Mountain Giant Will Raise Bar For Habersham County Deer Records

Cole Cleiman’s 12-point buck from Habersham County is a main-frame 5X5 with an abnormal tine on the right beam and a small kicker on the left base. Photo by Blake Lathem.

“A buck of this caliber isn’t a secret. If you have one like him on your camera, you can be sure that someone else has pictures of him, as well. He was a true legend in this area,” Cole Cleiman, host of the “Mountain Morning Show” and co-owner of 94.3 WCHM radio station in Clarkesville, said of his giant Habersham County buck he harvested on Nov. 30.

The story of this exceptional buck begins several years ago in 2019 with a habitat management decision Cole made.

“Five years ago, there were very few deer on our property,” the Habersham County native explained. “We decided to do some major work out there to transform it into a true wildlife habitat, where the animals would have everything they need right there on our family farm.”

Like an artist with a blank canvas, Cole transformed the old growth timber land by select cutting, replanting, creating food plots, establishing bedding areas and even digging a water hole in the center of the property. He also incorporated high-quality mineral supplements and food-plot mixes to promote growth.

By the next year in 2020, Cole began getting several young bucks with quality potential on his cameras, and he was determined to let them grow. In fact, he had not taken a single deer off the property since harvesting a mature buck back in 2021. During the following season, there was one buck in particular that fueled his passion more than the rest, a decent 9-point that looked to be something truly special, and one that he had recovered the right shed antler from the previous February.

Cole wisely passed on that awesome 9-point with his bow in the 2023 season because of a broken tine. Little did he know just how many inches of antlers that buck would put on the following year. He invested in numerous cell cameras to track the buck and said, “This buck redefined everything I thought I knew about deer hunting. He had no set pattern. When all the other deer would come in with their faces to the wind, he would come from the opposite direction with the wind. He just did what he wanted to do, was always one step ahead and always made me question my hunting career.”

In early summer of 2024, Cole watched in amazement as his cell camera pictures chronicled the super growth of the special deer. The former 9-point morphed into an enormous 12-point, which sported a 10-point main-frame rack supplemented by a unique tine off the right main beam near the G2 and a kicker point off the left antler base.

When bow season 2024 rolled around, Cole found himself in his tree stand watching that buck at 80 yards.

“He just never came any closer, and I wasn’t comfortable taking a shot that far with my bow,” Cole recounted.

After the first few weeks of bow season, Cole said the large buck had simply disappeared from the property altogether. No pictures, no sign. The deer had simply vanished.

Once rifle season came in, Cole, still hopeful the large buck was alive, said he would cringe anytime he heard a gunshot nearby.

“I was always thinking about that buck. When I woke up in the mornings, the first thing I would do was check my cameras to see if I had any pictures of him during the night.”

Despite having an encounter with the buck a couple weeks prior, he continued to try, being pushed by friends and family to not give up.

Then, Nov. 30 at 9:32 a.m., defying all odds, the buck returned. Cole saw his prize buck walking alone in the woods to his right, but he was unable to get an ethical shot.

“There was one trail where the buck was on that would lead to an opening to shoot through. That buck could have gone a hundred different ways, but that morning he walked the one path that I needed him to.”

A rifle shot in the cold, mountain air rang out. Through the scope, Cole saw his buck fall to the ground.

Photo by Blake Lathem.

“I was immediately overwhelmed with emotion. This was a buck that I had watched for years. I had helped grow him. I knew him so well… probably saw him six or seven times in person. It was like the end of a long-term relationship.”

Cole has not put a measuring tape on the rack yet but believes the buck could gross as high as 170 and net in the 160s, which would shatter the previous Habersham County record of 142 3/8 inches killed by Raymond Fortner in 2006. Time will tell after the required 60-day antler drying period for official measurements.

“I took the buck to Drew Gann of Georgia Outdoorsman Taxidermy in Cleveland. He does an amazing job, and I’m looking forward to seeing what magic he can work with this mountain legend.”

The buck was aged at 6 1/2 years and weighed 176 pounds with a 22-inch neck.

“That’s big for a mountain deer,” Cole said. “But there is no reason we can’t have plenty of quality bucks around here in north Georgia. Hunters should just slow down, not be so trigger-happy, and let these young bucks grow. There is a lot of potential, but most bucks get killed before they can become something special. It’s all about patience and management at the end of the day.”

Habersham County All-Time Buck Records