Georgia’s Best Bow-Bucks Of 2010-2011 Season

GON’s Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks rankings continue to grow. Last season marked the third-best year for Pope & Young class bucks. In 2010, 61 hunters took a buck worthy of GON’s rankings, bringing Georgia’s total to 782 bucks. Four counties — Calhoun, Carroll, Crawford and Effingham — recorded their first bucks on this list.

Georgia bucks that officially score more than 125 typical inches or 155 non-typical inches are eligible for Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks listing.

If you’ve arrowed a buck in the past that you believe will meet the above minimums, and it’s never been officially scored by a Pope and Young (P&Y) or Boone & Crockett scorer, contact us. We’ll find an official scorer near you.

Once the deer is scored, make sure GON gets a copy of the score sheet. Another scoring option is to bring your deer to GON’s Outdoor Blast next July. If the buck meets the scoring minimums, the buck will be added to GON’s Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks rankings.

Again, it’s the hunter’s responsibility to get those score sheets to us.

If you arrow a big buck this fall, enter it in the Truck-Buck contest, if you’re a subscriber. The buck will be officially scored through the contest and then will be included in all the appropriate GON rankings lists.

Even if you’re not a subscriber, we’re still eager to hear about big bucks. Call GON at (800) 438-4663. When the 60-day drying period is up, we’ll get you in contact with an official deer scorer.

For the 61 hunters who made Georgia’s Best Bow Bucks rankings, only a handful of them submitted them for P&Y’s Records Program.

Duncan Moore, of Albany, had the best typical bow-buck of the 2010 season. His Lee County 10-pointer scored 151 2/8 inches.

Mike Strickland, of Pine Mountain, killed “Hollywood” on Sept. 19. It net-scored 184 7/8 inches, clearly making it the best non-typical buck taken last year.

Cory Croft, of Pine Mountain, had last season’s best velvet bow-buck. His Harris County deer scored 138 6/8 inches.

Instructions For Entering Pope & Young

Procedure: With the large number of 2010 Georgia bucks that qualified for the Pope & Young (P&Y) record book, GON wanted everyone to know how to enter a deer with P&Y. Below are the instructions P&Y sent us.

• Get your buck scored by an official P&Y or Boone & Crockett (B&C) measurer. P&Y has a list of trained volunteer official measurers in North America. A list of official measurers is available upon request from P&Y’s headquarters or can be found in the “Find a Measurer” portion of this website. Log on to www.pope-young.org.

You can also find a measurer by through this list.

• Before contacting a measurer, make sure of the following: the animal has been taken entirely by the use of bow and arrow (as defined by P&Y); is in complete compliance with state hunting regulations; is in complete compliance with P&Y’s Rules of Fair Chase;  and the skull plate is not split. The skull plate must be completely intact and unaltered. No repairs or alterations to the antlers are acceptable.

• To be entered into P&Y’s Records Program, the score must meet or exceed the corresponding minimum score requirement, which is 125 inches typical and 155 inches non-typical.

• If it meets the entry requirements, then the bowhunter (typically with the assistance of the measurer) completes and submits the paperwork to P&Y.

• Once P&Y’s office accepts the entry into the Records Program and processes it, then the final score becomes official.

• Once the entry is processed, the bowhunter will receive, among other things, a certificate suitable for framing that signifies the animal has been accepted into the Records Program. The entry is then listed in the next published record book and will remain in the Records Program archives for all time.

• There is no time limit to when an animal can be measured and submitted for entry into the Records Program.

Contact P&Y at: Pope & Young Club, Box 548, Chatfield, MN 55923; (507) 867-4144; [email protected].; www.pope-young.org