GON’s Georgia Deer Records Now Online

The County-by-County rankings that appear in the magazine each year include the Top-10 bucks ever recorded from each of Georgia’s 159 counties. The rankings were first published in 1994. But the process began in 1991 by compiling official scores from old big-buck contests, getting scores sheets from certified measurers, and by crisscrossing the state to put tape and ruler to the racks of legendary bucks.

In the magazine we had room, barely, for the Top-10 bucks in each county. But we continued to compile every record—gun kills over 120 inches and bow-kills over 100—into a database that grew and grew.

In 2000, we published all of the records in a book called the “Georgia Whitetail Journal.” There were almost 4,000 hunters in GON’s County-by-County rankings at that time. As Steve Burch said in the “Georgia Whitetail Journal” foreward, “Like every record book before and every record book to come, we did not write this book. The hunters, the deer and the deer scorers of Georgia wrote this book. GON has been the compiler, the custodian of the records, the chronicler of the history of the Georgia deer herd.”

We are now thrilled to provide these records online at gon.com as the Georgia Deer Records. Thanks to our website guru Brandon Trussell, the Georgia Deer Records are online, and you can search for records every way imaginable—by county, by year, even by WMA. From your phone in the deer stand or the laptop computer at your desk, you can see what it takes to make the Top-10 in any Georgia county. You can also see the No. 356 ranked buck ever recorded from Macon County, if you’re so inclined, along with that hunter’s photo. Photos can be added to any record, and we also include a link if GON has an article about a buck. This is so much more than just a records list—this is a history of Georgia deer hunting that will last forever. When you’re sitting in the stand remembering that hunting buddy who killed a 140-inch buck 20 years ago, you can visit his records listing, and maybe even see his picture.

To add a picture to a listing, simply email it to [email protected]. If you have a buck that should be included, email a copy of the official, signed score sheet. To find a measurer, here’s a link that is at gon.com on the deer hunting page.

Here’s a search tip for when you visit the records. If you search for your name, it’s going to display and rank just your deer. The search will display and rank listings based on the search criteria that’s inputted. To see the all-time rankings for your county, only select the county, and no other search criteria.