:32 a.m. The rack scored 143 3/8 green score by Game & Fish Biologist Bill Cooper. I have been told that it is the largest buck killed in Dougherty County with a bow. Also, it’s the largest known buck killed on the Marine base.

Michael Layfield, of Albany, with Dougherty County’s first-ever Pope & Young buck.

“The week before I killed my 10-point, I watched a friend kill two 8s four minutes apart less than 100 yards away. I settled on letting a 6-pointer and five does go by. Since my friend killed his two bucks, we decided to video tape my next hunt. So on Nov. 6, we checked the area where the 6-pointer came out two or three times.

“We put two tree climbers on a large oak tree overlooking a pecan grove. By 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, we were all set. We both knew we would only have one hour of hunting light. Both of us had to be to work by 8 a.m. Our jobs were waiting for us 500 yards away on the other side of the pecan grove.

“However, at 6:32 a buck stepped out. It was a little too dim to make out how many points this large deer had, but I was sure it was a buck. I drew my Ben Pearson 70-lb. bow and could not see this deer through my peep sight. Knowing the deer would be gone in seconds, I went ahead and shot instinctively. The shot was about 22 yards. I shoot a 2216 Easton camo arrow, and it went through both lungs. After about 40 minutes, we got down and found a blood-soaked arrow.

“Then I found out just what a deer I had killed. After finding the buck, we spotted another buck running away that was bigger, and we got it on tape (camcorder). Hopefully, he’s going to be my state-record buck!”

Dougherty County All-Time Record Bow-Bucks