Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks For 2018-19

The 2018-19 season resulted in the most bucks on Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks list from a single season since 2012. Last year’s 65 record-book bucks sits well right above the 5-year average of 57.8 bucks per season and slightly above the 10-year average of 64 bucks. 

GON tracks bow bucks in three categories: Typical Racks, Non-Typical Racks and Velvet Racks.

Jeff Foxworthy, 170 2/8

Typical Rack: Jeff Foxworthy, of Alpharetta, and his buck sit on top of GON’s Typical Rack list. Jeff’s 170 2/8-inch Harris County buck was arrowed on Sept. 27. 

Jeff’s buck is only one of three typical archery bucks to ever top the Boone & Crockett minimum of 170 inches. When you include two bow bucks that netted above the 195-inch B&C non-typical minimum, only five total archery-taken bucks have ever netted above the B&C minimum in the history of Georgia deer hunting. Kudos, Jeff. That’s an awesome feat! 

Jeff’s buck lands as the No. 3 best-ever typical bow buck take in Georgia.

Lee Ellis, 177 2/8

Non-Typical Rack: Our best Non-Typical Rack on Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks of 2018-19 list was taken by Lee Ellis, of Atlanta, a name most Georgia hunters recognize as the man who is racking up an impressive list of suburban bow-killed bucks. 

Lee’s good fortune doesn’t come without some really hard work. His passion for finding bucks in between the asphalt jungle has arguably landed him the most impressive wall of bow-killed antlers in the state. 

For typical bow bucks, Lee took a 166 1/8-inch buck in 2014, a 157 2/8-inch deer in 2015, and his third-best typical buck was taken in 2017 and scored 153 7/8 inches.

On the non-typical side, Lee arrowed a 193 7/8-inch deer in 2017 and his latest is his 2018 buck, which scored 177 2/8 inches.

Lee’s latest buck is No. 11 of all-time for non-typical bow bucks in the state. Lee’s hunt story appears at https://gon.com/truck-buck-entries/419927.

What’s next for Lee? Knowing  his persistency in keeping after suburban bucks, it’s likely some more impressive antlers for his already amazing collection. When he takes one, he’ll be putting it in the back of his new John Megel Chevy 4X4 that he won in July at the Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. For that story, turn over to page 22.

Dylan Wylie, 170 2/8

Velvet Rack: Dylan Wylie, of Carrollton, killed a velvet buck that netted 170 2/8 typical inches, giving him the best fuzzy buck from last year by more than 30 inches. The buck was killed on opening day, a time when many bucks still haven’t shed their velvet. 

Dylan was hunting a travel route in a pine/hardwood mix. It was super hot for the bow opener, and the deer didn’t move until late. A small spike was the first on the scene, and he didn’t make an appearance until about 15 minutes before dark.

“He was there by himself forever, and then all at once, about five or six came in, and the big deer was in the mix with them,” said Dylan. “It all happened so super fast. I actually drew back and didn’t realize it, but I had a pretty good 6-point under me, and he saw me and took off running, but for whatever reason, the big deer just stayed there looking around. I thought, ‘This is too good to be true.’ I shot him at 31 yards.”

Dylan’s buck is No. 2 of all-time for velvet bow bucks in the state. You can read his full hunt story at www.gon.com/hunting/193-inch-typical-buck-from-fulton-county.

Make Next Year’s Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks: If you arrow a big buck this fall, and you’re a GON subscriber, enter it in the Truck-Buck contest. The buck will be officially scored through the contest and will be included in all the appropriate GON rankings lists.

If you’re not a subscriber, we still want you to know about your buck. Call GON at (800) 438-4663. When the 60-day drying period is up, we’ll put you in contact with an official measurer and add your buck to our rankings.

Is Your Buck In One Of GON’s Big-Buck Lists?

GON is the gate keeper for buck rankings in the state of Georgia. Not only do we keep the overall County-by-County rankings, but we also have extensive lists for crossbow and muzzleloader bucks and even the best bucks from all the WMAs. And of course, we keep county lists for bow-killed bucks. 

So here is the big question: Is your buck in one of GON’s big-buck lists? If not, the process is simple. 

1) First, get your buck scored by an official Boone and Crockett or Pope and Young measurer. This is free, but you will need to make an appointment with the measurer. The easiest way to find a measurer near you is at www.boone-crockett.org or www.pope-young.org. If you need help, email GON at [email protected].

2) After you have the deer scored, it will be your responsibility (not the scorer’s) to get us a copy of your score sheet. Not all official scorers or organizations share their scores with us, even when scores are requested.

You can email a photo of your score sheet (front and back) to [email protected].